Writer Alexandra Gleysteen at Miraval Resort

Can a vacation really be transformative? The answer, of course, is conditional: You either need to be open to it; you need to have the time, or… you simply don’t have a choice. Recently, we sent contributing writer Alexandra Gleysteen to a brave new world near Tucson, Arizona. Here’s the first of her three-part series.

Sooner or later, especially if you’re Type A like I am, you reach a threshold moment, a pivotal point, where you don’t just want, but need a vacation. Not the typical vacation. Not a family vacation. Not a trip to discover a new destination.

My turning point came the day I left my job as a senior television news producer, a job with an unforgiving (and some would say unforgivable) schedule. I needed a “restorative” vacation—one to physically and mentally recuperate from three grueling years of working on a network news morning television show. I looked in the mirror and saw someone who had gained twenty pounds, never worked out, and was deeply exhausted from a chronic lack of sleep. I needed a time out from the outside world so I could tune into myself.

In my case, after doing some research (I am, after all, a producer) I tuned into Miraval.

Miraval Resort is a spa, but some devotees actually consider it more of a “wellness oasis” in the middle of the Sonoran Desert. It’s a 440-acre complex with roughly 144 rooms, about an hour’s ride from the Tucson Airport in Arizona. Its slogan is “life in balance,” and it’s a great fit. Everything at Miraval is about balance and mindfulness—the practice of being present, aware, and conscious at all times—of your breathing, your feelings, your body, your choices. But more on mindfulness later.

What’s refreshing about Miraval is that there is no organized daily program—just dozens of physical and educational classes from morning to night, many of them free of charge. It’s not a traditional “fat farm” to starve you into slimness, nor an intense boot camp to whip you into shape. Miraval is a place of serenity and choice. You can cross a balance beam high above the desert floor to confront your fear of heights, hike a mountain, or take a nap. You can sip a glass of wine at dinner—or abstain. You can choose to put yourself through a rigorous exercise routine, or lounge poolside with guacamole and chips. There is no judgment about the choices made, as long as they are made mindfully.

Given the role breath awareness plays in the practice of mindfulness, it’s no surprise that there are plenty of meditation and yoga classes. Both take place at the Agave Center, a serene yoga studio defined by an enormous window overlooking the mountains. The goal in meditation, of course, is to stay with the breath and not get distracted by pesky wandering thoughts—and there is plenty of scientific evidence to prove that the practice is a valuable element in achieving a healthier body and brain.

The instructors are experienced at helping the Type As of the world slow down, and after ten days of taking at least one meditation and yoga class a day, I definitely felt a kind of relaxation I hadn’t experienced in years.

The faculty has been inventive in creating ways to lure guests into meditating. There’s morning meditation, gratitude meditation, walking meditation, and best of all—floating meditation. That’s where we sank into individual silk hammocks and were suspended in air for an hour of minding our breath—a sensation of weightlessness that came close to feeling like I’d climbed back into the womb. It intensified when the instructor took a suede-covered stick and played the rims of seven crystal bowls. The sounds were haunting and surprisingly loud as they rolled over us—each tone intended to reset the body’s seven chakras.

There’s an important distinction to be made, especially understood by a professional cynic like myself. But if meditation and yoga aren’t your thing—and there were folks at Miraval for whom they weren’t—there are a lot of other options to find a renewed sense of wellness.

There are plenty of aerobics and other fitness classes to choose from, not to mention a large variety of spa services—from massages to facials to salt rubs. But that might be akin to staying at a golf resort and never hitting balls. Certainly the lack of an imposed structure is what attracted many of the guests I met. (As well as the ability to have a glass of wine with dinner!) So my verdict after ten days of hiking and doing downward dog and getting two of the best massages of my life: would I come back? Definitely. But not because of all the activities – but rather because of an acknowledgment that anything we do mindfully can be in service to our health.

In Part II, Gleysteen explores another definition of “mindful”—in particular, what you need to be “mindful of” when visiting any spa or retreat. Yes, a lot of it has to do with balance.

For more information about spa-related travel, check out:

• Where You Can Find Farm-to-Spa Treatments
• From Active Fitness to Spiritual Growth: Spas to Visit in 2015
• There’s WHAT in My Facial? Strangest Spa Treatments

Text and Images by Alexandra Gleysteen for PeterGreenberg.com