An integrated lifestyle company has opened in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, with a mission to “create the space for life transformation”. That may sound like a big promise, but I’ve barely stepped into Fivelements Habitat and already my shoulders are dropping and I’m breathing more easily.
On the 13th floor of an office tower in Times Square – above a multistorey mall and several floors of restaurants – the 15,000 square foot (1,400 square metre) Fivelements feels like a secret sanctuary. The design is fluid, with plenty of curves, wood and muted natural colours.
It offers between 16 and 20 classes a day, eight of them classes in various forms of yoga – antigravity aerial, kundalini, hatha, and restorative yoga. Meditation and mindfulness are central to a company founded on and inspired by the Indonesian island of Bali. There are meditation-for-beginners classes and, for those who want to go deeper, transcendental meditation and sacred sound chanting meditation classes. Picking up the pace are classes in martial arts and movement.
There is pampering to be had at the in-house Wellness Sanctuary, from standard spa fare such as massage (antigravity massage, chi nei tsang or Taoist abdominal massage, Rolfing, shiatsu and seiki), facials and body treatments, to more exotic offerings such as energy clearing, Reiki, homeopathic and Ayurvedic treatments.
It’s been open since mid-July and already it feels like something special. Here are three things that set Fivelements apart from other wellness centres:
1. Soundscape Room
To decompress, this is the place to come – it’s effectively a short-cut to meditation and affords deep relaxation. The “soundscape sessions” run for 20 minutes three times a day. There’s the option of sitting on a meditation cushion and zoning out on the Zen sounds, but it’s even more relaxing to get horizontal on a yoga mat and totally let go.
There are some pretty impressive surround-room visuals which work with the sounds, but if you’re like me, after a couple of minutes you’ll want to close your eyes and lose yourself in the sound.
It works by using binaural beats, a technique that combines two slightly different sound frequencies to create the perception of a single-frequency tone. (When exposed to dual frequencies at the same time, one in each ear, the brain perceives a single tone that is the difference between the two frequencies.) Essentially our brain “tunes” to this new frequency.
Research has shown that listening to binaural beats can reduce brainwave activity, which lowers anxiety and helps you relax.
2. Plant-based menu
This wellness brand comes from Bali, and Fivelements Retreat Bali has won awards for its wellness cuisine. It’s a vegan menu – no meat, eggs, dairy products, gluten or gelatin (with the exception of honey, which is included for nutrition). The restaurant is open weekdays from 7.30am (8.30am on weekends) and serves breakfast, lunch and all-day nibbles. You don’t need to be a member to enjoy the restaurant, although “friends of Fivelements” get a discount.
As you’d expect of a wellness brand, you won’t see many refined products on the menu. The ingredients are locally sourced as much as possible – from organic farms in Hong Kong’s New Territories – and there’s plenty of turmeric in the dishes and drinks. For quick, healthy fixes there are smoothies – the Balinese Superfood Smoothie includes maca root, coconut, bee pollen and raw cacao, and is delicious – and shots (think wheat grass and parsley). It’s about eating – and drinking – yourself to good health.
3. Tea ceremony
Tea is a big deal at Fivelements. Cha dao or “The Way of Tea” puts you into a meditative state, and Hong Kong-born Resham Daswani leads a daily tea ceremony. Participants sit on cushions on the floor and Daswani, who trained with a monk in Taiwan, serves small bows of tea in silence.
The ritual of warming the bowls with hot water, rinsing them, slowly and deliberately pouring the tea, and offering a bowl to each guest is soothing and considered a form of meditation.
Daswani has visited the farms where the tea is grown and after the ceremony is happy to share stories about the tea farmers, who are dedicated to producing “clean” tea. At Fivelements, tea is seen as medicine and, in addition to the tea ceremonies, there are educational workshops about the drink and a selection of fine organic teas is served at the Sakti Elixir Bar. Here tea isn’t about a “quick cuppa”, it’s an opportunity to go deeper into your self-transformation.
Sign up as a “Friends of Fivelements” to get access to all daily Sacred Arts Classes and a discount at the Wellness Sanctuary. The early bird special offer runs until the end of August – a HK$990 joining fee plus HK$1,180 per month (for a 12-month subscription) or HK$1,388 (for a six-month subscription).
Fivelements Habitat, Level 13A, Times Square, Causeway Bay. www.fivelements.com Tel: (852) 6803 5081