January Detox? Here’s A Juice Retreat On Trial
Image Credit: Juicy Oasis
Have you seen the documentary ‘Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead’? If not, you should. It’s the account of Joe Cross, who is morbidly obese and stricken with an autoimmune disease. In an effort to lose weight and reclaim his health, he endeavours to drink only fruit and vegetable juice for 60 days. The results are nothing short of amazing. Joe loses a total of 202 lbs. and comes off all the medication he has been reliant on for years. The body’s ability to heal itself is a resource that is all too often forgotten in our overmedicated and undernourished world.
With that in mind I set off to Portugal to spend a week at Juicy Oasis, the retreat devised by familiar media personality Jason ‘The Juice Master’ Vale. Jason’s on-screen persona is effusive, a bubbling mass of energy that brings to mind the production brief every children’s TV presenter must surely bear. When I met him the cynical, world-weary me watched like a hawk for the chinks in the armour, the cracks in that ever ready smile. They never came. The almost childlike fascination Jason holds for the world on camera is the Jason that exists in real time. Jason is as Jason does. And what does Jason do? Jason ‘juices’.
‘Juicing’ is the term that has, in recent years, defined a way of life that embraces all activity optimised for health. It is not about food deprivation, it is about enhancing the body’s ability to absorb nutrients from food. The experienced ‘juicer’ is generally not someone who turns to the blender every time they’ve put on a few, it is someone who understands that it’s only the one body we’ve got and it’s probably best if we treat it with respect. It’s an important distinction to make - Jason doesn’t espouse the virtues of juice solely in relation to weight loss; sure it’s a happy by-product but then so is increased energy, decreased insomnia and IBS relief. What Jason advocates is an alternative perspective to consumption in general, and this goes beyond the physical act of blending food groups. You look after your body and in turn that body will carry you to new perspectives regarding work, sex and relationships in general.
The outdoor exercise studio
So how did I get on?
Truthfully? Honestly?
My stay at the resort was life changing.
I so didn’t want to write that sentence, I so wanted to write positively about weight loss and neutrally about mental and spiritual gains. But I can’t. My personal experience was truly, genuinely transformative. Juicing is something that I will now prioritise as an essential component to my life moving forward. I have become, in one short week, a ‘juicer’.
So much has been written about juice cleanses that the chance are if you have read this far, you’ll know the drill. Days 1 and 2 are hard, Day 3 perhaps the hardest, Day 4 onwards – total breeze. Get through those first 3 days and you will have energy you never thought possible and eyes that have never looked so bright. You probably know all this so I won’t dwell. What I’d like to articulate here is the very particular nature of Juicy Oasis, the resort. It is a place where everyone gathers for a common goal: to feel healthier. As such, the usual nuances of social interaction are smoother, the hard edges rounded by the commonalty of shared experience. The ‘dining room’ is communal and the schedule of juices and activities the same for all. The sense of community is palpable, unexpected and appealing.
This is a luxury resort that is accessible to most. It is immensely popular with celebrities but they are treated the same as the rest of the guests. People come for various reasons and in my group these ranged from weight loss to management of an autoimmune disease. I went because I was over-caffeinated, overworked and under-rested. I couldn’t actually remember being any other way. I have always been fidgety, productive and unable to sleep. Never have I been calm or meditative.
On day 3, I was talking to Kenny the yoga instructor and as he was sharing his stories about the day I found myself listening attentively, my focus solely on him and my mind completely clear from distraction. Anyone who knows me will appreciate how contrary that is to my ‘personality’.
This got me thinking: what exactly is personality? The word ‘personality’ originates from the Latin for mask (persona) – it is the face that interacts with the external world. Numerous psychological studies have shown that when people undergo plastic surgery and change their external appearance, they also change something in their mentality. Everything in a person is interconnected – what a person looks like is the outward expression of his inner world.
I signed up to this juice detox with the intention of losing some extra pounds, but what happened very quickly was that all the traits I had accepted as the very definition of me altered. And altered quickly. My ‘personality’ had shifted. Our environmental influences, the things we take for granted in our world, have an affect far, far more powerful than we perhaps imagine.
Sophie doing yoga on the exercise deck
Still not convinced? Well how does the addition of a beautiful lakeside location, luxury spa, daily yoga and volleyball, hiking and boating sound? All on offer at Juicy Oasis. You’ve also got a cinema, nutritional lectures and a glass-fronted sauna. You have the option to keep busy all day, or the option to do nothing – it’s really up to you. It’s your journey and you take it, as you will. Personally I’m going back at least once a year and preferably two. See you there!
Jason “Juice Master” Vale at Juicy Oasis
Prices at Juicy Oasis start at £1,165 for 7 days based on 2 people sharing an eco-pod. For more information see Juicy Oasis
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