Puurenkuur Yogaweekend Badhotel Domburg in de Volkskrant

Yoga and wellness

We have booked a yoga and wellness weekend at Badhotel Domburg and we are lucky: on this beautiful Saturday morning, Els decides to give the 8 o'clock yoga class outside, on the beach, with a view of the sea. The sky is baby blue with motionless white clouds on the horizon. Seagulls shout their hoarse greetings, the sun makes the sea sparkle. Fourteen women, feet firmly planted in the damp sand, salute Mother Earth. Els deftly leads her group through the lesson, which lasts an hour and a half, but passes in a daze. 'This is how every day should start', Lieve from Gent (Belgium) sighs when we walk back to the hotel over the shell path, where the extensive breakfast buffet beckons with traditional bread and croissants, fresh orange juice and fruit salad. After breakfast, everyone does what they like until the next yoga class at the end of the afternoon – and even that is not obligatory. You can go to the spa and get a massage with hot stones and warm Zeeland herbal oil, or opt for a body scrub with sea salt. Or look at the shops in the village, take a walk on the beach, rent a bicycle for a trip across Walcheren. And if you just want to be lazy, settle down with a magazine in the garden.

Reasons

In the evening, during dinner with smoked salmon and broom salt paella that is slaked with plenty of white wine, the participants - coincidentally all women this time, but that is sometimes different, Els emphasizes - explain their reasons for booking this weekend. Sociologist Margarithe from Amsterdam gave birth to her first baby three months ago and especially needs a few nights of undisturbed sleep. Executive secretary Roos from Epe has 'had quite a difficult time'. Municipal official Esther from Tilburg will only be going on holiday in a few months and was ready for a weekend away, 'and you can easily do this on your own'. And Judith from Loenen was convinced by two friends. She has “not exercised in a hundred years” and would like to find out if yoga is for her.

Yoga and wellness weeks or weekends are popular: the internet is teeming with links that lure you to Texel and Thailand, to the Veluwe or Portugal. Anyone who takes a closer look will quickly see that the market serves two types of target groups. You have the weekends, often given in the Ardennes or on the Veluwe, where the meditation and yoga classes start at 6 o'clock in the morning or even earlier. You sleep in simple guesthouses where you have to share the toilet and shower in the hallway and the kitchen serves light, preferably 'Ayurvedic' meals. On the sites happy men and women dance hand in hand, looking for 'the source'. This is obvious to the diehards, who have practiced meditation and yoga for years, read Eckhardt Tolle and for whom life is all about 'personal development'. And you have the weekends for that other, more down-to-earth person who really wants to take a Pilates or yoga class, but preferably in a comfortable hotel with good food, relaxing massages and an abundance of dolce far niente.

Puurenkuur

Marleen van Griensven (1974), founder of wellness travel organization Puurenkuur, knows how to bring modern people back into balance with accessible yoga and pilates weekends, weight loss and detox trips and mindfulness weeks against stress and burnout. “It is quite a challenge to build a good business in the travel industry, especially in periods of crisis or corona. Both periods also affected her business, but Van Griensven says she navigates through these difficult years with an accessible, concrete offer and with high-quality good spas and spas. ‘Our target group consists of women and men over forty – with good jobs, busy families and a high workload. Ready for rest and relaxation, also for deepening, but averse to anything vague. So not the seasoned yoga type. And if they don't have time for a wellness trip to Portugal or Thailand, such a yoga weekend in Zeeland or somewhere else in the Netherlands is ideal to recharge your batteries.'

Exhausted

Sunday has arrived in Domburg. Outside the rain is pouring down from the sky, inside a room fourteen women are lying on their mats. No, there are thirteen: the young mother couldn't hold it any longer and boarded the train early this morning in Middelburg to go to her baby. The women performed the sun salutations seven times this morning, followed by an intense pilates lesson, in which the musculoskeletal system, the 'powerhouse', was trained. Now they can relax. Els: 'Yoga is about deepening, observing, not judging.' Els leads the breathing for the last time. “Breathe in… exhale…” The group falls silent. After four intense sessions within 36 hours, they feel every muscle in their body burning. And then it's time for the last round. 'How did you like the weekend?' Els asks. 'Yes, it went well, they nod unanimously, it was wonderful, it was relaxing, although the lessons were quite intensive. 'I'm broken', Judith sighs, 'but it was nice.' Roos: 'When I arrived here the day before yesterday, my stomach was so tense. It has relaxed completely.”

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