My first clue that I’d picked the exact right place appeared the moment I arrived, atop the mountain range Santani sits on. The views over the neighboring mountains and valleys are astonishing, full of lush greenery and scant development as far as the eye can see. This location and topography were highly intentional, due to Santani’s philosophy that nature itself is healing. Each of the guest rooms furthers this sense of restoration through the natural world: individual villas – ranging from studios to magnificent two-bedroom homes – all offer sweeping views of the same hills and valleys I’d seen on the way up. The soothing teak and cream interiors furthered the sense of peace in each room, which was spaced far enough from its neighbors on Santani’s lush campus to afford everyone true quiet.

The treatments themselves are highly personalized to whatever each guest is struggling with. There are programs designed for those having trouble with sleep, stress, menopause, and a host of other conditions. For myself, I knew the detox program would be best to help me clear the residue of accumulated medications, not to mention the toxins that we all accrue living in the modern world, from chemicals to pesticides to plastics. This decision to embark upon the detox program was made after a thorough consultation with an Ayurvedic doctor who did a comprehensive intake, going through my symptoms, taking my pulse, checking my tongue, and coming up with a plan. She spent over an hour with me, really getting a sense for my lingering symptoms, while also explaining how the personalized menu of spa treatments, meals, and activities, along with a purgation day, would address them. I left knowing that I was in world-class hands, and had made the exact right choice.

One of the most exceptional elements of Santani is the food. All meals are served in the resort’s stunning dining hall, which has glass walls looking out over the lush forests. The doctor wrote up a list of instructions for the restaurant’s incredible chefs on what I could and couldn’t have for the next ten days. On the no list were red meat, gluten, most dairy, and alcohol, although I was able to bargain for one decaf coffee in the morning. On the yes list were chicken, fish, curry, vegetables, and spices, which are considered to be healing in Ayurveda. You can choose between traditional Sri Lankan cuisine and a European menu at each meal. But even though I’d never considered myself a curry fan, which would be part of the Sri Lankan menu, I wanted to give it another chance since it is a staple in Sri Lanka. And boy was I glad I did. The curries were varied, flavorful, bright, and fresh – I looked forward to each, and got genuinely excited when I saw a curry tray coming my way. Other offerings included perfectly cooked proteins, exquisite soups, and desserts that eschewed all non-natural sugar and still left me more satisfied and happy than a brownie could have. The menu is designed around an Ayurvedic cooking principle that incorporates a multiplicity of flavors and ingredients in every meal, so you don’t leave hungry even without overeating. And though my diet would have been considered light by many standards, I left sated and happy throughout my entire stay.

As a recompense for the lack of triple-shot cappuccinos, you get to go to the spa. Every day, I had a different Ayurvedic treatment, which was customized to what the doctor felt my body, mind, and soul needed. A personal favorite was the shirodhara, during which warm oil was poured continuously over my forehead from a gold spigot for an hour. A major difference between these and Western spa treatments is that every external treatment at Santani corresponds to something inside your body. Specific strokes stimulate digestion, while certain pressure points are meant to induce sleep or ground the nerves. The treatments were profoundly relaxing. But their goal went far beyond this to encompass my specific health concerns and goals. Santani’s spa treatments all take place on the ground floor of a big stone building, with one wall open to a view of the mountains. Most of my treatments coincided with the afternoon rainstorms, which meant that I often found myself face down, being massaged by a packet of warm herbs and oil to the sound of thunder, with a fire lit at the open wall of each room. The setting felt sacred, and deeply healing.

Movement is also part of Santani’s philosophy and treatment plans. I arrived feeling quite tired, but found the yoga studio impossible to resist, perched as it is over a massive valley of trees ringed by mountains and often draped in mist from the heavy afternoon rains. Santani offered classes in the morning and evening, and I went to one almost every day. On days when I didn’t practice, I availed myself of the daily hikes led by guides down to temples and rivers and a suspension bridge. The first Sunday of my stay, I walked with several other guests down to that bridge through a forest where monks were chanting Buddhist prayers over a speaker. It was one of the most extraordinary walks of my life.

Santani can also teach you how to try to quiet your mind, which is something I’ve always struggled with. Inside the main yoga studio, and another extraordinary studio at the resort’s peak, I had an exceptional private meditation session, followed by another with a breathwork expert who led me through an hour of exercises in the tree-top villa. Sound baths, assisted stretching, and a number of other modalities through which you can mentally check out and drop into your body or the moment are also on offer. And if you’re looking to learn a bit more about Sri Lanka’s rich, fascinating, and varied culture, Santani offers a wonderful cooking class, during which I learned how to make the curries I’d been enjoying so much in the restaurant. Another afternoon, I took a walk with a guide down to a nearby temple, where I was lucky to meet a monk and see numerous brightly colored statues and paintings of the Buddha and scenes from the Buddha’s life. The temple near Santani is one of the region’s oldest, dating back more than 250 years.

My body was already feeling lighter, better, and more relaxed after just a few days at Santani. But the most notable shift was in my mind. By midway through my stay, I was experiencing a level of mental clarity and lightness that I hadn’t felt in years. Everything about Santani and my treatment program encouraged this, from the natural beauty surrounding the resort to the spa treatments, to the exceptional care and consideration of the staff. But what has been most remarkable is how this has held after returning home. Almost three weeks after returning from Sri Lanka, this clear-headedness of mind and spirit still feels present, which is the rarest and most valuable thing of all after a retreat. So too does my physical body still feel calmer and more grounded. Upon my departure, my doctor at Santani sat with me for another hour to offer recommendations on everything from nutrition to simple Ayurvedic practices I could continue at home to further my specific goals. All of these have been truly possible to bring back home, which is another welcome change from retreats that suggest unrealistic modifications. Santani is also making it even easier to continue healing at home by offering a personalized digital health assessment tool called Heal, which helps you understand your own health markers and track them over time.

My doctors had promised that time would do the work; a year on, it hadn’t. Ten days at Santani did – not in the bright, temporary way of a good holiday, but in a quieter way that has survived the flight home and every week since. That, to me, is the real measure of a retreat, and the one most of them fail: not how you feel walking out the door, but how you feel a month later, back inside your ordinary life. The clarity I found in those hills is still with me, and so are the small practices my doctor sent me home with. I arrived hoping to be restored by people who knew how, and I left knowing how to keep restoring myself – which is more than I knew to hope for, and more than most places built for healing can give.