he mental

and physical

benefits of

adventure

should,

by now, be well known. Done the right

way, the resulting influx of high-octane

hormones serves as an effective salve

for office stress. But it can also be bloody

exhausting. Sometimes, the classic

combination of white sand and azure

sea is your safest bet. More specifically,

the Cheval Blanc Randheli resort

(chevalblanc.com) in the Maldives.

Here, you’ll soon forget that Outlook

notifications ever existed.

Transfer from the capital city, Malé,

to the resort by private seaplane and,

if you didn’t already feel like a rock star,

the waving staff waiting with welcome

cocktails should do the trick. That, or

the moment you realise that the smiling

chap golf-buggying you from jetty

to beach villa is, in fact, your personal

butler. You’ve arrived, darling.

When you open the door to your villa,

you’re faced with a choice: either wash

away your 15-hour journey by slipping into

the already-run bath, or embrace island

life, walk past your private infinity pool

and dive head first into the Indian Ocean.

Whether your water is salty, chlorinated or

filled with Guerlain bath oil, submerging

yourself lowers your heart rate, which

will sink blood pressure and stress levels

almost immediately.

By the time you’ve buttoned up

your fresh linen shirt, you’ll be hungry.

The 12-course tasting menu at French

restaurant Le 1947 is essential eating.

And you’ll be pleased to know that,

degustation menus, but there’s

more to this Maldivian idyll than

a recipe for sunburn and gout.

Health Fix and Chill

Start your day with a cardio commute: the

primary mode of transport here is your

villa’s bicycle. Wind your way to the jetty

and set sail to the resort’s wellness island.

(Of course the spa is on its own island.)

T

of the six that were

initially brought to the

resort, there remains

one bottle of the £56,000

wine from the Cheval

Blanc winery in France

still available. The

seafood barbecue on the

beach also has its charms,

not least the fact that locally caught fish is

fresher, and therefore far more nutritious,

than your usual supermarket fare – a great

excuse to go back for seconds.

Yes, you could spend your entire stay

soaking up vitamin D and gorging on

You’ll begin an

open-air yoga session

with 10 minutes

of meditation. It

may not be news

that, according

to researchers at

the University of

Connecticut, yoga can

bring down blood pressure, but holding

some alfresco downward dogs can also

reduce cortisol* and aid weight loss**. The

flow that follows will have lasting benefits

once you return home: researchers have

linked regular yoga to greater workplace

vitality, which means higher levels of

perseverance and less fatigue.

“Walk past your

private infinity pool

and dive into the

Indian Ocean”

SWAP THE OFFICE BLUES

FOR THE DEEP BLUE ON

YOUR PRIVATE SEAPLANE

CUT YOUR CORTISOL ON AN

ISLAND DEVOTED ENTIRELY

TO REVIVING MIND AND BODY

130 MEN’S HEALTH