“An 18 days Ayurvedic retreat in Sri Lanka whilst working on the side? It sounds about as consistent as a digital detox with a laptop and two smartphones. I gave it a go anyway.” Christoph Schneider, media manager
An ancient healing tradition, yoga, oil massages and the realisation that body and mind desperately need to find some peace. On the other hand, there’s the laptop, Teams calls, WhatsApp and that email which, of course, absolutely must be replied to today. Can these two worlds be reconciled?
My 18-day experimental retreat is located on the south coast of Sri Lanka, in Weligama. The Barberyn Waves Ayurveda Resort is situated high above the Indian Ocean, surrounded by tropical greenery and Ayurvedic medicinal plants. There is a large Ayurveda Medical Centre, a yoga and meditation pavilion, a 30-metre pool with a magnificent sea view, and a gym with good equipment. And there’s Wi-Fi. Though, quite deliberately, not everywhere.
It works perfectly with high bandwidth in the rooms and at reception, but not by the pool, in the lobbies or in the restaurant. Barberyn clearly wants to prevent people from working or making phone calls in the restaurant or in the areas where you’re meant to relax.
I simply bought a data pass (12 GB for 16 euros). That way, I can go online anywhere for ‘emergencies’. But I only work in my room – and with a workspace like this, that really isn’t a problem at all.
6 o’clock – the day begins
The great thing about Sri Lanka is that you wake up early. Very early. The birds are awake, the sun is awake, the sea is awake – so I get up at around 6 o’clock. Now there are two options: the sensible choice is yoga. Barberyn offers yoga in the mornings, and it’s actually an integral part of the Ayurveda programme. The other option is for people like me, whose enthusiasm for the Sun Salutation is subject to certain daily fluctuations: swimming. So, on with my swimming trunks and off into the 30-metre pool. I swim 20 minutes of lengths whilst the day begins over the Indian Ocean. There are worse ways to start a working day. Afterwards, a shower and breakfast.
And now my actual experiment begins.
Perhaps the most beautiful office in the world
At around 8 o’clock, I open my laptop. And by this point at the latest, Barberyn Waves has an unfair competitive advantage over my usual workplace: the rooms are spacious and beautiful, with a spectacular view of the Indian Ocean. I open the double doors, sit down at my desk and look out at the sea whilst I work. No artificial Zoom background. No photo wallpaper. The sea is actually there. I know of few places in the world where I’d rather spend three hours working with full concentration. Replying to emails, making phone calls, drafting proposals – whatever needs doing.
And, surprisingly, it works brilliantly – perhaps even better than at home. And above all, the certainty that I’ll be done by 11, or 12 at the latest. That makes a remarkable difference. Three focused hours can be more productive than eight hours in the office, during which you check your mobile about 37 times, rush from meeting to meeting, fetch coffee and wonder what it was you actually set out to do in the first place.
The time difference with Europe helps. Whilst Germany is still asleep or just slowly waking up, I’ve already sorted out my most important tasks. And then comes the most important rule of my experiment:
Laptop off.
Not ‘just one more quick thing’. Not ‘I just need to send this email’. Off. Because now Ayurveda begins!
Now the doctor is taking over
Barberyn is not a wellness hotel with a bit of Ayurveda thrown in as an extra. Anyone who comes here is undertaking a proper Ayurvedic treatment programme. It begins with a thorough examination by an Ayurvedic doctor. After that, a personalised treatment programme is put together. And it’s certainly no walk in the park.
The treatments begin after lunch. Oil massages, head and facial treatments, herbal baths, steam baths and, depending on the prescription, other treatments. Three hours fly by. With additional treatments, it can even stretch to four. These include, for example, Shirodhara, one of the best-known Ayurvedic treatments: a steady stream of warm oil runs over the forehead for an extended period. It sounds like it might take a bit of getting used to, but after a while you realise why nobody opens their laptop straight afterwards and thinks: ‘Now would be a good time to go through the quarterly figures.’ You lie there. You read. You look out at the sea.
Or you do something that I normally find surprisingly difficult: nothing.
Swimming! Then please, before you do so
There’s another important lesson you learn quite quickly. If you want to go for a swim, you should do so before your treatments. After the treatments, the oil is meant to take effect; the sea and the pool are off-limits for the rest of the day. Yet another reason for my daily routine: a swim in the morning, work in the morning, and Ayurveda in the afternoon. It’s actually surprisingly simple.
That, for me, is precisely the trick. Remote working tempts you into thinking you can, in theory, always be working. Open your laptop – and suddenly you’re in the office. Ayurveda works exactly the other way round. The treatments, the food, the rest periods, yoga and meditation all go hand in hand. The body needs to wind down.
That’s why the combination only works with a clear boundary:
The morning is for work, the afternoon for Ayurveda.
No calls at 4 pm. No presentations after the oil massage. And, if possible, no discussions about budgets whilst the Ayurvedic oil is still dripping from your hair. The Indian Ocean sets the agenda.
And in the evening?
Once the treatments are over, there isn’t much left to do. And that’s exactly the point: reading. Sleeping. Gazing out at the sea. Perhaps going for a walk.
After dinner, I usually read for a while. Sometimes I quickly check my emails, but that’s about it. It’s usually all over by 10 o’clock. The next day begins at 6 o’clock.
I spent 18 days at Barberyn Waves. That might sound like a long time at first, especially for people who usually start to get anxious after just four days’ holiday because they think something important might be happening somewhere. But for me, that is precisely the key point of an Ayurvedic retreat.
Personally, I wouldn’t even consider a one-week stay. The first few days are all about settling in. Your body gets used to the new rhythm, the treatments and the different food – and your mind gets used to the idea that not every spare minute needs to be filled with some activity straight away. Only then does the real relaxation begin.
For me, therefore, two weeks would be the minimum, three weeks the ideal. And, paradoxically, this is exactly where my short morning work slot comes in handy. It means I don’t have to disappear completely from my normal life for 18 days. I can take care of important matters, remain contactable and still consistently devote most of the day to the retreat. Perhaps that is precisely why this model works for me.
My conclusion
Ayurveda and remote working go hand in hand. But only if you don’t try to simply relocate a normal working day under the palm trees. Three hours of focused work in the morning, on the other hand, work a treat. And you’d be hard-pressed to find a better workspace than the desk at Barberyn Waves, with its open double doors and views over the Indian Ocean. After that, Ayurveda takes over.
And what did those 18 days achieve? When I got home, I actually felt detoxed: 18 days without alcohol, eating a more or less vegan diet, Ayurveda every day, plenty of sleep, exercise and, above all, very little of what normally dictates the day at home. Whether my body really did rid itself of all its toxins, I’ll leave that to the Ayurvedic doctors to decide. There’s only one thing I know for certain: I was more relaxed than I’d been in a long time. And perhaps that is precisely the most important realisation from those 18 days. You don’t have to disappear completely from working life to really unwind. But you do have to set boundaries with work. My realisation after 18 days: you can take your laptop with you on an Ayurvedic retreat. It just needs to know when the working day is over.
Christoph Schneider …
… is a media manager from Munich. He has been working for publishing houses and TV broadcasters for 30 years, most recently spending 14 years as managing director of Amazon Prime Video. At the moment, he spends a lot of time travelling extensively around the globe. He always has his laptop with him.
Photos: © Schneider
