Your Assignment: Find Your Bliss

You have been to magical, natural spots made more so by human talent and tending. Some such places are Spartan: a hot pool beside a cool stream. Some are not. One such place that is not Spartan is Two Bunch Palms in Desert Hot Springs, California, where hot mineral water bubbles into a grotto lined with palm trees and stone cottages. This oasis looks like a Hollywood movie set, but it’s real. And the Grotto is not even the first soak of a perfect day.

The trifecta starts when you wriggle down into a steaming vat of local mud, and the sweat starts to bead and pour. In 20 minutes, you’re pink and done—all toxins gone—then bathed and wrapped in herbs. After another shower and a short nap, an easy stroll leads to the body-temperature watsu pool for an hour-long “water dance.” During this submerged shiatsu your relaxed body is artfully pressed and poked. Tears release underwater as whatever else you’re carrying gently flows away. Reborn, you come of age again in the Grotto. With your head and legs draped over slender floats, you are effortlessly adrift to the sounds of falling water, rising bubbles in Champagne, and perhaps the stars themselves.

Your assignment for this holiday season is to take a day and find your own magical spot. Simple or extravagant, it just has to be sublime. As a spiritual explorer on assignment, you may even find that it’s tax deductible if you report back in time for our January Retreat Guide.

Share Your Bliss

This holiday season, find your own magical spot and report back to [email protected] for our January Retreat Guide.