“What is the only emotion that can influence other emotions?” our workshop facilitator, Sujay, asks the group during the opening session of our 48-hour retreat.
There’s an uncomfortable silence, until a couple of the 25 participants begin spurting out words: “Love?” “Anger?” At this point, I half expect Nicole Kidman to emerge from stage left, Nine Perfect Strangers-style.
“Fear,” Sujay corrects, with a smile, setting the tone for the intensive program which fills the hours between sunrise and 10pm with workshops, yoga, spa treatments and unlimited time in the award-winning Aurora Spa & Bathhouse, located at the Intercontinental Sorrento, on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.
Given the “no phones” rule in public spaces (they are allowed, though discouraged, in your suite), I appreciate the packed schedule, but also hope being unplugged will give my hyperactive nervous system a chance to reset.
Aurora, which opened in 1997 in St Kilda as Australia’s first urban spa, regularly runs retreats spanning one to three days. Where this one differs is that Aurora has teamed up with one of Thailand’s leading health retreats, Kamalaya, on the island of Koh Samui. It’s a novel idea: if the stressed-out humans can’t get to the retreat, bring the retreat to them.
After the opening workshop, we eat lunch in the hotel’s breezy restaurant from a menu that’s free of gluten, dairy and sugar – and surprisingly delicious.
MELISSA SINGER
Our program blends aspects of Kamalaya’s 19 (soon to be 20) programs, from the food we eat to the themes of the three workshops, with Aurora’s philosophy of reconnecting through disconnecting.
Many of my fellow “retreaters” have come with a friend, and there are only two men in the group, both of whom are travelling solo. After the opening workshop, during which we are encouraged to take notes in the beautiful journal included in our welcome pack, we eat lunch in the hotel’s breezy restaurant from a menu that’s free of gluten, dairy and sugar – and surprisingly delicious.
After lunch, I dash to my well-appointed room, change into swimwear and head to the bathhouse, where I spend an hour moving between the hot and cold pools, setting myself a three-minute challenge in the 11-degree ice bath, a goal I reach on my third attempt.
With mid-afternoon yoga beckoning, I decide to leave the “thermal zone” – its spaces include a salt-therapy room and a “glacial” room which mimics the feeling of standing atop an icy mountain – until later. While a schedule certainly exists, we are encouraged not to rush our time in the bathhouse.
Before dinner, I am treated to another touch of Kamalaya in the form of its signature Vital Essence massage. By the end of the hour, I am in a trance from the rhythmic movements the therapist makes with her forearms, appreciating the extra attention she pays to the knots in my shoulders.
Dinners are taken communally, and conversation flows freely; I try to sit with a different group each meal. One guest has visited Kamalaya 15 times, while others are retreat “virgins” who visited Aurora as day guests and craved something more intensive – and exclusive.
One of those only-on-the-retreat experiences takes place on the second (and final) night. After dinner, most of the group adjourns to the bathhouse, our excited chatter echoing off the change-room walls.
Inside, we lower ourselves into warm pools lit up in pink as sound-healer and musician Danielle “Dee” Stellar serenades us with her instruments and haunting voice. At one point, Stellar simulates a rainstorm, and, later, as she sings an original song, one guest bursts into tears. The rest of the group respectfully moves aside to give the woman space to release whatever it is she’s been holding. In less than 48 hours, the retreat has had a powerful effect on many of us.
A week on, I realise, almost unconsciously, that I have been writing in my journal every night before bed. Apparently, it takes 66 days to cultivate a habit. After two days without my phone, or the demands of work and parenting, I realise I have started a new routine. I hope it sticks.
The writer was a guest of Aurora Spa & Bathhouse. For the 2026 program, visit auroraspa.com.au/retreats
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Melissa Singer is Associate Editor of Sunday Life magazine, and was previously national fashion editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
