By Stress and anxiety are old friends of mine. Trying to balance multiple deadlines with work meetings, social events and the pressure of city living (20-minute tube delays underground = torture) are just a handful of things that send me into a downward spiral of nerves and trepidation.
But it seems I'm not the only one.
Mintel reports that an enormous 85% of UK millennials encounter stress and anxiety, while just a third of us take the time out of our hectic schedules to unwind. It's a pretty sorry number and I fall into that camp.
I've tried more or less every 'experience' to help bring me zen, from infrared saunas to crystal sound baths and even wine baths (exactly what is says on the tin). And while they have offered respite, it's always been short-lived.
So, when offered the opportunity of a stay at the TUI Sensatori Resort Negril, Jamaica - a five-star, luxury holiday resort with an incredible wellness twist, which aims to stimulate every single sense, tuning them up once and for all - I jumped at the chance.
When I first stepped into the resort, I realised this wasn't going to be any old holiday. From the incense in the lobby to how everyone's room backs on to Jamaica's infamous (and insanely stunning) Seven Mile Beach Bay, it instantly felt more like a luxe retreat than simply a hotel.
I was also joined by a team of very interesting people, the TUI Sensorialists- Sensory Expert, Professor Charles Spence, Fragrance Expert, Dawn Goldworm, and Artist, Philippa Stanton. Both Dawn and Philippa are part of just 4% of the population with Synaesthesia, a neurological condition, which means their senses are almost cross-wired. Dawn can see and feel smells, whereas Philippa can see and experience colours, textures and shapes when listening, tasting and smelling.
Stay with me here, because according to the experts, being in tune with our senses - touch, smell, sound, sight and taste - is the ultimate way to obliterate stress and anxiety, and who better to help me master them than Dawn, Philippa and Charles?
'People tend to feel stressed and anxious because their senses are imbalanced,' Professor Charles Spence tells me. 'The only way to tap into them is by really paying attention. Life is so overwhelming and our rational senses - sight and sound - are overloaded. There is a real lack of stimulation in the emotional senses, such as touch and smell. Put it this way - you train your other muscles, so why wouldn't you train your brain as well?'
With that in mind, here's how TUI Sensatori helped me bring my senses to life and finally manage my stress and anxiety for good.
Touch
'Scientific studies show that touch has multiple benefits,' says Charles. 'We all have pleasure receptors in our skin, which makes things like massages feel incredibly indulgent. If you stroke these pleasure receptors at the right speed, it carries an endorphin hit and this can lower heart rate, reduce stress levels, make you sleep better and make you more creative.'
The Luxury Experience
The above is exactly why my first port of call was the TUI Sensatori Vassa Spa for a massage with the ultimate lesson in sensory wellness. Already in a bubble of zen thanks to the excellent hospitality which included herbal tea and snacks (oh, yes), essential oils, breathing techniques and reflexology (stroking the feet and hands to help release tension elsewhere in the body) followed, and took the massage to new heights. In fact, it's hands down one of the most attentive and restful treatments I've had, and I more or less walked out on a cloud.
The spiritual touches helped, too. Tapping into every millennial's obsession with crystals and mindfulness, a personal gemstone reading followed my treatment (wisdom and intuition - I'll take that), but the the best part is that multi-sensory massages are also available on Jamaica's Seven Mile Beach Bay, so you can hop straight off the massage table and into the ocean, cocktail in hand. It doesn't get any more blissful.
Bringing It Home
Although nothing compares to a beach-side massage, both Charles and TUI Sensatori taught me that sensory self-care shouldn't be considered indulgent - it's absolutely vital for alleviating stress and anxiety.
I now make sure to book at least one massage or reflexology treatment a month to evoke my holiday zen. And while it isn't entirely the same, I find that incorporating facial massage tools into my skincare regime lends me just a little sense of the calm I experienced then.
Smell
'People used to think that we didn't need things like aromatherapy,' says Charles, 'but the science proves that we do. We actually get a range of wellbeing metrics from engaging more emotional senses like these. For example, scents like citrus can speed up your heart rate and make you more attentive, whereas scents like lavender can calm you down. If you add fragrance to massage, for instance, it becomes a multi-sensory experience.'
The Luxury Experience
One of the main relaxation elements at the TUI Sensatori resort is sensory therapy using a wide range of essential oils, from sweet orange through to eucalyptus. But instead of simply being applied to the skin, they are employed in a way that targets and neutralises stress and anxiety head on.
Each masseuse is experienced in aromatherapy and I was encouraged to really focus on internalising those scents during the massage. Breathing is something we do mindlessly day in, day out, but being taught to devote my attention to it fully, as well as combining it with fragrance, flicked a switch, inducing the sense of calm I'd been trying to capture at home for so long with things like baths salts and incense.
As well as massages and sensory therapy, the TUI Sensatori resort teaches beach-side yoga to help hone breathing techniques. As a yoga novice (and someone opposed to exercise, especially on holiday) I was sceptical at first - how exactly would stretching help tune my senses?
'Yoga calms the body, eventually stilling the mind, so that we can experience life around us with more awareness,' says Dawn, who also led the class. 'This heightened awareness allows us to sense the world with a higher perception so we may experience our senses more acutely and consciously,' - and boy, was she right.
Bringing It Home:
In regard to the yoga, it's something I now slot into my self care regime at least twice a week. The focus on breathing instantly quells stress and I feel as though I am sharper and more focused thanks to it. Intrinsically, my memory links it with the holiday, instantly zapping any intrusive thoughts. If only there was a beach nearby...
Sensory therapy is also now part of my bedtime ritual and commute into work, and every time I dab my eucalyptus essential oil onto my pulse points, the memories of tranquillity come flooding back, cutting through any anxious feelings, sending me back to dozing on the beach. 'Smell is really evocative as far as triggering our memories are concerned,' Charles says. 'It can trigger specific emotions, too, so a great tip is to make sure that you bring back a scent of the place.'
That's also why the TUI Sensatori resort, carefully and purposely designed to fuel the senses, has been working with Dawn to create a scent that really helps capture all of its elements. 'Spray that scent when you go home and you'll trigger the rest,' Charles adds. The same goes for any perfume specific to your holiday. To combat bubbling anxiety, pop the lid when you're back at home, and the memories will come trickling back.
Sight
The chic, Instagram-worthy interiors are one thing, but the TUI Sensatori resort's position on Jamaica's picture-perfect Seven Mile Beach Bay is something else - azure waters, soft, blinding white sand, blooming hibiscus, sparkling pools and palm trees - all rooms have ocean views. However, taking a picture isn't enough to relive those serene holiday memories.
'Simply taking a snap, as so many of us do, is more-or-less effortless,' says Charles. 'As such, we don’t devote many cognitive resources to the experience. By laying down stronger holiday memories at the time that we are actually experiencing them (for example, drawing or painting) we are able to trigger more of the positive feelings, moods, and emotions that we actually experienced at the time on our return.'
The Luxury Experience
According to artist, Philippa, devoting the time to draw or paint your surroundings is the ultimate way to evoke the restful memories of your holiday when you're feeling stressed out at home. With that in mind, my last day on the island consisted of a beach-side painting class, where Philippa encouraged me to meditate, focus fully and engage each individual sense - smell, taste and sound as well as sight - before letting loose with the paintbrush.
Bringing It Home:
Granted, it isn't exactly a work of art, but every time I glimpse the finished result, I'm instantly back in Negril, and there's intelligent reasoning behind it.
'Often, the time it takes to actually make a mark, i.e. draw something, and pinpoint or focus a moment, makes that moment into much more of a detailed memory than something you remember from a snatched glance,' adds Philippa. 'So, choosing what it is you want to draw means that you focus your mind on the essence of something you are experiencing. This will help you reminisce more fully when you look at it later.'
A simple sketch is even enough to conjure up happy memories, pushing stress and anxiety to the wayside.
Sound
City living is more or less an onslaught of constant noise, and according to Charles, the rational sense of sound is often overstimulated by the auditory, so it's no wonder we find ourselves feeling increasingly stressed out.
But while we can't cut the noise entirely, the TUI Sensatori resort has manipulated it in a very clever way.
The Luxury Experience
All rooms are intelligently positioned so that holidaymakers are able to hear the sound of the sea's waves, no matter whereabouts they are in the resort, and according to research, this specific sound instantly promotes calm and has the ability to induce a blissful night's sleep - something I can vouch for. In fact, I've probably never slept better.
And when you're ready to re-immerse yourself in the music, there are areas on the beach designated to live bands, who often join you for lunch, nightly entertainment and an abundance of bars (the Nesta Rasta Lounge is particularly brilliant) to take your pick from.
Bringing It Home
While it was impossible to bring the ocean back in my suitcase, I now always plug into the Ocean Wave Sounds for Sleep app.
OK, it isn't as brilliant as the real deal, but it takes me back and I've found it silences the internal thoughts that somehow always rage through my mind as soon as my head hits the pillow.
I may not wake up to 30 degree heat and an abundant breakfast buffet, but I feel a hell of a lot more rested.
Taste
I can't be the only one who is guilty of inhaling their breakfast on the bus into work or mindlessly wolfing down lunch at their desk. But the problem with this is that we aren't taking the time to taste properly, as we're letting our rational senses - sight and sound - take over.
'Most of what is overwhelming (leading to stress and anxiety) is auditory and visual,' explains Charles, 'but rarely does anyone talk about having too much taste.'
The Luxury Experience
I was pretty much spoilt for choice with over 15 gourmet bars and restaurants, from Jamaican to Italian, where chefs expertly prepared meals at interactive cooking stations. Swim-up bars dotted about the many luxury swimming pools and beach-side cocktail services are bougie to say the least, but the best thing about the all-inclusive feature is that wherever I was, I didn't need to whip out my purse or spend a single penny on food or drink, which relaxed me even more.
Daily barbecues on the beachfront were the icing on the cake, combining incredible food, like classic Jamaican jerk and calamari, with picture-perfect Caribbean scenery and live bands, igniting all of my senses at once.
Bringing It Home
Whilst there, I realised how I had been taking the simple act of eating for granted. My hectic lifestyle was leaving me more and more disconnected and out of touch with my senses - taste in particular, which, arguably is one of life's pleasures.
Whilst there, Charles taught me how simple brain training exercises have the ability to heighten sensory intake, and amazingly, they worked wonders to distract me from my stress and anxiety. For example, listening to soft, soothing music while eating something sweet can intensify the enjoyment and vice versa for things like spicy food.
In contrast, purposely disengaging from external noise or visual stimulation, i.e. turning off our laptops and televisions, can help us focus on and enjoy the taste of what we are eating much more effectively.
Both are techniques I now employ at home when I feel like I need to pay more attention to my senses.
The million dollar question is, would I go back?
Absolutely. Unlike any other holiday resort I've visited, Sensatori is a somewhat otherwordly experience. As well as providing much-needed rest and relaxation, it helped me pinpoint exactly what it was that was causing so much strain and tension (my dreadfully imbalanced senses) and how I could use them to my advantage, whilst there and back home, to banish the stress and anxiety that more or less became me.
In fact, I'm already planning my second pilgrimage - inner peace is priceless after all.
On a mission to inspire creativity and fuel the senses, TUI Sensatori invited Jacqueline to TUI Sensatori Resort Negril, Jamaica to meet a collective of extraordinary people who each possess the ability of Synaesthesia; the TUI Sensorialists, in a bid to bring the senses back to life. If you’ve ever wondered how connected your senses are and whether you might have Synaesthesia, similar to the TUI Sensorialists, you can take Sensory Expert Professor Charles Spence’s quiz here.
