New ‘Soul Menu’ at Anya’s Niyama Wellness Center

Gone are the days of day spas — a quick rubdown in Manila, and then back to the maw of stress and toxicity. Niyama Wellness Center at Anya Resort Tagaytay, run by spa director Carol Laguna, is all about transporting yourself to a holistic wellness experience that can change your life.

“Here at Anya, it’s really a wellness center, not just a spa,” says Laguna. “We have integrative, holistic treatments,” including not just a menu of fantastic treatments at their five dedicated rooms, like the Signature Massage (hot bamboo — perfect to wind down the day), but a full line of new facial treatments using Swiss-made Pevonia products tailored to both men and women, and to your schedule: the 30-minute “appetizer facial” is good if you have dinner plans or want to swim right after, while the luxurious 60-minute treatment includes extractions, glow scrubs and body polishes.

Many of Niyama’s offerings are already familiar to Anya’s repeat guests, but Laguna notes the holistic menu has extended to five “Niyama Experiences,” including the spa, an integrative “Soul Menu” with healthy food options — not just vegetarian, but pescatarian and others — designed by a Rockwell nutritionist. There are the “Movements,” including wellness, yoga, tai-chai and a hydrotherapy session held once a week (or one-on-one) in the heated Anya pool. “Hydrotherapy is very helpful to our clients,” Laguna notes.

Another new focus is Osteopathic Manipulative Therapy (OMT) under Dr. JP Prado: “Our therapists are trained by him in osteopathic therapy, which is very different from chiropractic treatment; it’s an alignment of bones, where they diagnose, consult and give a treatment plan based on your concerns. Sometimes it involves adjusting lifestyle and work, so it’s holistic.”

Finally, there are periodic lifestyle retreats like “Crossroads to Wellness” taught by Marilen Elizalde, wife of Anya head Santi Elizalde, and “Inner Journeys” designed with Lia Bernardo. “The Inner Journeys are about lifestyle coaching, self-love, body love,” says the Niyama director. “It’s really about mind-setting and perceptions in life.”

Laguna, a physical therapist, also mentored at Mandala resort in Boracay, where she