Friday, March 23, 2007

Wakaya: Travel Review

Buddhists call it Nirvana. Greeks call it Elysium. I call it Wakaya.

As the sun rose to warm the day, I rose to warm my muscles.

Setting out on a dashing run, I soon found myself striding across some of the most eye-popping terrain I had ever seen. I have trained in many beautiful locales, but this place was without equal.

My legs carried me over hill and dale past ancient banyan trees and groups of (thankfully docile) feral horses -- as my lungs drew in the fresh, salty ocean air sweetened with frangipani and flower blossoms.

In my post-run reverie, I took to my 1500 square-foot cottage-suite (or “bure”) and lingered long in its outdoor volcanic-rock shower. I then adjourned to a beach-front gazebo and sipped down green tea, nabbed at papaya sorbet and gazed out at an impossibly azure and soothing sea.

You might call this halcyon moment post-run euphoria. I call it a sublime state of grace brought on by a place of unparalleled splendor.

Where in the world was I, you ask? At the Wakaya Club, a 2200-acre serrated sliver of paradise nestled among the 333 bejeweled Fijian islands.

Wakaya is widely-hailed as the paradigm of the luxury resort experience. My otherwise understated travel agent said I ought to brace myself for “an experience beyond your wildest dreams.”

I arrived at Wakaya by way of a 35-minute plane ride -- or more accurately, a luxuriant custom flying limousine -- from Nadi airport. Being the only person aboard, my pilot (nice to say) took aim at what looked like the island from the film Jurassic Park. As we approached the airstrip, I thought: “Could a place in today’s disarrayed world possibly be so pristine?"

From the moment I touched down on Wakaya, my heart was stirred (not shaken), and I felt a palpable surge of energy come right up through my feet. It was vaguely magnetic. I later learned this was not imagined. The geomagnetic polarity at Wakaya is unlike anywhere in the world.

A rumbling 4x4 was on hand to transport me across the island to the resort. There are no paved roads on Wakaya; this place is so undisturbed, I was half-expecting a gentle brontosaurus to peek through the thick foliage and offer a prehistoric welcome.

After a 15-minute drive, we arrived at the Wakaya Club. Within seconds, I was gracefully greeted by a radiant Fijian woman and subsequently shuttled to my room by another. I thought to myself: “Could that possibly have been check-in?"

As I approached my bure, which is an authentic Fijian thatched roof cottage, I spied a smooth, round rock bearing the name: “Eric.” That charming welcome brought a smile to my face.

Once inside, I was agape: woven bamboo wall covering, soaring ceilings, native timber flooring, a gossamer-soft bed, carefully-selected objects d'art, a deep soaking tub and the pièce de résistance: a 10 foot-high outdoor shower assembled with lava rocks.

Every inch of Wakaya speaks to a tireless dedication to quality, comfort and elegance: from the Tibetan rugs that grace the bures and soothe every toe on your feet to the ambrosial, island-grown organic produce that nourishes every cell in your body.

And nourishing your body comes easily at Wakaya. While there, I dined on chilled cucumber and crab soup, grilled walu with sushi rice, maple-glazed Wakaya venison with kumala mash and sautéed local spinach and of course the Wakaya trifle with crème anglaise. The caliber of food is so high at Wakaya that if you eat with any degree of mindfulness you will gain nary an ounce.

My stay at Wakaya was a relief -- and a release. I lead a healthy life, but not until you come to Wakaya do you realize how much you need it. In the first 24 hours on the island, the ringing in my ears stopped. After 48 hours, the tight knots in my shoulders unraveled. And, within three days, every worry and concern had all but vanished from my (well-stocked) psychological file cabinet.

In the past decade, our noisy world has been given a violet shove into deafening. Each day, traffic worsens, pollution rises and the news media assaults our senses -- and insults our sensibilities -- with a blitzkrieg of negative images. Human beings are resilient and, without thought, we adapt to these stresses. But, in walling ourselves off from the world, we grow disconnected.

That is manifested in the unprecedented health catastrophe in America. Some experts believe we are reaching a moment of unbearable physical crisis, that we are dissociating from our human nature.

That is why it is more important than ever to seek out peaceful places of refuge; they serve as spiritual ballast in a turbulent world.

Sadly however, as the world modernizes, bona fide places of refuge become rarer. Most travel destinations have grown so commercialized they resemble the very world we seek to leave behind. That may explain why we can arrive home from a vacation as bleary and bedraggled as when we left.

That is what makes Wakaya so special -- and so important.

The two people we have to thank for this precious, unfading gift to the world is Canadian-born entrepreneur David Gilmour and his wife, Jillian, who is largely responsible for the utterly tasteful elegance woven into every crevice of Wakaya.

“The more the world changes, the more we gravitate to places that don’t,” says Mr. Gilmour.

In 1973, Gilmour bought a wild Wakaya which had then been uninhabited for 140 years. Since the purchase, he has been tireless and uncompromising in preserving its natural grandeur.

“I believe Wakaya to be the last bastion of ecological sanity in the world,” he says, “and I have made it a personal mission to make certain it remains that way.”

And, it has. In Wakaya, the Gilmours have created a place of unqualified beauty that permeates your soul and anchors you to the best part of yourself.

Early on, the Gilmours took steps to preserve the entire reef system. Step off the beach at Wakaya and you are immersed in an explosion of color and sea-life.

Wakaya is so untouched and protected from the ravages of traditional tourism that in the midst of a mountain hike, my guide stopped and reached into the Earth. In his thick hand were dozens of small, white seashells. He explained that the warriors who resided there 150 years ago delighted in the meat contained in these tiny shells. After harvesting this seafood, they would tote it up to their mountainside homes and cook it in giant pots. Then, they would dine on these delicacies and flick the casings into a big pile. These shells sat so intact inches beneath surface that it looked like the feast had taken place just days ago.

After the hike, it was back to my bure, then to another sumptuous meal and over to my beach-front hammock for 80 winks.

As so goes life at Wakaya: effortless -- almost ethereal. There was no resistance, nothing to pierce my idyllic reverie as I floated blithely from one setting to the next: morning run, outdoor shower, breakfast, hike, outdoor shower, “10-handed massage,” (yes, it is what it sounds like; otherworldly), lunch, snorkel, nap, tennis and…another outdoor shower. You can do it all at Wakaya because at Wakaya, hours draw on for days.

And more days, I wish I had -- for I would have partaken of deep salt-water soaks in the body temperature water shiatsu/plunge pool at the new jaw-dropping Breeze spa. I would have ambled over the 9-hole golf course that cuts a swath through a 19th century copra plantation. I would have donned Wakaya’s professional scuba gear and sought out the sea turtles, trigger fish and manta rays trolling any one of the dozen prime dive sites just minutes from the resort.

Who knows, I may have even tried my hand at professional croquet.

For an exclusive paradise resort that welcomes a mere 12 couples at a time, Wakaya’s list of leisure activities outstrips most resorts many times its size.

As I meandered past one of the two boule courts on the island, my mind was whisked away to Villefranche-sur-Mer, in the South of France, when I played my first round of boule with a 91 year-old French poet named Cyrille.

Wakaya does that to you: while it grounds you in the magic of the moment, it also summons up your sweetest memories.

That enchanted atmosphere is orchestrated by the Fijian staff who are at the summit of their art. The staff-to-guest ratio is 12 to 1. And while your every conceivable need is met, it doesn’t feel one bit overbearing. Guest privacy there is regarded as “sacred.”

Perhaps that explains why Wakaya is where “those who have it all come to get away from it all.” When you visit Wakaya, and you must, you will likely find yourself in the company of luminaries from every walk of life. These people travel great distances to Wakaya, I believe, because it gives them what they need most: peace, privacy and beauty in an unchanging ambience of authenticity.

In the dying light of a warm Wakaya evening, I met a special friend of the Gilmours who upon learning I spoke French said to me: “Quand je pars ici, une partie de moi meurt.” It means: “When I leave this place, a part of me dies.” As night fell, I sat in my hammock and lost myself in the moonlit sea, allowing the whole experience at Wakaya to sink deep into my bones. I knew I’d be home soon.

The next morning, with bags packed, I stood listening to the entire Wakaya staff sing their rapturous farewell song to me. It was a strange juxtaposition: On one hand, I had never felt more alive; on the other, a part of me was dying. That man was right.

Wakaya is a haven to which I will never fail to return each year because I know it will never change. In a world that feels increasingly insane, I find warm comfort knowing Wakaya is out there, just as I remember it, and that it will forever remain my oasis of sanity.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

5 Ways to Help Our Children Lead Healthier Lives

Our kids are in trouble.

The epidemic of childhood obesity is fast creating a national health crisis. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, roughly 15% of American children, or nearly 8 million youngsters, are overweight; that has more than doubled since the early 1970’s.

To say nothing of the mental torment it inflicts on kids, being overweight can lead to a host of serious health problems from diabetes and sleep apnea to joint problems and gallbladder disease. Here’s something even more chilling: some experts content that this might be the first generation of kids to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.

We hear statistics like this on such a regular basis that we run the risk of being desensitized to them. It’s time to pull back and look at this issue with fresh eyes. After all, these are our kids we’re talking about.

First, it may be helpful to understand the mechanisms behind the rising rates of childhood obesity so that we can make more informed choices in helping our own kids.

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that the increase in overweight children is linked to growing social prosperity, which had led to children eating more and exercising less. Kids are immersed in playing increasingly compelling video games on increasingly wider-screen TV’s -- while munching on increasingly fatter foods.

It’s easier than you may think to help your kids live healthier lives. Here are five strategies to do just that:

Set a Better Example

Mahatma Ghandi once said: "You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”

While 15% of kids are overweight, that number pales in comparison to adults: a whopping 60% of whom are overweight or obese. A recent survey by the American Dietetic Association Foundation found that, more than anyone else, parents have the most potential to influence their children’s behavior, including their eating habits. Parents were chosen by kids as their most important role model, outshining “rock stars” and “celebrities.”

This survey confirms what we’ve long known: Kids watch what their parents do and they follow much of that behavior. That certainly includes eating and exercise. Research has found strong links between the food mothers eat and the choices made by their children.

We cannot slunk into the couch and cavalierly command our kids to “go play, go get some exercise.” Part of helping your child commit to better fitness is becoming a positive role model by making your own exercise a priority and by playing with your child more often.

Exercising with your children is a great way to spend quality time with them, improve their health and make your own exercise more rewarding. Staying fit can improve your child's self-esteem and decrease their risk of developing serious illnesses, such as heart disease or Type II diabetes.

You can also set a good example by eating better. Improving your diet needn’t be unpleasant or unpalatable either. Health food isn’t what it used be. There are more sumptuous options out there than ever before; it’s just a matter of taking the time to find them.

Limit Tube Time

The average American child gets less than one hour of exercise per week, but watches more than 30 hours of television. Thirty hours. The mind verily boggles! A University of Buffalo study found that a child’s risk of obesity doubles for every hour of TV he or she watches each week; for many kids, that’s a whole lot of doubling going on. You may consider striking a deal with your children: for every two hours of TV viewing, they must engage in one hour of fun physical activity. The operative word there is “fun.”

Make it Fun (Really Fun)

According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 75% of high school students do not attend physical education classes. Much of that has to do with the fact that it isn’t fun. If it were, more kids would attend. Parents, coaches and teachers need to band together and commit to keeping sports fun and challenging for kids. If kids who are overweight are having fun, weight loss comes as a natural consequence of the activity, rather than the focus. Make having fun the singular focus of your child’s relationship with physical activity.

“Kids who enjoy sports and exercise tend to stay active throughout their lives. And staying fit can help improve your child's self-esteem and decrease the risk of serious illnesses (such as heart disease and stroke) later in life,” says Steven Dowshen, MD, Chief Medical Editor for KidsHealth.com.

Expose kids to new activities that they truly enjoy – and that they excel in. I was an overweight, gangly mouth-breather in grade school. I hated sports. That is, until I played my first game of soccer. My parents took the time to help me discover my bliss, and once I did I couldn’t be stopped! I was even known to sleep with my soccer ball.

Never before have there been more sports available to kids: ballet, lacrosse, water polo, soccer, golf, tennis. Keep trying new activities until you find the one that clicks with your kid.

Strike a Junk Food Deal

Each year, the average American child partakes of 28 pounds of French fries and consumes 868 cans of soda a year. (Yes, you read that right). You may want to consider this approach: no junk food during the week, but on weekends, allow your kids to slack off and have the bad stuff. That way, they’re consuming less overall junk food, and you haven’t made it as taboo, which only increases their desire to have it. Another related strategy to help kids eat better is not to deny the “bad foods,” but merely to insist that they have the “good stuff” first. The idea is that after eating the good, they will have less room for the bad. That’s not a bad suggestion for parents, either!

Spend More Time Eating Together

In our culture, we tend to view food as a tool rather than as nourishment. We often eat on the run and give little or no thought to what we’re putting into our bodies, or how we’re doing that. We need to give more reverence to food -- and to mealtimes. Establish daily meal and snack times, and eat together as frequently as possible. Some research has shown that kids who sit down to eat with their families develop healthier dietary habits. This is a tip that can benefit parents as well.

Parents, it’s a now-or-never proposition to keep our children healthy and fit; their lives depend on it. Exercising with your children is a great way to spend quality time with them, improve their health and make your own exercise more rewarding. Staying fit can improve your child's self-esteem and decrease their risk of developing serious illnesses, such as heart disease or Type II diabetes.

We cannot blame this problem on video games, TV commercials, Tony the Tiger -- or the “resistance” put up by our children. That merely disempowers us. The solution to the problem of childhood obesity in this country – resulting from too little exercise and poor nutrition -- rests squarely on the shoulders of parents.

Let’s all take the concerted and consistent action necessary to improve the health and fitness of our children. After all, they are our most precious asset.