In an era where wellness has become synonymous with action—fitness regimens, rigid diets, and endless optimization— Lefay Resorts & Residences, the Italian luxury spa-resort brand, is pioneering a radical shift. International wellness expert Laszlo Puczko describes this moment as the “wellness paradox, ”where an industry built to enhance health has instead created overwhelming pressure to constantly do more.
Lefay’s new wellness program, Lascia Che Sia or Letting Go, is an immersive wellness experience at Lefay Resort & SPA Lago di Garda. It is designed to counterbalance the modern tendency toward a “do” lifestyle linked to action to something more profound: the power of release, self-discovery, and contemplation.
Guided by the philosophy of classical Chinese medicine, the Lefay SPA Method Scientific Committee designed the program to cultivate harmony between yin (contemplation) and yang (action). True mental and physical wellbeing isn’t about doing more but about creating balance—making space for stillness, reflection, and renewal.
The Art of Letting Go: A New Path to Mental Freedom
Classical Chinese medicine uses the term “ming” (meaning destiny or a spiritual mandate) to describe one’s ability to fully express one’s personality. Everyday life today is full of stimuli and challenges that take us away from our true self and create a blockage that stagnates our vital energy, qi. Letting go means being free to be yourself.
The three-night Letting Go program focuses on the individual’s emotional state and features activities related to breathing, reopening of the senses to help enable a rediscovery of the self to bring back a deeper meaning of the here and now. The stages of the Letting Go program are:
- Letting down defenses. The Prima di Vera ritual helps break down defenses with the energizing action of brushing along the body’s meridians enabling vital energy to flow more freely through the body and prepare the body to listen.
- Focusing on the breath. Conscious breathing exercises in the resort’s Energy & Therapeutic Garden draws the focus to the here and now to produce a sense of calm and eliminate negative thoughts.
- Opening the senses. Il Volo dell’Angelo massage is a journey of self, where the senses of touch, smell, hearing, and sight are stimulated. Activated with music, sound, and touch, this treatment enhances the ability to hear our inner voice. To further stimulate the senses, a Lefay SPA therapist guides the guest through the resort’s garden to pick fresh herbs and aromatic plants to use in a customized recipe that the guest cooks with chefs that day.
- Returning to wonder. Experiencing Lake Garda in a renewed state of awareness helps relieve anxiety and tension. A guided excursion showcases the area’s stunning landscape to entice reconnection with the wonders of nature. Dinner at the Gramen Restaurant takes this reconnection further with a menu inspired by where land and water meet.
- Feeling free to be yourself. Water shiatsu helps release mental filters to restore confidence and spontaneous self-acceptance in the evocative atmosphere of a saltwater pool. The ancient massage technique is combined with the benefits of water to enhance the ability to rediscover one’s true self.
The three-night “Letting Go” program at Lefay Resort & SPA Lago di Garda starts at a rate of $2,106 per person and includes:
- Three nights’ accommodation in a Prestige Junior Suite
- Breakfast lunch and dinner from the Lefay SPA Menu
- Program Introduction Session
- Use of the resort’s 46,000-square-foot spa facilities including saunas, pools, fitness center, and relaxations areas
- One Prima di Vera ritual brushing and body scrub with bran and olive oil
- One Il Volo dell’Angelo emotional energy massage using healing through frequencies
- Specific phytotherapy using plant extracts
- Breathwork in the resort’s energy garden
- Garden foraging and cooking class
- A guided outdoor excursion
- Lefay SPA Water shiatsu massage
- One seven-course tasting menu dinner at Gramen
