By Deirdre Shevlin Bell
Just forty miles north of San Diego, Cal-a-Vie Spa feels worlds away. Situated on 200 acres of rolling hills dotted with olive trees and lush with lavender, the property seems to have jumped right out of an Italian Renaissance painting. Its rustic architecture, including a reconstructed 400-year-old French chapel now used as a meditation center, fits so naturally into the landscape that it’s hard to imagine a time when the 20-year-old spa wasn’t there. The serenity created by this union with nature makes Cal-a-Vie a unique place in which to connect with one’s own nature.
It’s easy to see why guests – including celebrities like Paula Abdul, Kathleen Turner and Kirstie Alley – keep coming back. But the tranquil setting isn’t the only thing that draws people in. In fact, the calm and quiet belie the serious butt-kicking workouts Cal-a-Vie is famous for. Those workouts get even more intense when Pilates superstar Mari Winsor teaches at the spa for Pilates Week.
My Pilates practice was in need of a serious kick in the pants, so I decided to pay the spa a visit during one of Mari’s weeks. And I got even more of a workout than I was hoping for – as well as top-notch spa cuisine, body and beauty treatments to die for and down-to-the-core rest and relaxation.
Get a move on
The days at Cal-a-Vie are highly structured – each guest is presented with a blue index card each morning that outlines the schedule for the entire day. It starts early – at 6:15, I have the choice of a 4-ish – mile quad-busting hike on the resort property or a more leisurely walk. I opt for the hike only once before realizing I’m out of my league. After the early morning activity comes breakfast, then three exercise classes before lunch. Typically, the well-deserved pampering begins after lunch, but some days the fitness planners sneak an extra class or three into my schedule just to keep me guessing.
Helpful tip that I didn’t figure out until day 2: You don’t have to do everything that’s on the card. If you do, as I did on day 1, it could mean 8 hours of exercise. In one day. In other words, I crammed two weeks worth of exercise into my first day. Ouch.
But the classes are so inspiring and downright fun that it’s hard to complain. In several of the classes I’m either the only student or one of two or three. The spa’s 17,000 – square-foot fitness pavilion – home to three workout rooms, a cardio studio, a fully equipped weight and circuit-training studio, and a Pilates and Gyrotonic studio (with three Reformers, two Cadillacs, a Wunda Chair, and a Gyrotonic machine), as well as a palatial lecture area downstairs – rivals any high-end gym I’ve ever been in. Consider the fact that Cal-a-vie’s maximum number of guests at any moment is 24, and you’ll understand how this fitness center started to feel like my own private workout facility.
My favorite classes, of course, are Mari’s. During my four days at Cal-a-Vie, I take three mat classes and two on apparatus. The mat classes are packed, but the ones on the equipment are intimate, with a maximum of five participants. In both, Mari is assisted by one or two of the on-staff trainers who normally run the Pilates classes at the spa, so no pooched belly goes unnoticed.
If you’ve ever watched one of Mari’s videos, you know what a dynamo she is. Each class is a mixture of deep core work and hilarious stories – both of which leave my sides aching. She remembers the names of everyone in class and personally engages each of us. Well, she remembers almost every name; I get used to answering to Danielle. Her observations and pointers help me move in new ways and find a new alignment for my crooked spine. They’re tips I bring home with me and integrate into my practice – little souvenirs from my stay at Cal-a-Vie.
Before, after and between Pilates classes, I try out just about every other class Cal-a-Vie offers. I shake my stuff in Latin Dance and Zumba, challenge my balance in BOSU, get out some pent-up frustrations in Bags, Jabs and Abs and stretch it all out in yoga – including one after-dinner, candlelit restorative yoga class that gives new meaning to peace.
Oh my aching …
All that shaking, stretching and crunching can leave a body feeling abused. That is, until the afternoon treatments start and my muscles forget all the torture I’ve put them through. Each afternoon, I sneak back to my own peaceful little villa to change from my spa-issued grey sweats (which, to be honest, make me feel a little like Jim Belushi, in the presence of the hot and well-dressed fitness instructors) into my spa-issued robe and slippers and walk across the courtyard to one of two salons. One salon is the place to go for everything body – massage, reflexology, Vichy shower, hydrotherapy, sauna, steam room, Jacuzzi – and the other, with arguably the best view in a place littered with breathtaking views, is home to all the beauty treatments.
Some days, before my daily massage, I sit in the private steam room or sauna for a while to give my muscles a head start before the real unwinding they’re about to experience. Each of the highly skilled therapists has a special knack for getting into all my problem spots and making them melt away. It makes the morning’s work seem a distant memory.
I’m not much of a beauty treatment kind of girl – I have the tendency to get bored out of my mind in the manicurist’s chair – but I find that I enjoy every single one of the treatments I receive at Cal-a-Vie. Maybe it’s the surroundings, maybe it’s the skill of the therapists or maybe it’s the fact that I’ve entered an altered mental state due to all the blood flow to the brain, but I’m able to completely relax during my manicures, pedicures and facials without giving a single thought to anything else I should be doing. In fact, during the hair and scalp treatment, which begins with a head massage, followed by intense brushing to exfoliate scalp and then warm oil to nourish the hair, I drift to sleep.
A girl’s gotta eat
Three times a day – and rarely a minute late – the guests gather in the dining room, whose floor to ceiling windows overlook the beautifully landscaped courtyard, for truly exceptional spa cuisine. The size of the portions is a running joke: a serving of rice that seems to have been measured using a napkin ring, topped with a sliver of glazed tuna (or tofu, for veggies like me) and some sprouts. Most people who come to Cal-a-Vie have weight loss in mind, so meals are planned accordingly (a typical calorie count for the day is about 1,400 calories, but it’s tailored to the individual). Still, the food is so good that the complaints about its scarcity are drowned out by the oohs and ahs, and most of us leave sated.
On my final night at the spa, ChefJason Grahaminvites all the guests into his kitchen for an interactive cooking demonstration. We all watch and ask questions as he uses primarily locally grown ingredients to prepare grilled eggplant “crostini” (served on teriyaki rice crackers instead of crusty Italian bread), miso with tofu and scallions, and hoisin-glazed grilled shrimp (tofu for me) over sautéed greens with mashed sweet potatoes. As he demonstrates technique, he offers up tips for cutting fat and sodium from meals (Braggs aminos instead of soy sauce, for instance). Mari has snuck in a couple bottles of wine, which makes the already feisty ladies even more of a riot. We top off the dinner with ice cream crepes and bananas foster and then head to the library to sit by the fireplace and chat before saying goodnight.
I walk back to my villa, past the symphony of frogs and crickets, and fall into my big, fluffy bed. I sleep well that night, thoroughly exhausted, pampered and fed. I wake, attuned with the nature around me and within me, having integrated all my Cal-a-Vie experiences. I’m ready to bring my new energy and focus to my Pilates practice. If only I could bring that chef, too.
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