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ISMAIL NIYAZ
nonfiction
T. S. Eliot – the man who isn’t there MYRON DAVIS / TIME LIFE / GETTY IMAGES
Eliot’s letters shy away from the truth of his vexed sex life
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hen the third volume of T. S. Eliot’s letters came out I calculated that at its present rate the series would complete in 300 years. The fourth has been prompter, but I guess few readers of this newspaper will live to see the last of Eliot’s letters in print. It simply does not seem to want to see itself published. There are good reasons, which I’ll come to later. First, the praise. This is a beautifully produced, tactfully annotated volume. Eliot is not writing his greatest poetry or criticism over these two years. The correspondence chronicles Eliot the editor. His journal, The Criterion, has lost its financial backer. The publishing firm Faber and Faber, of which he is a director, is having financial troubles. It’s a fascinating story, but 800 pages of overwhelmingly business correspondence is wearying. We catch occasional glimpses of the man behind the editorial mask. There are a dozen letters by Eliot’s wife Vivienne, a woman sick in body and mind. In one of them she tells a friend, “I am very unhappy and . . . quite defenceless . . . If you hear of me being murdered, don’t be surprised.” In fact, what happened to her six years later was scarcely kinder: incarceration in a mental institution. “Tom”, she reports, has taken up dancing and is learning to drive. He has had two teeth removed. But as one reads on and on Eliot the man is a veritable Macavity. He isn’t there. Nor did he intend to be. He instructed Valerie, his second wife, 38 years his junior, not to publish his letters. He later lifted his prohibition, “On condition,” as she recalled in her preface to the first volume, “that I [Valerie] did the selecting and editing.” He was adamant that no biographies should be authorised or in any way assisted.
The Letters of T. S. Eliot Volume 4: 1928-1929 Edited by Valerie Eliot and John Haffenden Faber and Faber, 836pp £40 £32
John Sutherland
Was Eliot an anti-Semite, a proto-fascist, or was he gay? There is no evidence here
How much selecting and editing was there?There was certainly alot of pre-emptive destruction. There are, for example, virtually no family letters in this volume, although many were written. The prohibitions Eliot laid on his widow were crushing. That it took 23 years after his death for the first volume of The Letters (without the defining terms “collected” or “selected”) to appear was symptomatic. Valerie was, as her 1974 edition of The Waste Land manuscripts shows, an able editor. But she simply could not bring herself to release her husband’s literary remains. I saw something of her in her later years. She was an admirable woman, fanatically loyal to the man she would always love and with whom she had eight happy years of
fiction A wonderful, winding road to contentment Something Like Happy by John Burnside Jonathan Cape, 244pp £16.99 £13.99 e-book £17.72
Paul Dunn
Moving stories of truckers, transvestites, dreams and delusions
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ow many synonyms for “poignant” are there? You’ll need 12 more to do justice to these wonderful stories by John Burnside without lapsing into repetition. Best known as a poet — he won both the Forward and T.S. Eliot prizes in 2011 — Burnside is just as acclaimed for his fiction writing(he hada novel on theCosta prize shortlist the same year). Perhaps that is why
these stories are free of the self-consciousness of some poets’ prose, but retain an intensity that transcends narrative. Whether it’s the oppressive air of a factory town, the smell of coming snow or the minute detail of self-delusion, Burnside nails it with pinpoint accuracy. Each story is told by a narrator on the edge of events, or is about something that doesn’t quite happen:the womanwhose sister goes out with a man who beats up his brother over a borrowed sweater; the lecturer who fantasises about, but never seduces, her students; the knife robbery averted. In Sunburn, for example, a man explains why he likes to get his skin burnt on
for better or worse T. S. Eliot with his second wife Valerie in Chicago, 1959
marriage. The obituaries of her death last November were too polite to describe the price she paid. Long after his death, she would, after a few drinks, offer to introduce whoever she was talking with to “Tom”. In the letterless vacuum speculation ran rife. Eliot, it was asserted, was an antiSemite. There is no evidence of it here. Letters record him encouraging a young Jewish writer and helping an older Jewish man of letters get British citizenship. He was gay (no evidence here). He was a proto-Fascist (no evidence apart from a carefully armslength exchanges with the French crank Charles Maurras).
the first hot day of summer. He is trapped by the memory of when he was 14 and flirted with the woman next door as she rubbedsoothinglotion into his burnt shoulders. This detachment links the stories. Denied real happiness, these are people finding solace where they can — in a plate of hot toast or the memory of a perfect ice cream. Even a love affair can be just “a game we played to ease the boredom . . . of being the people we turned out to be”. What they all know is that “Happy is dangerous. Happy costs you.” In The Cold Outside, Bill, an unhappily married lorry driver dying of cancer, offers a lift to a young transvestite who has been beaten at an S&M party. As they talk, a brief, intense relationship grows between them. But this is never sexual; instead emotional comfort is exchanged. As Bill says, “It was his happiness I was curious about — because I thought he wanted me to imagine him as happy”. The story ends with
travel The Bandos Island resort, Maldives (21), and below, the Riad el Fenn, Morocco (47)
Finally, as Mrs Eliot became terminally incapable, Faber recruited the eminent and energetic Professor John Haffenden. Since he is, like me, “emeritus” (ie, well retired), I suspect that he will not have a long spell at the wheel. But he will, one hopes, get the show on the road and drive it faster. It will not be easy. There are unexploded bombs in Haffenden’s way. A principal reason Eliot was so keen to destroy or control the publication ofhis correspondence was his vexed sex life. The marriage was on the rocks in 1928-29. Eliot would, later, be party to Vivienne’s committal. There will surely be some surviving correspondence relative to that painful business. One of the other womenin Eliot’s life was the American Emily Hale. It was suspected, when they were both young, that they would marry. They didn’t. The relationship came back to life at the period covered by these letters. It was intimate, although Hale gets only one passing footnote reference. When Vivienne died, wretchedly, in 1947, Emily again expected a proposal. None came. She was infuriated when Eliot married his young secretary in 1957 and broke off all communication. To Eliot’s matching fury, Emily deposited his 1,200 letters to her (he burnt hers to him) in Princeton Library. That huge trove comes into public access, by Hale’s ordinance, in 2019. The preface to this volume indicates that the Faber editors do not know what they contain. One thing is certain: no more T. S. Macavity. The Hale letters will open the way to a slew of “now it can be told” biographies. And how will Faber handle this hot potato? A separate volume, leapfrogging the years? Or will Haffenden and his successors plant them in the relevant volumes as the series churns on for another 20 instalments? This project is going to get a lot more interesting over the coming decades. It’s a pity that I — and many of you, I fear — won’t be around to see how it all works out.
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Bill back at home, waking his sleeping wife in a world that “felt familiar and more or less happy”. The Deer Larder is a perfect ghost story for the internet age. The narrator receives a series of misdirected e-mails telling of spooky happenings on the island of Jura. Thinking that it is a cyber hoax, he fails to intervene. Then a press clipping reveals the truth. Again, Burnside is interested in the framing; a man at his computer watching the main event unfold at a distance. In that story, Burnside writes of those surreal fragments found on the internet: “Sad little narratives of trouble and desire, of achievement and loss.” That description would serve these stories well: nothing cries out to be longer or outstays its welcome. Each is a perfectly pitched, perfectly weighted gem.
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To order books at discounted prices call 0845 2712134
50 breaks for body and soul From a raw-food detox in Italy to yoga in India, Caroline Sylger Jones picks the world’s best spa breaks Change your life 1 Wellness retreats Kamalaya Koh Samui, Thailand
This Thai retreat is a soothing blend of contemporary spaces and well-thought-out holistic programmes. It’s set beside a private lagoon at the quiet end of Koh Samui, in a fairytale ravine strewn with granite boulders and tropical plants. You can now attend complimentary Stress Dissolution and Mastering Relationships workshops to help you deal with stress at home or learn how to get on better with your loved ones. Whatever your needs, leave plenty of time for the exceptional Thai massage. Details A seven-night programme costs
from £1,715pp (00 66 0 77429800, kamalaya.com)
2 Relax and revive, Ynyshir Hall Wales
A cosseting nine-bedroom 16th-century manor house next to an RSPB Nature Reserve in the Powys countryside runs three-night “Relax & Revive” breaks designed by the owner, Joan Reen. Joan has put together an impressive selection of therapies and activities led by local experts from which you can pick and choose, including meditation walks, shiatsu, bio-energy healing, kinesiology, tai chi and massage . Details From £800pp forthree nights, with meals, two sessions and access to the reserve (01654 781209, ynyshirhall.co.uk)
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Experiences are arranged by your own personal adventure butler, including foraging and meditation
3 Adventures in the Intrinsic Cornwall New for 2013, this life-coaching holiday is based at a luxury cottage and led by Nicolaas Engelbertus, a personal-development coach and author of The 7 Step Guide for Resilience. The break centres on practical techniques for change and includes a range of experiences arranged by your own personal “adventure butler”, from foraging and seascape painting to beach meditation. They can also arrange a couples coaching break with kids in tow. Details From £995pp for three nights, including accommodation and coaching (0843 5085005, adventuretemples.com)
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4 The Elite You at Dewsall Court Herefordshire
Starting February 1, Floyd Woodrow, MBE, an ex-SAS soldier and motivational guru, will run a weekly “healthy coaching” weekend at Dewsall Court, a new ten-bedroom boutique retreat. There will be yoga, sound therapy, massages and cooking demonstrations. Details Two nights, all-inclusive, is from £590pp (01432 276724, dewsall.com)
5 Reclaim Yourself Mind Spa Tuscany
This four-night retreat combines coaching, cooking and pampering in the hills of northern Tuscany. Stay at a restored 17th-century Baroque villa with a walled garden, and experience one-to-one sessions with coach Stephen Yates, a qualified NLP practitioner. Details The next Mind Spa is September 11-15, from £450pp for four nights all-inclusive (020-8350 8943, reclaimyourself.co.uk)
6 Retreat at Witherdens Hall Kent
This retreat in east Kent is run by Louise Cox Chester, a former investment analyst who provides personal coaching for the workplace. There’s a two-hour session called What’s Your Purpose? in which she’ll help you to clarify the over-riding purpose in your life. Details Two nights from £25pp; coaching sessions from £100, treatments from £40 (01227 720543, witherdenshall.co.uk)
7 Revive at Hotel Tresanton Cornwall
Olga Polizzi’s coastal hotel in St Mawes runs an annual Revive week with talks and medical consultations by Dr Mariano Spiezia, an Italian doctor, homeopath and herbalist, and the founder of Inlight organic skincare. You’ll have four treatments over the week along with an exercise routine. Details February 24 to March 3, from £2,975pp all-inclusive (01326 270055, tresanton.com)
8 Personal Breakthrough Retreat, Lux* Grand Gaube Mauritius Change your life while enjoying island living at this peaceful resort which runs
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seven or ten-day Personal Breakthrough Retreats throughout the year. After the daily five hours of life coaching workshops, you can kick back and enjoy the spa. Details From £3,250pp for seven nights alone (020-8968 0501, thehealthyholidaycompany.co.uk)
Detox your body 9 Method Putkisto Turkey
If you have a body issue or isolated area of pain, Marja Putkisto, a Finnish dance and movement teacher, has developed a series of exercises designed to give you a functional, stable body. Courses take place at the canyon-top holiday resort Dionysos Estate. Details The next trip leaves on May 4, from £1,350pp for seven nights, if booked before January 31, including flights and transfers (020-8605 3500, exclusiveescapes.co.uk)
10 Essential Ayurveda Lincolnshire
Ayurvedic (traditional Hindu medicine) practitioners Andy and Laura Shakeshaft have created a haven of calm at their Lincolnshire home. Cleanse your body and mind with daily massages and steam therapy, one-to-one yoga and qigong sessions, optional craniosacral sessions, personal dietary advice, ayurvedic counselling, and cooking demos, simple meals — and total peace. Details A three-day retreat is from £825pp (01754 830559, essentialayurveda.co.uk)
11 Tree-top detox Chewton Glen Hampshire
Five-day “Detox in the Trees” retreats, based at the treehouses in the hotel’s grounds, start next week. One-day
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Details From £950pp for seven nights, £50 off if you book before January 31 (07890 420399, silverislandyoga.com)
emotional detox retreats can also be booked throughout the year. After some Nordic walking, a detoxifying scrub, marine flora facial and a spell in the spa you should be ready to face the world again. Details Emotional Detoxes £250pp for the day, five-day Detox in the Trees is from £2,750pp (01425 275341, chewtonglen.com)
21 Sara Campbell Discover Your Depth retreats Maldives
The former champion freediver Sara Campbell — now turned kundalini yoga teacher — who currently runs courses in the Red Sea, is this April launching her first retreat in the Maldives, on Bandos Island. Expect yoga, meditation, snorkelling and freediving taster session. Keep an eye on the website for further details. Details Prices and specific dates are yet to be announced (0020 122 744 5646, sarafreediver.com)
12 Longevity Men Mid-Life Rebalance Portugal
This resort on the Algarve has a new seven-night break to treat and replenish stressed, over-worked businessmen. You’ll have health consultations, a stress management session, muscular endurance training sessions, ozone therapy and a session with an osteopath. Details From ¤3,649 pp for seven nights (00351 282 240 100, longevitywellnessresort.com)
13 Mayr Retreat at Parkhotel Igls Austria
A stay at this health retreat is like being at a benign school, where there are no decisions to be made and you’re led along by trusted teachers. Go to fix any issue, from diabetes to insomnia or burnout. Tailored programmes overseen by the in-house doctor are based on modern Mayr medicine, which focuses on intestinal cleansing. Details From ¤1,070pp for a seven-night Mayr Classic programme. Accommodation from ¤139 per night (0043 0 512 377 305, parkhotel-igls.at)
14 Raw food detox at Village Barn Gloucestershire
The nutritionist Catherine Chichester runs raw food and juicing detoxes for up to 12 people in Bledington, with talks and classes in her converted stone barn. Accommodation is at the Kings Head Inn near by. There is a mix of nutrition and lifestyle lectures, yoga and life coaching. Details The next detox is January 28-February 1, from £1,499pp for accommodation and activities. Treatments from £45 (07813 182651, village-barn.com)
15 Mini detox at Life House Essex The mini detoxes at this spa are devised by the nutritionist Sue Davis. Rather than
22 Yogashala Kerala, India RENZO MAZZOLINI
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17 Jiva Healing Conscious Eating retreat Wiltshire
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Jiva runs juice fasting holidays at simple, comfy hotels in India and Europe. New for this year is a weekend at the eco-friendly and contemporary Littleton Mill. The weekend will teach you how to reboot your eating habits. Details From April 19-21, £225pp for two nights (0 7786 363553, jivahealing.com)
18 Metabolic Balance Retreat Ibiza
hard-core starvation, expect a regimen of superfood salads, juices and soups. Three treatments are included in the two-night breaks. Relax in the steam room , then bed down with a coconut milk nightcap. Details A two-night Express Detox is from £499pp (0845 1701747, lotusjourneys.com)
16 Raw food retreat, Ti Sana Italy
This small retreat is set in an 18th-century courtyard building in a village near Milan. Expect a diet of raw foods and juices, jogging along the River Adda, an infra-red sauna, a state-of-the-art colonic machine and a series of talks and classes. Details Ti Sana reopens on February 14. From £1,929 pp for seven nights (0845 6026202, wellbeingescapes.co.uk)
This break is based on the idea that there is no such thing as a universal diet. Instead, nutritionists tailor-make your food for your metabolic needs. You start your personalised food plan in a private villa with a chef and daily massages but you are expected to continue the programme for three months at home afterwards. Details From £3,849pp per week based on four people sharing, including full board, daily massage, flights and transfers, and a three- month metabolic balancing programme ( 020-8968 0501, thehealthyholidaycompany.co.uk)
Spiritual retreats 19 Ayurveda Resort Sonnhof Austria
This family-run retreat is just a step away from spectacular forest walks. The ayurvedic treatments are excellent, as is
This retreat in Kovalam offers private and group yoga classes on a rooftop platform with the owner Padma Nair, who fuses sivananda, iyengar and ashtanga in her teaching. Combine classes with a 10-day programme of Indian foot massage, and feel transformed. There’salso a two-week yoga option. Details From ¤16 pp per night for accommodation and yoga, ¤200 for a block of ten massages, (0091 9895 882 915, yogashala.in) 37
23 Satvada Retreats Morocco
the yoga, qigong and meditation. The decor is a quirky mix of India and the Tyrol but it is a friendly, homely place. Details The seven nights Panchakarma Cure is from ¤1,858pp (0043 5376 5502, sonnhof-ayurveda.at)
20 Silver Island Yoga Greece From April you’ll be able to experience chic yoga breaks on this privately owned island. Up to 12 guests can stay at any one time, in six twin-bedded rooms. There’ll be four hours of yoga classes a day and vegetarian-only meals.The 60-acre island has no roads or internet. The yoga holidays start on April 21 with a course led by David Sye, of Yogabeats.
Run by the yoga teacher and writer Lucia Cockcroft, this small healthy-holiday company focuses on mindfulness meditation and other relaxation techniques. Their first yoga and cooking break based at a riad in the seaside town of Essaouira is February 21-26. Details From £680pp for seven nights (020-8133 5995, satvada-retreats.co.uk)
24 Yoga at Launceston Farm Dorset
Three-night yoga breaks with teacher Caroline Wilkinson are available at this B&B in Thomas Hardy country. Classes are for all levels and include meditation, yogic philosophy and asanas. Holistic massage and other therapies are also on offer. Details The next retreat starts on February 12, from £315 pp for three nights (01258 830528, launcestonfarm.co.uk)
25 Destination Yoga near Bangalore, India
This clever company hand-picks boutique locations and organises yoga teachers and chefs to deliver transformative breaks. This year look out for La Finca Paradiso in Spain, where you practise yoga in a Moorish marquee. Details The next trip is with Katrina Repka to India, February 2-10, from £1,095 pp for seven nights ( 0845 4580723, destination yoga.co.uk)
26 Yoga retreat at Tilton House Sussex
At this little haven in a Georgian house in Firle you can join a midweek one-day yoga retreat — ideal for busy mums. Yoga breaks, courses in creative writing, vegan cookery, sculpture and painting, and reading weekends are also available, and, new for this year, quarterly two-day detox retreats. Details From £80pp for a day course, doubles from £95 per night (01323 811 570, tiltonhouse.co.uk)
27 Go With Your Flow Yoga Ibiza
This six-night break is for those who want to relax and to enjoy a daily yoga fix — and those who want to push themselves. A one-to-one session will set your goals, followed by days filled with three hours of morning hatha vinyasa flow yoga and an evening workshop. The meals are organic, and body treatments can be arranged. Details From £995pp for six nights at the Can Lorenzo-Amonita retreat (0034 662 093 499, ibizaretreats.com)
28 Holistic retreat, Fivelements Bali
This seven-roomed holistic health retreat, by the tranquil Ayung River, combines traditional Balinese healing with spa treatments. From March 2-11, Fivelements will run a nine-day “spiritual fast” led by Gabriel Cousens, an American physician, homeopath and spiritual writer. As well as yoga sessions, the retreat will include classes on how to rid your life of addictions . Details Doubles from £350 per night (0062 361 469 206, fivelements.org)
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City retreats 46 Skyros in Havana Cuba
Start with early morning yoga, then enjoy the vibrancy of Cuban music and salsa with the charismatic Habaneros on this holistic holiday. Paired with a local partner, your progress is monitored to make sure that you get the best from your stay. Details From £1,095pp for ten nights (01983 865566, skyros.com)
47 Gommage treatments, Riad el Fenn Marrakesh
Change your body 29 Fitness week, LUXLife France
A new “rough luxury” fitness week based at a private house on the Côte d’Azur is adding some unusual elements to the healthy holiday experience, including paddling down a gorge, truffle foraging, and wild swimming. Expect a blend of yoga, strength and interval training, and healthy cooking. Details The first course runs from March 30-April 6, from £1,800pp for seven nights (020-3289 6731, thecreatecollective.com/luxlife)
30 Wildfitness Kenya
These immersive fitness holidays in Kenya, Spain and the Isle of Wight use the outdoors to get you fit — children are welcome, too. A
Vanessa Branson’s (Sir Richard’s sister) hotel in the Mouassine area of the medina offers gommage treatments that end with two halves of a fresh orange being squeezed over your body and a jar of rosewater poured over your head and face. Rooms are wrapped around historic courtyards. Details Doubles from ¤185 per night, hammam with facial and manicure from ¤100 (00212 524 44 1210, riadelfenn.com)
Gorge of this wellbeing retreat is enough to give you goose pimples — the wooden balconies of the bedrooms overlook jungle peppered with African tulip trees. If it’s pampering you want, go for the Rejuvenation package, which includes facial treatments and massages. Details From £1,495pp for five nights, including transfers (0062 361 978 888, comohotels.com/comoshambhalaestate)
food retreat at a Jacobean manor on the Isle of Wight will teach you to use ingredients that our ancestors would have gathered. But for a remote coastal experience with guaranteed heat, the Kenyan venue wins. Details From £690pp for a three-day Energizer course on the Isle of Wight (020-3286 4886, wildfitness.com)
31 Tailored training atAdler Thermae Italy
48 Radiance cleanse, Blythswood Square Glasgow
This hip retreat has a thermal suite as well as a fantastic set of treatments. Book an ILA Radiance Cleanse programme, one or three-day break, which combines fruit and vegetable juices, with detox therapies. Details Doubles from £195 per night, ILA Radiance Cleanse from £195pp for a day, (0141-2488888, blythswoodsquare.com)
44 Sisley spa at Constance Le Prince Maurice Mauritius
Coaches at this Tuscan health spa, a two-minute walk from the quaint town of Bagno Vignoni, will devise your own regimen which could include indoor fitness classes, biking, hiking and trekking. Details From £1,290pp for five nights, including return flights and transfers (0845 5441936, healthandfitness travel.com)
32 Active holidays, Fitscape Morocco
Personal trainers on these super-active holidays ensure that your experience is friendly and fun. Get fit with a daily schedule of hiking, running, mountain biking and group classes such as Zumba, hip-hop and jazz dance alongside strength and cardio circuits. Stay in a stunning kasbah in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains. Details The next break runs from March 9-16 in Morocco, from £1,395pp for seven nights (020-8968 0501, fitscape.co.uk)
33 Escape to Shape Cambodia
A mix of exercise and culture in locations from Cambodia to Croatia, this US-based “travelling fitness spa” was set up by Erica Gragg, one of the founders of the Amansala Bikini Boot Camp in Mexico. Try yoga, hiking, Pilates, exercise classes and cultural excursions. Details The next trip is in Laos from February 2 for seven nights, from £2,175 (001 415 299 7038, escapetoshape.com)
34 Holistic holidays, in:spa Morocco
in:spa, which celebrates its 10th birthday this year, continues to deliver holistic holidays that combine hikes, yoga, healthy meals, nutritional advice, massage and personal training led by an expert team. Go for the “intense” versions of their holidays if
you want to see a more dramatic change. Details The next trip runs from January 30-February 6 in Marrakesh, from £2,195pp for seven nights (020-8968 0501, inspa-retreats.com)
35 Body Holiday St Lucia
This all-inclusive beachside resort is the ideal place to try out health and fitness activities from Zumba and volleyball to spinning in a new treehouse studio. There’s live music at night and each stay includes at least one daily 50-minute treatment. Details From £1,769pp for seven nights, including flights and transfers (01306 747008, kuoni.co.uk)
36 Horse riding at Cortijo Uribe Andalusia, Spain
Combine horse riding through the olive groves, lakes and hills of Andalusia with pampering and cooking at this 200-year-old cortijo and riding school. There’s an on-site treatment room and activities such as yoga, walking and cycling. Details From ¤550pp for 31 seven nights, half board, including 2-4 hours riding a day; treatments from ¤30 (0034 681 237053, sawdays.co.uk)
37 Boxing in Havana Cuba
On April 18 you can join boxing trainer Sean Hayden in an intensive boxing camp at the Rafael Trejo Boxing Gym in Havana. The
morning training sessions push your fitness levels, while the afternoons are free for you to have another turn in the ring with Sean. Details From £2,985pp for seven nights, including flights (020-7978 7333, originaltravel.co.uk)
38 Soul 2 Sole on Kangaroo Island Australia
If you’re in Oz, visit Kangaroo Island, where a four-night foodie and wellness break is led by British-born chef (formerly of The Ivy) and marathon runner Sue Pearson, personal trainer Stacey Harris and nutrition specialist Stephanie Gaskell. Benefit from personal training, nutrition seminars, cooking lessons and sessions on how to improve your running. Details The next trip on February 14, costs £1,650pp for four nights all-inclusive (01271 373724, pennyfursemantravel.co.uk)
Pampering breaks 39 Titanic spa Yorkshire
In a converted textile mill on the banks of a canal near Linthwaite, Titanic has a saltwater swimming pool and soothing heat experiences. If you’re into organics, go for the NEOM Top to Toe Organic Indulgence Treatment. Stay overnight in an apartment, and combine your visit with a hike in the bordering Peak District. Details From £119 for a Simply Spa package, including accommodation, three meals and use of the facilities, treatments from £12 for a 10-minute fish pedicure (0845 4103333, www.titanicspa.co.uk)
40 Fordoun Spa South Africa
Everything at this 17-bedroom boutique hotel, a former settler homestead and dairy
farm, is inspired by the African philosophy of Ubuntu: behave to others in the way that you would have them behave to you. Holistic and pampering treatments are overseen by energy healer Brenda McFee and Zulu spiritual healer Elliot Ndlovu. Details Doubles from £110 a night, treatments from £12 for a 25-minute head massage (0027 0 33 266 6217, fordoun.com)
41 Vigilius Mountain Resort Italy
You’ll feel miles away from all your worries at this retreat with breathtaking views, pristine interiors and a pool overlooking the Dolomites. The spa offers faultless massages and beauty treatments, as well as unusual extras such as foot reflexology enhanced with pine cones. . Details Doubles from ¤270 per night (0039 0473 55 66 00, vigilius.it)
42 Beachside break at Canyon Ranch Miami Beach
This beachside resort has the sense to serve wine and cakes as well as low-fat, low-sodium meals. The spacious Art Deco rooms have spectacular views, and the lavish spa offers holistic treatments. Take classes in disease prevention, healthy cooking, weight loss, stress reduction — or see a nutrition consultant or try one of nine types of yoga. Details Doubles from £310 per night, (001 0 305 5147000, canyonranch.com/ miamibeach)
43 COMO Shambala Estate Bali
The wilderness setting above the Ayung
This refurbished haven now has a Sisley spa that offers local treatments including a scrub and massage using rum, sugar cane and local spices. There are good anti-ageing facials, and treatments by podiatrist Brice Niham. Details From £1,998pp for six nights half board, including flights and transfers (01707 371000, elitevacations.com)
49 Thai escape at Bulgari Spa London
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45 The Chedi Muscat Oman
This beachfront resort is serious about wellbeing. Eat healthily and try the gym and wellness spa. Winter weekend getaways include the Amouage package, which includes a tour of the parfumier’s new factory, a bottle of perfume, a sunset cruise, four-course dinner and 90-minute massage. Details Doubles from £345 per night (00968 24 52 44 00, ghmhotels.com)
This spa in Knightsbridge is the height of luxury, with 11 treatment rooms, a private spa suite, and pool. Treat yourself to the Thai Escape, two hours of massage and herbal compresses. Details Doubles from £500, Thai Escape £250 (020-7151 1010, bulgarihotels.com)
50 Spa at the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok Caroline Sylger Jones runs queenofretreats. com, an independent online resource of reviews and advice on spas, retreats and healthy holidays
Foodies are well catered for at the Mandarin with a Thai cooking school and ten on-site restaurants. A tiny wooden boat floats you across the Chao Phraya River to the spa — go for the Signature Treatment or Traditional Thai. Details Doubles from £265, Signature Treatment £90 (0066 2 659 9000, mandarinoriental.com/bangkok)