Wellness travel is no longer only about spa breaks in Bali or Ayurvedic retreats in Kerala. It has moved beyond the predictable. The new-age seeker wants more—rituals that stitch together body, mind and spirit, experiences that don’t feel borrowed from ancient manuals but rather crafted for the anxieties of now. Travel has become therapy, with journeys designed as prescriptions. At a sleek retreat outside Lisbon, guests float in a chamber of 1,200 pounds of Epsom salt, where gravity is suspended and the brain enters a theta-wave state. The experience is at once eerie and liberating. Closer home in India, the new wave of wellness is cutting-edge and experimental. At a luxury wellness centre in Goa, cold plunge pools and whole-body cryotherapy sessions are trending. Guests emerge from minus 110°C chambers exhilarated, their metabolism jolted awake, their mood lifted by a rush of endorphins.
In Rishikesh, VR meditation is being introduced in select retreats—headsets project visuals tailored to your stress levels, transporting you into digital versions of calming oceans or star-filled skies while biometric trackers monitor your brainwaves; VR or virtual reality technology uses audio-visuals and guided audio. Biohacking clinics are integrating IV vitamin drips and oxygen therapy lounges into spa itineraries. You lie back in futuristic recliners, sipping water infused with adaptogens (for example ashwagandha that is organically de-stressing) while a slow-release suffusion of magnesium or glutathione promises instant rehydration and glow. At a new retreat in the Aravallis near Jaipur, guests step into sensory deprivation pods filled with warm saline water. An hour in the tank feels like drifting in space—disconnection from gravity, from external stimuli, and ultimately from restless thought. Meanwhile, Himalayan wellness lodges in Uttarakhand are experimenting with forest-bathing trails enhanced with wearable trackers.
Globally the wellness leisure paradigm is changing. Iceland’s geothermal sound baths combine hot springs with immersive soundscapes. Japan’s futuristic spas now offer virtual reality meditation pods. The Maldives has introduced submarine yoga classes held in glass pods under turquoise waters where manta rays glide past as witnesses. In India, wellness is entering unexpected spaces. In Maharashtra, vineyards are introducing wine meditation sessions. In the Northeast, homestays in Meghalaya and Sikkim are offering culinary healing treks, where local grandmothers turn foraged herbs into broths that soothe the gut and spirit.
In the time of digital fatigue running parallel to overstimulation of the senses, these journeys don’t just pamper—they rewire you.
“Eating out was part of the job,” says Goa-based food and travel writer Insia Lacewalla, recalling a lifestyle that once finessed indulgence to gormandising. Beneath the curated flair, something wrong was happening to her: bloating, fatigue, a body whispering warnings she could not interpret. Lacewalla was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. That moment cracked everything open. A gut cleanse followed, then a nutritionist. Across India, a powerful shift is reshaping the idea of wellness. The age of faux detox regimens and weekend spa escapes is giving way to focused, smarter, and more soulful experiences: a new genre called luxury wellness where science meets spirit, and recovery is as aspirational as hustle once was. “I didn’t realise how much magnesium was helping until I stopped taking it,” Lacewalla says. “It changed my sleep, my stress, and my muscle tension.”
In Mumbai, Dr Karan Jadhav, India’s first certified Thermalist instructor and founder of URECO, stands at the forefront of this transformation. His studio feels like a future-forward lab, lit by the warm glow of red light and the cold shimmer of ice bath pools. At its core is contrast therapy; an alternating between intense cold and heat to flush inflammation, stimulate repair, and reawaken the body’s healing systems. “Wellness shouldn’t just prevent illness,” says Dr Jadhav. “It should enhance your ability to live fully. You come out not just feeling better, but clearer, lighter, awake.”
For Rakshita Swami, a 39-year-old media professional in Mumbai, the wake-up call came during the pandemic—when a torn ACL— a ligament in the knee that connects the thigh bone to the shin bone— forced her to stop and reckon with her own body. “Before that, wellness was about vanity. Now, it’s about strength,” she says. Her days are built around strength training, creatine and collagen treatments, red light therapy, and deliberate recovery.
Public figures are tuning in. Mira Kapoor, entrepreneur and the quiet force behind India’s slow-living movement, launched Dhun Wellness, a serene 6,000 sq ft retreat tucked in a leafy Bandra bylane. Among its highlights: Red Light Bed Therapy—a sensorial experience that reduces inflammation, boosts collagen, and restores radiance at the deepest levels. “It is healing,” she says, “but its also coming home to yourself.”
Equally futuristic is REVIV, the global IV therapy pioneer now transforming wellness across India. “We’re not here to treat symptoms,” says Krysh Bajaj, co-founder of REVIV India. “We’re here to optimise your biology.” Every client at REVIV begins with IV Pro—a personalised AI-backed intake system that reviews lifestyle goals, medications, and clinical history. Based on this, they’re recommended custom drips—from Vitaglow an antioxidant-rich Glutathione IV for skin recovery to NAD+ for energy. “We even decline requests if the treatment isn’t warranted,” says Dr Rajni Toppo, Medical Director. Their client base spans young adults, CEOs, brides-to-be, and working moms.
A Booming Business
India’s wellness tourism market, valued at USD 19.22 billion in 2024, is projected to exceed USD 38 billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 7.3 per cent. Supported by Ministry of Tourism initiatives like the “Heal in India” campaign, India is rapidly positioning itself as a global destination for holistic, heritage-reinstating wellbeing experiences. “A lot of my clients from Singapore, the UAE, London and the US now prefer coming to India for longevity planning,” says Dr Marcus Ranney, longevity physician. Luxury hotels are evolving fast. Today’s retreats offer gut microbiome mapping, HRV (measures the fine fluctuations in the time between heartbeats to assess the body’s nervous system function and stress response) tracking, hormonal balance protocols, and stress resilience therapies. Across India, the wellness landscape is shifting toward personalised, data-backed healing, with ancient wisdom juxtaposing with modern diagnostics.
Some of the most discerning health sanctuaries are tucked within India’s stunning natural settings. One among them is Atmantan Wellness Centre, perched beside the still waters of Mulshi Lake in the now-buzzing village of the Western Ghats—fast emerging as India’s answer to biology-first wellbeing. “We don’t treat the disease; we treat the individual,” says Dr Manoj Kutteri, Medical Director and CEO. Atmantan’s approach begins with lab work: gut flora analysis, HRV and ANS (the part of the nervous system that handles heart rate, digestion, and breathing) testing, and personalised hormonal panels. In Goa, Amaraanth offers a modern counterpoint. At the HVN Spa’s Hydro Suite, guests lie cocooned in a 38°C Hydrobed for a two-hour therapy that flows uninterrupted, massage, scrub, facial, steam, and shower. “It felt like a full 360° treatment,” says photographer Porus Vimadalal. “The floating sensation was calming and grounding.”
With wellness language borrowing more and more from neuroscience and psychology using terms like “emotional detox” and “dopamine fasting”, questions arise about the ethical boundaries between disciplines. Dr Urvita Bhatia, clinical psychologist, warns against the casual co-opting of clinical terms. “When scientific claims lack rigorous evidence, it can mislead consumers and trivialise real mental health concerns,” she notes.
For 30-year-old Naimita Jagasia, founder of the plant-based French patisserie Ode to Gaia and an educator in the space of mindful baking, wellness wasn’t a lifestyle choice, it was survival. Years of chronic pain from a 2013 weightlifting injury spiralled into anxiety, hormonal imbalances, and severe digestive issues. “My body was constantly inflamed; my skin, my gut, my nervous system were all screaming for help,” she recalls. Integrative clinics offering IV therapy was what helped. “I did a glutathione drip and fixed chronic headaches; it wasn’t a magic fix, but it helped me regain energy and mental clarity.” Once niche, these intravenous therapies are now mainstream, with clinics like NuHealth, Avataar, and REVIV (with its flagship in South Mumbai) leading the shift.
As someone clocking 16-hour days, 27-year-old Anandita Anand, Turnkey Marketing Professional in the luxury beverage industry, found herself slowly unravelling. Living away from home, physically exhausted and emotionally frayed, anxiety crept in quietly. “I wasn’t looking for anything transformational, just a boost,” she says. That boost came via a hydration IV drip. From cacao rituals to cold plunges, she’s dabbled in therapies that aren’t always backed by science but offer something harder to quantify: emotional reprieve. She’s not always sure what’s working—“I can’t explain the science, but it feels grounding just to make space for myself.”
The Mind and the Body
Once seen as a luxury escape from the chaos of urban life, wellness used to mean slowing down: a forest stay with chirping mornings and dancing waterfalls, or a Himalayan hideaway offering Ayurvedic massages and sunrise yoga. Sanctuaries like The Westin Resort & Spa, Himalayas, still hold space for those traditional rituals. It’s this deeper emotional recalibration that spaces like Swastik Luxury Wellbeing in Peacock Valley, Khadakwasla Pune, are now centering. “Unless the mind is brought to peace, the body cannot fully absorb the benefits of any therapy,” says Dr Milind Salunke, Wellness Director at Swastik. Grounding begins the moment a seeker arrives: a temple bell rings, a warm foot bowl is offered, lavender oil is applied to calm. From barefoot reflexology tracks to chakra balancing, these elemental rituals help guests shift from external noise to internal stillness.
In the thick of Mumbai’s commercial skyline, the new Fairmont Mumbai’s Longevity & Wellness Floor offers a curated spectrum of clinical-grade therapies. Step into the Blu Xone, where marbled art-deco tiles and pristine white walls lead to cutting-edge biohacking tools: cryotherapy chambers, halo-therapy saunas, and hyperbaric oxygen pods. These therapies are guided by experts like Dr Rashmi Ambastha, Fairmont’s Director of Wellness and Spas. She explains, “This is where ancient Indian naturopathy meets precision diagnostics.”
While nature immersion has long been a wellness cliché, a powerful new frontier “wilderness wellness” is emerging. Siddhayu Wellness Ayurveda, from the House of Baidyanath, brings this to life in The Bamboo Forest, Tadoba. Set within a wildlife reserve, Siddhayu harmonises Ayurveda with elemental nature. Its signature therapy taps into nature directly, called Gothan Maati Lepam, it is a detoxifying clay pack made from local lake bed clay, enriched with native herbs. Actor Nauheed Cyrusi found it quietly transformative. “Wellness is probably one of the most overused words today,” she laughs. “But it’s really a lifestyle that often pushes us toward it and it’s so deeply personal.”
Sound healing is key here. Led by Anoopama Mukerjee Lohana, India’s first certified international sound therapist, sessions with Himalayan bowls and resonant gongs realign body energy with the forest’s pulse. While, in Gujarat, Woods at Sasan borders Gir Forest, where the Sonorium Sound Healing Space transforms sound into sensation. Frame drums, tubular bells, and a signature Sound Healing Bed guide guests through a 30-minute Five Elements journey.
And there’s the one thing we all need, yet so often sacrifice: sleep. At Ananda in the Himalayas, tucked into the foothills of the Ganges valley, sleep is reframed as a spiritual pursuit. Their Sleep Enhancement Programme approaches rest as a multi-dimensional process, beginning with soothing oil therapies like Shirodhara and Pada Abhyanga. Every sigh and snore is monitored and optimised to gently restore guests’ natural circadian rhythms. At Swastik Luxury Wellbeing, they go one step further. Their “tuck-in ritual” unfolds when the guest retires to their ‘guha’ (room). A therapist cleanses the feet with a warm towel, followed by a calming foot massage, and applying lavender oil to pulse points—before tucking them into bed in complete silence.
The aim of new wellness oeuvres is to elevate rest to an art form. Six Senses Fort Barwara, a 14th-century Rajasthan fort-turned-wellness sanctuary does exactly that. The Sleep with Six Senses programme combines sleep tracking with breath-focused therapies. Fort Barwara also offers unique crystal healing experiences, such as the Tiger’s Eye Treatment. This 90-minute ritual fuses the grounding energy of the Tiger’s Eye crystal with full-body massage, breathwork, and sound healing. As Dr Sreeragh Haridas, Wellness Director at the property, explains, “Tiger’s Eye is more than a treatment—it’s an energetic reset.”
The Right Dose
But as the wellness industry evolves, so does the need for discernment. Grounding ourselves in voices embedded in expertise and science is more important than ever. This ethos is echoed by life coach Brian Nathan Siegal. He notes how wellness tools—from mindfulness apps like Headspace and Calm to generative AI like ChatGPT—have multiplied, but the backlash has been severe causing the opposite effect. Unlike a coach or therapist, AI can’t always challenge blind spots or offer true accountability. Integrative gut and mitochondrial health expert Janvi K Chitalia highlights a biological awakening underpinning this movement. “Chronic exposure to toxins—from blue light to environmental pollutants—has left many in cellular exhaustion,” she explains. Her work focuses on nervous system recovery and detoxification through grounding, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and functional nutrition.
For Tanya Khubchandani Vatsa, founder of Elixir Wellness, a rapidly growing luxury wellness brand across Mumbai, Bangaluru, Delhi, and Ahmedabad—the real win lies in making wellness part of your every day. “We launched Elixir At Home to make recovery and biohacking more accessible,” she says. From red-blue light blocking glasses for sleep, to infrared saunas and compression therapy that ease soreness and boost circulation, Elixir’s tools are designed to deliver comfort, consistency, and results, on your own time. Not all healing, though, arrives through tech or treatment rooms; 40-year-old content creator Ila Johari found it in touch—specifically CBD oil and dry needling, which helped ease the pain she had carried for years. “The relief was almost immediate,” she recalls. These tools, once considered fringe, are now walking into clinics with confidence and clinical validation.
Chitra Balachandran’s healing began with her face. What started as a face yoga experiment became a self-check ritual. “It felt powerful to connect with myself, literally, skin to skin,” says the 40-year-old. Her go-to? The Whoop tracker, a chic wearable device. “It’s changed how I approach recovery and rest,” she says. Yet, some wounds defy physical and scientific approaches. Spiritual healer and Akashic Record reader Namrata Utsav Kedia says, “Clients often shift mentally but feel stuck, as if something deeper restrains them.” Her practice explores ancestral patterns and emotional imprints, facilitating breakthroughs beyond therapy and medicine. One client’s chronic jaw pain eased after releasing a past-life punishment vow; another transformed relationship struggles by healing five generations of trauma.
And maybe that’s what wellness really is now, a practice of noticing. A sense that your body is constantly talking to you, and that you finally have the tools and the permission to listen. Whether it’s energy work, hyperbaric oxygen, wearable tech, or just standing barefoot on the grass, what matters now isn’t what you’re doing, but why.