Block longevity in Lanserhof Sylt, the iconic German well -being withdrawal

Before there were Michael Pollan and his masterclass of “intentional food”, before there was “intermittent fasting” and the Wim Hof ​​method, there was Franz Xaver Mayr, the Austrian doctor at the beginning of the 20th century. Its revolutionary MAYR method was based on the belief that the secret to health and beauty begins in the gut. Its monitoring of the worship led to the opening of its own clinic and, eventually, to Lanserhof, a refuge for welfare and longevity in fourth place I currently find. Somehow for my own choice.

Reaching the remote German island of Sylt, considered by some as the Teutonic version of the Hamptons, if the hamptons had fewer beach clubs and more colonics, he makes an effort. That is, of course, the point. The guests must take a four -hour train trip through the Hindenburg Causeway from Hamburg to reach the city on the list, where, between the waves and Heather, Lanserhof Sylt seems to be levitar above the dunes. Paja’s roof structure (the largest of its kind in Europe) designed by architect Christoph Ingenhoven offers no registration desk, no personalized aroma, no chip guide to provide their food fears only 750 calories a day. This is also the point. In Lanserhof, escaping the pressures of the real world, adjusting your senses to your body and your environment, it is also part of the treatment.

I arrived from New York exhausted, existentially tired so that no spa day or holiday could be resolved. The weather made no sense, it was exhausted, bluntly, unable to sleep. The relentless deadlines, the continental movements, the news cycle … It was enough to launch -to a spiral of the half -life that, I decided, just a week away, alone, could be cured. So, no, I had not reserved Lanserhof to lose those few kilos of winter (as a guest gentleman revealed) or to maintain a chronic control disease (as a “shocked gut syndrome syndrome” said). I was here to sleep without medication and to enlist in the Lanserhof longevity program, which would keep my body in this deadly coil as long as possible, in the form in peak (ISH). In other words, I was here for what Lanserhof promises in its nucleus: a reset of scientifically rigorous and medically controlled rigor.

The approach of the clinic, the Lanserhof Cure, is rooted in what professionals call “medicine 3.0”: an evolution of preventive medicine that is seen as a treatable condition. This results in personalized diagnostics, individualized consultations and daily interventions calibrated in your own genes, cells and metabolism. It also means that a stay begins with a series of tests (blood panels, body composition explorations, a fragility score assessment) and meetings with medical directors Jan Strizke and Christina Haeggberg, who traveled my data with clinical canor. It turns out that my vitamin D was low. My calcium, border. My posture? Protector. My hips and my knees and shoulders subtly turned to protect a PSOAS muscle on work: a compensation that I would never have known if it were not for the assistant’s osteopath, who, in one session, released my back and relieved a constant pain that had overcome me for two decades.

If the diagnoses and physiothery were hardcore, the protocols were the same. I received an infusion of something yellow (Vitamin d?) For two Cellgym sessions, designed to mimic altitude training and increase my mitochondrial health. I stopped five tracks in a refrigerated Cryo chamber at -110 ° C, my breath slowing -as the coach danced along with me outside the glass door to three -minute classics. (“Time Warp” seems to know no barrier of the language and, without a doubt, accelerates throughout the countless 180 seconds, as suggested by his title.) My masseuse insisted that he was too adjusted to a conventional massage. “You need Abyanga,” he said. “A deeper thing.” No joke.

Deeper was a topic. In Lanserhof Sylt, the body is treated as a system of interdependent parts, not a series of symptoms to manage. You must reach the cell level to manifest the change. Nutrition was no exception. I met with the quietly formidable diet of the clinic, which analyzed not only what I in charge, but how. His verdict: I didn’t eat enough and when I did, it was inconsistent. Worse, he did not chew properly: an offense of almost spiritual magnitude. Dr. Mayr believed that each food bite requires 30 to 40 chews, and, rather, Dr. Haeggberg had to teach me to chew properly. “Digestion begins in the mouth,” he insisted. Other pearls of wisdom: It is not spoken while eating. There is no water for thirty minutes on both sides of a meal. Nothing but tea after dinner, which should end at 19:30. To ensure that my colon was erased at the end of the week, every day I started with an Epsom salts t -shirt. Thanks, I sat alone, without complaining to my neighbors at the table at lunch. Instead, each meal forced me to reflect on my options, about the wind, my relationship with food and people. The scarce but elegant meals consisted of a delicious portion of coconut yogurt, a small dish of spelling pasta with vegan Bologna, shakes presented in bowls with tiny spoons. On the four day, my headache and my hunger faded. My appetite was recalibrated. I started tasting food again, not just consuming it. It is incredible what they can do 40 chews.

Not everything was about food or fascia. I spent a quality time with Heide, a therapist who suggested me gently that he scheduled a daily “worry window” to contain my anxiety to fall asleep. (Good sleep hygiene is essential for longevity.) Your sleep recycling strategy required me to be in bed and watch my breath for 30 minutes, then raise me and read it in another room. At first he felt punitive, leaving his nerves and tired body. But on Wednesday, my brain had learned to shut up, how to surrender. Months later, I continue without Ambien.

Apart from running with round ribbons stuck to some tubes or sitting at conferences on intestinal health sessions or yoga groups, there is little to do in Lanserhof Sylt. At least that was what I went into this trip thinking. Once my sleep and my hunger were regulated, I made myself available to nature. One day he was marked by a long bike tour of the city. Another included a 10 mile route on the seafront, resisting the desire to buy a beer in a cafeteria. I read three books from the fireplace. (Electronics is not allowed!) One night, I drank kombucha and saw that the sky was blushing pink and gold as the sun meltdown through the glass wall, such a quietly introspective scene, which resided in a world apart from the offspring and deadlines. Conversations with my guests, in the pool, for a walk in the morning, through this fireplace, were deeply personal and serious. It was easy to forget that most of us had come here broken, hoping that “Lanserhof’s care” will curb us all.

My last morning, confident in my new “Wellth”, put my head on the swimsuit, undressed and went to the North Sea. The 2 ° C salt water bite was instantaneous. My ends fell asleep, my core felt hot. For a full minute I fought against the will to run. Or to cry. And then, without fanfare, the pain happened. I appeared euphoric, without reason for my nonsense and self -imposed. I can do hard things! Even sleep without medication. Even chews a bite of bread over 40 times. Maybe I can even live in health forever.

8-Night Lanserhof Classic Plus from € 4,046, not included accommodation. Rooms of € 649 per night; Lanserhof