Healing at Elements

Byron Bay draws people looking for something. Usually, they’re not sure what until they find it. It might be a transformational experience, a week of morning ocean swims, a coffee in the sunshine with a still mind, a nourishing facial or the sound of birds instead of traffic.

My mother-in-law called this week. A friend of hers had just gone into remission after a lengthy battle with cancer. The two of them wanted to go away and celebrate this milestone, relax, decompress, immerse in nature and let go of the health struggles that came before.

Given my background in health and wellness and the many incredible resorts and spas I’ve been fortunate to visit, my mother-in-law wanted my recommendation of where they should go. She described what they desired to do, see and achieve. Elements of Byron Bay immediately came to mind. It has everything they aspired and more. And, the most important thing, it delivered this with simplicity and ease.

Elements of Byron sits on the beach north of Byron. You can walk out of your room and be in the water in less than five minutes. You can watch the sunrise from the sand or spend an afternoon on a rainforest trail with nothing but birdsong and the smell of a salty breeze. You can take the solar train into town and watch the buskers play or watch the crowd.

The award-winning resort is a healing haven. The lagoon pool threads through the resort in a long, shallow-edged curve, heated in the cooler months and refreshing in summer. An adults-only pool sits apart with its own cabanas and swim-up bar. Yoga runs at sunrise and self-guided meditation spaces are scattered throughout the resort. Rainforest walks with guides run each morning along boardwalks and through tea-tree creeks – these are a must-do.

The buggy service covers all 50 acres and is useful when small legs stop working. There’s a kids’ playground, a fairy trail, games on the lawn and a firepit near the main building as the light starts to dip behind the trees.

The buffet breakfast is generous: scrambled eggs and roast mushrooms, homemade baked beans, croissants, cold meats and cheeses, vegan and gluten-free options, an omelette station, a juice bar and a pancake-making machine. Azure Bar and Grill serves food grown or foraged within a short reach of the property—farm gate to foreshore philosophy.

And, as for the villas themselves, they offer comfy king beds, large baths, decks facing into the rainforest and outdoor showers.

Intention and care

The resort has placed intention and care into every corner – and this is really evident in the on-site spa, Osprey Spa. All of the treatments offered are not about optimising or fixing what’s broken. They’re all designed to let you be still while simultaneously nourishing you from the outside in.

The spa sits apart from the main resort and its treatment list is impressive. The new Metamorphosis Rituals are where the magic can be found. I had The Boost Facial which includes a buccal massage, the kind that works the muscles of the face from inside the mouth as well as out.

The treatment room was a double, two beds side by side, with a rainforest shower and an outdoor spa bath beyond the glass. Vanessa Megan’s botanicals scented the air. My therapist, Sophie, had a warm, grounded presence and hands that were firm without ever being rough.

She began with a double cleanse, then worked serums and oils across my face, neck and décolletage. The massage that followed used deeper strokes than a facial usually does. She spent a long time on the jaw from the outside, easing everything down toward the shoulders before she went anywhere near my mouth.

Then, gloved, she began the buccal work. A fingertip moved along the inside of the cheek, found the muscle that does the clenching and pressed into it slowly. Where the muscle was tightest, I felt it flinch and then, under steady, grounded pressure, begin to give.

There was a moment, somewhere in the second side, when my whole jaw softened and stayed there. Weeks of held tension simply left. My skin felt luminous and hydrated. My jaw felt light and at ease. It stayed loose for the rest of the weekend. It’s still loose now, months later.

Most people come to Byron looking for rest and find it. Some people, like my mother-in-law and her friend, find healing and clarity. Some realise how hard they’ve been on themselves or how hard they’ve been working. Others simply remember what their body feels like when it’s not in crisis mode.

Understanding this matters because, after a stay like Elements, you carry it back with you. You rediscover what sleep feels like when you sleep. You remember what stillness feels like, which means you can recognise when you’ve lost it again.

If you’re close to burning out, running on empty or can’t remember the last time you did something for yourself, Elements of Byron should be your next stay. All it asks you to do is show up. And that’s often exactly what we need.

For more, visit elementsofbyron.com.au