I wasn’t much of a digital addict until I started working from home and consequently started spending less time with real people and more time with cyber people. And I used to get on social media only when sitting at my desk on the computer.  But after I started following various international news feeds on Facebook, consuming all my news on the phone and saving dozens of articles to read later, I  started spending way, way too much time on social media.

In the pre-Facebook days, I was addicted to books and magazines, but recently I sadly realized I haven’t read a real book or magazine in months. It’s so much easier to feed off my Facebook newsfeed. where I get the latest articles from The New York Times, The Economist, The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, The Gaurdian, The Independent, The Bangkok Post, plus lifestyle news from Vogue, W Magazine, Conde Nast Traveller, How to Spend It, and many more, more, more, all instant, all the time, at my fingertips!  I do draw the line at taking my phone to bed at night though. There’s got to be a limit somewhere.

For many people though, there is no limit. I keep coming across articles (online of course) about people getting sore eyes, tech neck, and even going blind from reading their phones in bed in the dark (that’ll teach them, won’t it.  See how bad it can be for you? If you can still see, that is). Aside from that, we know that social media causes so much anxiety and depression. Is everyone out there having a more perfect, glamourous, fun, exciting, delicious, THINNER life than me? And then of course there’s the mental/emotional stress of keeping up with the whole world, at all times. FOMO much, anyone?

Total health means you don’t just need to detox your body from all the yummy unhealthy rubbishy junk food and resist gorging on heart-attacks-on-plates, but also cleanse your mind from the constant absorption of 24-hour newsfeeds, advertising, propaganda, fake news, “alternative facts”, celebrity gossip news, silly cat videos and all that useless trivia that’s so much more fascinating, riveting, and totally useless than actually doing the work that pays your salary.

Hence the need for ways to clear your head of all that junk. You can do this by meditating, but for the uninitiated, meditation is too intimidating and hard to do. It’s much easier to take yourself to a controlled environment, like the Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo’s super luxurious Digital Wellness Retreat, designed to release guests from the addiction stress caused by the use of digital devices such as smart phones and tablets. The hotel’s new Digital Wellness Retreat combines both accommodation and wellness-themed dining in their Michelin-starred restaurants, and is available until 31 March 2017.

 

The first and most crucial part of the retreat is to surrender your smartphone and tablet devices when you check in at the front desk.  After that, it’s all digital-free wellness pampering in the plush spa and guest room with spectacular views of Tokyo.

The highlight of the retreat is the 80-minute Digital Wellness Escape spa treatment which starts with energy clearing exercises, then an aroma bath followed by soothing oil massage to release stiff muscles, especially in the neck and shoulders.   Guests receive a sheet containing tips on how to manage their relationship with technology and a smart phone cover that blocks electromagnetic waves.

As part of the treatment, Spa guests can also make use of the other spa facilities like the beautiful heat and water oasis, and relaxation lounge.

Holistic touches are added to your guest room to create a wellness and healing environment, with a Himalayan salt lamp which absorbs electromagnetic waves.  An ancient healing shungite stone  which absorbs electromagnetic frequencies and negative energies, and Himalayan salt placed in the guest room bathroom.

The program includes a specially-designed Wellness Lunch, served at Sense Cantonese restaurant on the 37^th floor.

The day ends with a 4-course Wellness Dinner at French fine dining Signature on the 37^th floor.

All this may sound like a typical luxury hotel stay but … wait!  Remember that your phone and tablets have been confiscated. Can you really survive the super luxe, super photogenic spa suite, fluffy Mandarin Oriental spa bathrobes, panoramic cityscape views of Tokyo and bragging rights of checking in at the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo, photos, selfies, recording and instagramming,tweeting and Facebook posting everything?

That’s why it’s a digital detox retreat. The goal is to unplug from your digital devices and let your brain, eyes, and neck get rested and relaxed.

The scary part – what to do without your phone? Remember what it’s like to dive into a good book? D0 that.  Or bring a partner and use this time wisely to enhance your relationship with lots of eye contact and bonding conversations over your glamourous Michelin-star meals. Remember a time when people actually had meals and talked to each other?

Have you been to the Mandarin Oriental Tokyo?  How was your experience there? We’d love to hear!