Art of Resting burnout and stress recovery programme at The Retreat Costa Rica, Atenas

Art of Resting is The Retreat's programme for people running on empty: burnout, adrenal fatigue, long-term stress or poor sleep. It is intentionally gentle. Rather than filling the day, it gives you a short welcome consultation, a set of calming spa and nervous-system therapies, breathwork and sound healing, and plenty of room to sleep, eat well and do very little. The aim is to let your body come down from constant alertness at its own pace.

The programme starts with a 30-minute one-to-one welcome consultation. Across your stay you receive eight therapies: a 60-minute Heaven on Earth massage, a 120-minute Shankara Ayurvedic immersion facial, a 60-minute aromatherapy massage, a 30-minute cranial massage using a Kansa wand on marma points, three 30-minute deep pranayama breathwork sessions and a 60-minute sound bath energy healing. You also join a 45-minute wellness cooking class and a 45-minute rare tea tasting. Three meals a day, twice-daily yoga, the daily activities and the pools and trails are all included.

The hotel sits on top of a crystal-quartz mountain above the town of Atenas, with views across the rainforest towards the Nicoya Gulf and the Pacific. It is a small, adults-only property of 26 rooms, so the atmosphere stays quiet and personal. Treatments take place at Vida Mía, the hotel's 8,000 sq ft healing centre and spa, and the included meals are served at Sol Terrace, the open-air restaurant on a covered terrace. Between sessions there are three saltwater pools, organic gardens that supply part of the kitchen's produce, and trails across the mountain.

Every day there is a 7:00 yoga flow and a 4:00 pm restorative class, open to all levels with no need to book. Around these, the hotel runs a rotating calendar of activities such as sound healing, cooking classes, tea tastings, guided hikes and workshops, most of which are included (a few premium activities carry a charge). On this programme everything outside your booked therapies is optional, and skipping a class to rest is very much the point.

There are no fixed group dates. You choose the day you arrive, check in from 3:00 pm, and stay for at least 5 nights; longer stays are welcome and the programme simply runs across the extra days. Your treatments are scheduled individually around your stay rather than to a set timetable.

What's included

- Accommodation in your chosen room type - Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily at Sol Terrace (chef's choice, anti-inflammatory, gluten-free, dairy-free, refined-sugar-free) - Yoga twice a day (7:00 flow and 4:00 pm restorative) - Access to the scheduled daily wellness activities - Use of the pools, grounds and trails - 30-minute one-to-one welcome consultation - Heaven on Earth massage, 60 min (x1) - Shankara Ayurvedic immersion facial, 120 min (x1) - Aromatherapy massage, 60 min (x1) - Cranial massage with Kansa wand and marma points, 30 min (x1) - Deep pranayama breathwork, 30 min (x3) - Sound bath energy healing, 60 min (x1) - Wellness cooking class, 45 min (x1) - Rare tea tasting, 45 min (x1)

What's not included

- International flights - Airport transfers (arranged by the hotel on request, at extra cost) - 13% Costa Rica tax (the prices shown exclude it) - Gratuities - Spa treatments and therapies outside the programme - Dinner at Mystique and food or drinks at La Diosa - Premium activities that carry a separate charge