Green List: Get Viking fit the Icelandic way on the troll peninsula
I slip away from breakfast early. Outside, the Icelandic sky is still dark, tiny clustered constellations gleaming like antique diamond brooches. I head downstairs, through the womb-like cavern of the spa and slide open the floor-to-ceiling glass door. The breeze needles my cheeks as I ease down into the warmth of the geothermal pool. Steam ribbons around my shoulders as the slow purr of the nearby river fills the biting air. There’s no one around as I glide through the swirling water, watching the sky lift from squid ink blue to vivid sapphire. I take a deep breath and look out to the horizon. I think I’ve managed it; my shoulders drop and I allow the tears to come.
Now, let me be straight. It took me a few days to reach this Zen-like state of relaxation. When I first arrived at Deplar Farm – a remote luxury escape tucked away in Fljót Valley on Iceland’s craggy Troll Peninsula – I figured a massage and a good night’s sleep was all it would take to lower my Cortisol levels. This is, after all, where celebrities and CEOs come to kick-back – puttering across in their private helicopters, holing up in the labyrinthine spa and taking to the karaoke mic after endless rounds of Icelandic crowberry G&Ts. It’s also the latest location for Eleven Life, experiential travel group Eleven Experience’s boundary-pushing new wellness retreat.
Formulated around marginal gains, habit-stacking and small changes that can be integrated into life back home, the retreat promises a ‘holistic’, nature-based approach to wellness. Meaning: out are meagre, soulless soups and punishing slogs on the treadmill; in are axe throwing, snowy laser tag and torchless sensory deprivation walks. Guests are encouraged to dip in and out as they like; sampling activities, enjoying solitary strolls and calling on Deplar’s knowledgeable wellness experts to consult on any health issues that might be niggling.
All sounds wonderful, yes? But I’m still not bloody relaxing. No matter how furiously I try. I’ve launched myself into gong bathing. Meditation. Breathwork classes as the northern lights streak and strobe overhead. My body’s sort of into it but my noisy mind persists, weevil-like and loud. I won’t be the only person in this position, of course, given how most of us carry the weight of family stresses, health issues and the pressures of work upon our shoulders. Plus, I’ve always been much more of a ‘boots and rain jacket’ sort of wellness-seeker, responding better to the physical challenge of, say, climbing a mountain than that of sitting in any sort of silence with the radio crackle of my own brain.
Still, I’m impressed by the Icelandic way things are done at Eleven Life. While whale watching in the solemnly cinematic fjords at Hauganes, as colossal humpbacks puff frothy spray like the Bellagio fountains, our instructor Caith leads us on a breathing workshop from the deck of our creaking boat. During a ‘Viking sauna’ session – where we collectively swelter and ‘ommm’ to a recorded soundtrack of Viking chants – I find instant euphoria in the ice water plunges that punctuate the meat-thick 95-degree heat. Axe throwing is a revelation (brilliantly therapeutic) and I do find a degree of peace watching inky, snow-striated mountains reveal themselves through the darkness of an evening.
Handily, there are many other Icelandic joys at Deplar for those who struggle to settle into meditations and massages. The 13 bedrooms here radiate snug-yet-moneyed cool, and there are plenty of artworks, books and antiques to nose your away around while you’re here (pick a cosy spot for a mountain moss tea and an afternoon of ‘mindful colouring’ and you’ll be Teacher’s Pet). Award-winning executive chef Garðar Kári Garðarsson is also one of Iceland’s finest talents, who uses foraged and locally-sourced ingredients for his dishes, including mountain moss, ocean truffle, locally-reared lamb and tomatoes grown using geothermal energy at the nearby farm in Hveravellir.
The chocolate mousse is geothermally-nurtured too, made with avocado, banana and strawberries all grown using the natural energy. But like all the best wellness retreats, there’s plenty of room for wine as well. In fact, our Croatian sommelier Ivor delights in telling us how the Californian Chardonnay he serves used to be prescribed in Germany as a preventative against Alzheimer’s: “I’m not serving you wine, I’m serving you medicine.”
It’s all quite ridiculously, unfathomably pleasant. But I would <really> like to get to the point where it didn’t feel like my brain was trying to sabotage my very existence. Thankfully my penultimate day at Deplar yields something of a personal breakthrough. We set off on a hike up the imposing Siglufjaroarskaro. Strapping snow grips to my feet to stop me skittering down the side of the mountain, I relish the opportunity to stride out and fill my lungs with pure Arctic air. The sky is nacreous and the surface of the sea a cool flint grey.
I focus on my breathing and, quite simply, I just walk. Nothing fancier than that; just focusing on putting one foot in front of another. I manage to block out everything but the burning in my thighs and the gentle, clockwork crunch of spikes on snow. I’ve no doubt the Icelandic landscape has played a huge part in getting me to this stage, and the Eleven Life progamme – like being held very gently in someone’s palm – has given me the space and comfort to come this far. After three days of trying, my mind is finally starting to clear. I’ve found my own sort of meditation. A round of crowberry G&Ts to celebrate?
Rates for Eleven Life start from £2,350 per room per night (based on 2 people sharing) on an all-inclusive basis, including an in-depth consultation and wellness programme and round-trip transfers to Akureyri Airport; elevenexperience.com