ALTERNATIVE HEALTH RETREATS AT AYURVEDA RESORT MANDIRA

Anyone keen to address health niggles, emotional issues, or who needs to simply rest and recharge should check out Ayurveda Resort Mandira. Like many of Europe’s leading spas and wellness centres the Mandira is in Austria, a go-to region for holidays that do you good.  Surrounded by farmland and forest in the south of the country, the award-winning 60-room Mandira opened only three years ago but is already becoming known for its well-priced alternative-health retreats.

‘Ideally, we like guests to spend two weeks with us, so we keep our rates as affordable as possible,’ says the Mandira’s CEO, Christina Mauracher.

‘We have two doctors on our staff. A conventional doctor who grew disillusioned with mainstream medicine and realised alternative treatments often give better results, and an Ayurvedic doctor. Two weeks let them and our therapists really dig into the issues – and with treatments, yoga, good food and nature all around the results can be transformational.’

Those results also mean some guests are telling her they’re now prioritising health – rather than hedonism – when it comes to booking a holiday. But however long a guest can stay, Christina says, she and her staff are on a mission. ‘To do the best possible for every single guest. Physically, mentally, spiritually. We want everyone to return home with new insights into how they can maintain improved health and wellbeing. We don’t use pills or drugs or medication – and we are wholly focussed on long-term solutions.’

Christina grew up in her family’s hotel in the Tirol, eventually running the spa there, has an MSc in Ayurvedic Science, and took over the Mandira when her father died shortly after buying the property. Passionate about Ayurveda, she was thrilled when the Mandira was recently named Global Winner in the Best Luxury Healing Retreat category at the 2023 World Luxury Awards.

Christina Mauracher: CEO and Founder of Holistic Ayurveda

The owner and CEO of Ayurveda Resort Mandira is Christina Mauracher. A practitioner of Ayurveda for over 20 years, thanks initially to her health-conscious hotelier parents. She is engaged to media owner and entrepreneur Andreas Drexler, has two small children, and is a qualified Ayurvedic therapist, with a Master of Science in Ayurvedic Medicine. Today, the forward-thinking spirit of her late parents lives on in Christina’s development of Holistic Ayurveda at the Mandira. This is a practice which resonates with the growing interest in the West in alternative approaches to health and wellbeing and preventive care.

Dr Alexandra Koller: the Mandira’s conventional doctor

Trained as a surgeon, Dr Koller worked in a hospital in Austria for six years. Setting up her own private practice freed her to adopt treatments that she could see yielded real benefits to her patients. She was especially impressed by the results of orthomolecular medicine – the use of high-dosage supplementation, often via infusion therapy. She oversees the Mandira’s increasingly popular IV infusion therapy programme.

Dr Akhil Balachandran: the Mandira’s Ayurvedic doctor

Growing up in Kerala, Akhil watched his spry grandmother start each day with Ayurvedic rituals – yoga, self-massage, oil pulling, tongue scraping. That gave him an early insight into Ayurveda and inspired his future career. After earning his degree in Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery, he spent three years practicing in hospitals in India, then helped set up the Centrum Szczecin, Poland’s first Ayurvedic centre, before joining the Mandira. He uses pulse diagnosis to discern a guest’s predominant Dosha – Vata, Pitta, or Kapha – and plan personalised treatments.

 Michael Dalcher: the Mandira’s newest Ayurvedic therapist and yoga teacher

Half-Austrian, half-American, Michael grew up in Vienna, moved to the US for university, and until his early 30s had a corporate career at the US telecoms giant AT&T. Starting yoga classes and discovering Ayurveda, however, led to a complete career change. Before joining the Mandira he spent six years in Peru, running retreats at the Ayahuasca Foundation and working with the Shipibo people, whose deep appreciation of the spirit of each plant chimes with Ayurveda. He finds giving hour-long massages with oil, ‘A deeply meditative experience.’

Malini Häuslmeier: Traditional Ayurveda specialist

Born in southern India, Malini trained in her native country and put her skills into practice at several Ayurvedic centres. The Ayurveda teacher, therapist and advisor has been working in Austria for the last 35 years – both in her own practice and at other establishments. She and her husband, Mike, are also practising psychotherapists – trained in India and Europe – and mind coaches specialising in nutrition, lifestyle and everyday life choices. Their approach is based on Ayurvedic principles and adapted to a western way of life. Malini is a seminar facilitator with 30 years of experience as a social therapist and runs annual Panchakarma treatment programmes with the assistance of a medical supervisor.