Health and overall wellness are interconnected. From the food we eat to digital dependence, everything impacts our life expectancy and quality.
Participants at SOUL Festival
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At Soneva Fushi in the Maldives, an annual wellness festival called SOUL Festival brings together influential health and wellness experts from around the world. Here are our key takeaways from the four-day retreat with actionable advice from the experts.
Gut feeling
Dr Zach Bush, a Virginia-based internal medicine and endocrine physician, and speaker at the festival, assigns your health’s responsibility to your gut. He believes in looking at chronic diseases beyond pharma and understanding the signals a person’s core energy sends their way to comprehend what the body wants — coming down to the basics and listening to the body.
Dr Zach Bush, a Virginia-based internal medicine and endocrine physician, and speaker at the festival, assigns your health’s responsibility to your gut
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“The first thing I recommend is to slow down and notice what your body wants and needs and this begins with mindful eating — shopping for food, cooking or being part of the cooking process, and even meditating on eating,” says Dr Lilly-Marie Blecher, chief medical officer, Soneva, explaining Dr Zach’s philosophy. Gut health signifies your overall health. “Symptoms can include brain fog, skin conditions, fatigue, or even weakened muscle strength. Observing and responding to these signs can be a decisive step toward better health,” she says.
On a cellular level
“Cellular health is the foundation of overall health, and nurturing it requires a holistic approach that integrates lifestyle, nutrition, and mindset,” says Dr Nasha Winters, an oncology specialist, author and fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology from Colorado, who is a key speaker and participant at the wellness festival. Ice baths may be all the rage today, but they are far from a passing fad and have significant impact on health at a cellular level.
She considers ice baths, fasting and breathwork as essentials for healthy living because they create hormetic stress. She adds, “This is a type of ‘good stress’ that challenges the body and builds resilience at the cellular level. Exposure to cold stimulates mitochondrial health, enhances circulation, and reduces inflammation. Intermittent fasting or time-restricted eating gives your body time to repair and regenerate. It activates autophagy, the body’s natural cellular recycling system, which clears out damaged cells and supports mitochondrial health. Intentional breathing techniques can reduce stress, improve oxygenation, and balance the nervous system.”
Ice baths, fasting and breathwork as essentials for healthy living because they create hormetic stress
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She advocates for these practices because they strengthen the body’s ability to adapt, repair, and thrive, all key ingredients for a longer, healthier life. For practices like ice baths that put your body in an extreme state, it is important to reach out to a medical professional before signing up, especially if you suffer from high blood pressure or heart conditions.
Prioritise emotional health
“Emotions are deeply tied to our physical health. Suppressed emotions can manifest as chronic stress, inflammation, or even illness,” says Dr Nasha. “Emotional release isn’t about erasing pain but creating space for it to move through you so it doesn’t take residence in your body.”
Take time out for emotional release
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She recommends taking the time out for emotional release by partaking in activities that allow the mind to be at ease. “Try deep breathing or vocal expressions like humming or chanting via breathwork and sound therapy… Spending time outdoors can help you feel grounded and connected, allowing for emotional release in a serene and supportive environment. Also, therapies like massages, acupuncture, or craniosacral therapy can release physical tension tied to emotional stress.”
Experts host sessions on wellness at Soneva Fushi
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Marcel Hof, a breathwork and ice bath specialist at the festival, spoke about how simply breathing right can add immense value to life and why biofeedback and neurofeedback can be game changers. Dr Lilly encourages keeping track of your heart rate variability if you’re using one of the many fitness trackers available today. “Tools like wearables that track heart rate variability (HRV) are invaluable because HRV is an excellent indicator of your nervous system’s state — whether in fight-or-flight or rest-and-digest mode. When HRV is low, you can use breathwork or mindfulness to regain balance. Awareness itself can be a transformative tool for well-being,” she says.
Slow down
Eric Edmeads, wellness entrepreneur and author, spoke about the importance of slowing down, bridging the disconnect — the evolution gap — between what life used to look like and what it is today, and consciously building habits, even stacking them onto existing daily activities, for a better life. “Building a sustainable habit starts with relevance and realism — it has to align with your top health priorities,” Dr Lilly adds. “For instance, if posture is your focus, build habits around it rather than overwhelming yourself with a long list of goals. Next, dedicate time and space — say 40-45 days — to establish the habit and address barriers. Linking habits to existing actions is a great way to reinforce them.”
Participants enjoy a floating meal on the beach
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Peak body performance
Jamie Wheal, author, peak performance expert and founder, Flow Genome Project — a series of training programmes on peak performance, optimal psychology and leadership — believes in, simply put, going back to the basics. “The most impactful lifestyle changes today that are harming us include the digital narcissism and autism that we are inflicting upon ourselves and our children via lives mediated almost entirely by screens and the artificial worlds and identities within them, [along with] the transition to salt, sweet and fat, ultra-processed foods, and our collapse in functional movement and time in Nature.” According to him, disconnecting from digital aids as much as possible, especially at the beginning and end of the day, are key to ensuring your body performs well independently.
Workshops at SOUL Festival
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“Turn off all notifications on your phone. Ensure that the first hour (tea, coffee, movement) and last hour (reading in bed, meditation, etc) of your day are phone-free. Eat real food, mostly plants, not too much, don’t waste money on supplements, spend it on clean foods instead, and finally, move your body in multi-planar — not just straight lines — functional ways, starting from your bare feet up.”
Published – March 28, 2025 02:43 pm IST
