A Week at a Wellness Retreat in Thailand in the Time of COVID

• Kamalaya is a resort built on the site of a sacred hermit retreat on the island of Samui in Thailand.
• I’m a wellness newbie who’s waved away words like “holistic” and “self care” for their crunchy-granola vagueness.
• But in December, partially as a response to COVID-era stress, I decided to give the resort a try.
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As soon as I walked into my color therapy session, I was sure I’d made a mistake. 

It was the first day of a week-long stay I’d booked at Kamalaya, a wellness retreat located on an idyllic stretch of beach on Thailand’s Samui Island. The resort is sought after for its programs that claim to enhance body and spirit. It’s where a certain international set flies in on private jets…