The point of a holiday is to relax and unwind, so that you can return to your normal life feeling refreshed and energized. Asia is one of the best travel destinations in the world for relaxation, both physical and mental. Asian medicine and meditation techniques are gaining popularity in the West, as more people realize the value that their gentle, natural arts hold for our busy and stressful lifestyle. What are the best treatments and courses to explore on your luxury Asian holiday?

Reflexology is a common spa treatment, but not a common practice in the Western world. Your luxury Asian holiday is the perfect opportunity to learn about the joys of this practice. Reflexology is a massage or pressure point discipline where your feet, hands or ears are worked on in order to improve the general health of other parts of your body. There are quite a few luxury resorts in Asia that offer reflexology -the Shangri-La group, which can be found throughout China, India and Asia, is a notable one.

The Ayurvedic health system is another of the East’s gems that the Western world has borrowed bits and pieces from the philosophy, but few people actually practice it properly. Your luxury rest in Asia is the perfect opportunity to find out what true Ayurveda is, and have an Ayurvedic massage and assessment by a true practitioner. This also allows you to see how to embrace the philosophy as a lifestyle … giving you a good example, even if the lure of chocolate is still too much once you return home! Try Ayurvedic treatments at luxury hotels like Novotels throughout south east Asia (as well as the rest of the continent).

Scrubs, wraps and massages are all essential ingredients on a spa menu at luxury hotels. You’ll find lovely ones like chlorophyll butter massage, guava and salt scrubs, and Ayurvedic spice wraps at the Beaufort Spa in Sentosa in Singapore. It is a good idea to look out for spas that utilize the natural resources of the region, with native plants and Asian spices and herbs included in their treatments. Not only will their uses be familiar to the practitioners, it makes for a wonderfully genuine experience of the area for you.

Bath treatments are another favorite at Asian luxury resort spas. The word spa actually comes from an acronym for the Latin sanus per aqum, or healing through water. You’ll find some resorts are focused more on water treatments, or more on the herbal / essential oil treatment side. One great spa for water treatments is the Pangkor Laut in Malaysia. You begin your water-healing journey with a traditional Chinese foot massage, moving through a Malay ‘wall of water’, and on to a Japanese style bathhouse. You are surrounded by beautiful clear, cleansing water from start to finish, and the bathhouse has more than 30 treatments (wraps etc) to choose from.

Traditional Chinese medicine is another thing you can indulge in while on your luxury holiday in Asia. Traditional medicine often focuses more on the body as a whole than traditional Western medicine -if you have any niggling health issues, or never seem to be quite right physically, your luxury rest in Asia could be just the time to correct it. Try the Imperial Herbal Restaurant in Singapore for health in style, or check out the Eu Yan Sang chain.