Well-Being That Lasts

Sensei Lanai encourages sustainable wellness transformations through movement, nourishment, and rest.

Finally, an effective wellness retreat. I’ve tried dozens over the years, and up until a few months ago, I was under the impression that true holistic “wellness” was in fact a myth. For my most recent birthday, I treated myself to an experience at Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort, on the Hawaiian island of Lana’i. This retreat stuck, leaving me transformed in a sustainable way, unlike ever before.

The island, reminiscent of Sedona—with pines, red dirt, and horse pastures—holds the jungly, sculpture-adorned resort at its center. Light, bright, and peaceful interiors with textured walls, create a serene environment. But the real beauty of this place is what it changes inside of you—the mindset shifts that take place throughout the week.

Sensei’s Guided Wellness Experience package begins with a consultation with your very own “sensei.” Kari has a gift; her ability to create a safe space of openness has me spilling my heart out to a woman I’ve just met. I unpack my deepest insecurities and challenges, as she makes me feel completely at ease. She's patient, humble, and free of judgment. I get the sense she genuinely wants to help me and has the skillset to do so. After all, Kari has trained Olympians. We speak for an hour, then she measures my body composition—a breakdown of fat, muscle, water–and I undergo a series of strength and flexibility assessments.

Although my muscle mass is high, she explains that muscle doesn’t equate to strength (read: I can barely do a push-up), and that’s something to address later in my fitness one-on-one. Based on my goals, I’m recommended specific habits that will take me into a healthful old age. Her suggestions are easily implementable: movement snacks instead of stress eating, wrap up work at least half an hour before bed, claim your time or someone else will. “Giving ourselves permission to take care of ourselves in the areas of movement, nourishment, and rest is the foundation for completely changing the outcome of our well-being,” she explains. I head to my spa treatment feeling hopeful. 

I arrive at the spa hale—a freestanding treatment room—for a Thermal Body Mapping massage, where I don’t even have to fill out a form indicating areas that need attention. They figure it out themselves by scanning my body with proprietary thermal body mapping technology. Post treatment, I relax in the 1,000 square foot spa with its own infrared sauna, steam shower, ofuro tub, lounge area, hot and cold pools, and giant outdoor rain shower that feels like getting caught in a warm tropical downpour. I’m ready to move in. 

During my nutrition one-on-one, Danielle debunks all the information I’ve been fed via a constant stream of wellness articles and posts. The noise of the outside world, and the fad diets it propagates, quiets; this is a safe, calm space to rebuild intentions and habits. We cover pairing macronutrients, eating slowly, fueling for exercise, and drinking half your body weight in ounces of water. Her advice is all pertinent to me and my body—no generic tricks or quotes here. My all-or-nothing mindset seeps away. “I feel your relationship with food will change because you'll feel nourished, not stressed,” Danielle predicts. 

The following days are filled with one-on-one sessions focused on fitness and mindset, interspersed with horseback riding, yoga, a hike to Koloiki Ridge, nourishing meals at the on-property restaurant Sensei by Nobu, and dips in the onsen garden that’s appointed with eight hot tubs, open 24/7. Making healthy choices is easy at Sensei, yet their teachings take into account that lives are not lived at wellness retreats. For example, a nourishing dinner of jalapeño yellowtail and miso cod at Sensei by Nobu is accompanied by alcohol and dessert, because in the real world, there are cocktails and sweets (though not as delicious as their matcha ice cream).

Mid-morning, I meet with Lydia for my Mindset with Biomarkers session. I explain the habits I default to when stressed and she asks about my sleep—whether I’m getting enough rest, my schedule, etc. Next, she teaches me about heartrate variability and leads me through breathing techniques that help drop back into the parasympathetic nervous system—a safe and relaxed optimal state. All while a heartrate monitor is attached to my earlobe because everything here is science backed. It’s amazing to watch the results on a screen; the breathing exercises working in real time, right before my eyes. Lydia reminds me that even when I can't change my external environment, I can change my internal environment. I leave with an invaluable tool I can inject into any situation to bring about a state of calm, for myself and by myself. 

I’m pretty knowledgeable when it comes to wellness, yet I’m dumbfounded by what I’m learning. One-on-one sessions in an environment that’s relaxing—rather than clinical or woo woo—led by compassionate and nonjudgmental experts, proved to be the missing puzzle piece to aligning my actions with my goals. 

During the Fitness session, Austin (who joined Sensei from Google) explains that moving daily creates compound interest. He leads me through exercises and stretches that align with the desired outcome I identified in my initial consultation. The moves are easy to remember to, most importantly, duplicate at home. He wraps up the session with a book and hamburger recommendations, because balance.

Later in the evening, in my restorative yoga class, I catch myself feeling better than I’ve felt in months. Maybe even years. I melt into the bolster as instructor Arielle’s smiling voice reminds me to “Notice what you’re holding on to and need to release; maybe it’s in your shoulders, or in your mind. Our thoughts create our reality.” I realize I need a separate note tab—one for article notes, and one for wise advice I’d like to refer back to post-retreat. It’s as if there’s truth serum in the water there. The private sessions and the clarity they provide bring what I need to do to the forefront of my thoughts. The stretching, releasing, and restoring feels way better than scrolling. I make a note to create more space in my schedule for real relaxing. Long after I leave the studio, Arielle's voice echoes in my mind, it carries even after the sound of birds and fragrant flowers outside the studio have faded into a memory: our thoughts create our reality.

I find myself doing a lot of reflecting on birthdays, with little action to show thereafter. Yet this year is different. My last morning at Sensei Lanai I have a “My Plan" session with Kari. She compiles a comprehensive guide to growth, based on science, my life, data and the deeply pertinent experiences at Sensei. It takes into account that I am not returning home to 1,000 square foot spa treatment rooms, a Nobu restaurant just steps away, and unlimited leisure time. We go over gracefully letting go of what no longer serves me, to make space for my highest self. She reminds me that as humans, we are meant to evolve. I leave feeling calm and like the tools I learned have become an innate part of me—motivation and restrictions unnecessary. Today, I naturally make decisions aligned with my vision for myself. I feel, reborn.