Wellness travel,
the Sensei way

About three weeks after I completed a stay at the Sensei Lanai, a Four Seasons Resort, an email arrived in my inbox with the subject line “Sensei Follow-up.”

I had participated in Sensei’s Optimal Wellbeing program, a highly structured offering that involved a series of consultations and classes. The follow-up email was not a survey; rather, my lead guide was looking for a time when we could discuss how much of the experience had carried over into my life.

It was a good idea. Working on self-improvement while staying at the serene Hawaii resort by myself was one thing. Carrying those lessons forward and forming new habits was a challenge — especially now that I was back home helping care for a toddler and juggling obligations that were elbowing free time out of my schedule. 

A few days later, I hopped on the phone with Sensei guide Marcus Washington. “I’m having mixed results,” I said. I was smoothly incorporating more warm-ups and variety into my workouts and whole grains and fruits and vegetables into my diet. 

But other action items from my stay were proving more daunting, I explained, such as establishing a daily meditation practice or a journaling routine. As soon as I returned home from Sensei, life started getting in the way.

“I’m making excuses,” I told Washington, and then waited to hear his response. 

Pre-arrival

After more than a year of parenting an infant during a pandemic, I had fallen into some bad habits. Sleep was at a premium, and my fitness regimen was inconsistent at best. Like so many people returning to travel following Covid-19 lockdowns, I was ready for a reset. 

Sensei CEO Kevin Kelly was in a similar place early in the pandemic. Working on a resort that was shuttered a few months after opening, he also found himself cut off from his typical sources of exercise during hard shutdowns. His days were packed with way too many Zoom calls and far too little physical activity. 

“Coming out of the pandemic, what we do know is that, in general, people have become more acutely aware of their health. They have also recognized their health is affected by their relationships,” Kelly said. “The pandemic was a shock to the system, a trauma, whether we recognize it or not. And when coming out of trauma there is a need to spend time recalibrating emotional and physical health.” 

Sensei aims to help people do just that. The resort is the product of a partnership between Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle and owner of the vast majority of the island of Lanai, and Dr. David Agus, a professor of medicine and engineering at the University of Southern California and the author of a handful of books offering evidence-based advice for healthy living. 

Sensei’s wellness approach is firmly rooted in data, both objective (heart rate monitoring) and subjective (which style of meditation works best for an individual). And the data collection starts well before a guest arrives. 

After a booking is complete, guests fill out a questionnaire on their current habits, what experiences interest them and what they would like to get out of their stay. 

A few weeks before my trip, a Whoop bracelet arrived at my door. It’s a tracker that would measure my activity, sleep, heart rate and respiratory rate. I’d need that data to fill in the blanks on another questionnaire asking, for instance, for my heart rate variability, a measurement that, over time, can indicate how well the body functions during activity and rest.

“The Sensei approach to wellness is a unique amalgamation of data collection, technology to organize and aggregate the data and then coupling that with deep experiences and programs,” Kelly said. 

The program is broken down into three components: move, rest and nourish. Room-only rates at the adults-only resort (the minimum age is 16) start at $800 per night and include access to a daily menu of complimentary fitness, meditation, yoga and other classes. Add-on packages offer more help planning itineraries, credits for additional services and one-on-one attention.

I was on the Optimal Wellbeing program (starting at $1,335 per night), which requires a minimum five-night stay and includes a dedicated guide who helps craft a personalized agenda, including the scheduling of a comprehensive slate of data-yielding tests and a handful of consultations covering everything from nutrition to mindset. 

I expected to learn a lot and have the chance to recharge and reflect, but the real question was: How much of what I discovered at Sensei would come home with me?

Move 

Covid-19 had demolished my workout routine, which was largely based around a gym where, over several years, I had built a supportive community. As my Sensei visit approached, I tried to climb out of my fitness rut, searching for ways to get back to my pre-pandemic activity levels and stay motivated. 

Once at the resort, a battery of tests established my baselines. Sensei’s body analysis not only recorded my weight and height but muscle-to-fat ratios in different parts of the body to expose possible imbalances. A guide ran me through a gauntlet of tests to measure flexibility, movement, strength and my overall fitness level. Then, I strapped on an elaborate face mask and hopped on a treadmill for a VO2 max test, a measure of the body’s ability to consume oxygen during exercise. It offers an age-adjusted sense of fitness level but also indicates the heart rate level at which the body shifts from burning fat to burning carbohydrates for energy. 

With all the data compiled, I sat down with the fitness guide to discuss the results and my personal goals and develop a plan. I had relied on running for exercise during the pandemic, so we talked about pre- and post-jog strategies for avoiding injury and improving my times. In a subsequent session, he walked me through several bodyweight exercises for a full workout at home without expensive equipment. 

There were also plenty of opportunities at Sensei to move outside a class setting and enjoy activities such as electric mountain bike rides over Lanai’s distinctive red dirt, a guided morning hike to a nearby ridgeline and a new adventure park with a ropes course. Also, in conjunction with the nearby Four Seasons Resort Lanai (also owned by Larry Ellison), a golf course and tennis courts are available to Sensei guests. 

Rest 

Sensei puts as much emphasis on the regenerative aspects of the experience as the more physically challenging portions. 

The property is bright and airy, with wild turkeys patrolling grounds that are artfully designed with tropical flowers and plants. Sculptures from renowned artists, including Fernando Botero, Jaume Plensa and Robert Indiana, blend into the landscaping; gardens are divided by lagoons populated with koi. 

There are 10 heated, onsen-style soaking tubs tucked into a corner of the property that can be used 24 hours a day. I found them to be a perfect place to unwind and take in the stars after a day’s activities. 

Sensei also features 10 spa hales (private, 1,000-square-foot huts) for treatments, each with outdoor soaking pools and an infrared sauna and steam room. Services include couples massages, aquatic massages, body wraps and thermal body scans that identify places the body is sending blood, an indicator of injury or strain. Treatments include 30 minutes of free time to enjoy the hale, but I could have spent a couple of hours in one. (The resort does offer the option to book them for private time to unwind and rejuvenate.)

“I’ve been to quite a few wellness resorts, and I was blown away by what they’ve done with the grounds at Sensei. It’s stunning,” said Addie Bell, who runs Las Vegas-based Jetset and Travel and has sent several clients to the property. “Also, being relatively new, everything from the lobby to the rooms felt very open, refreshing and clean.”

Nourish 

The third component of the Sensei program encompasses how one feeds both body and mind. 

A small amount of blood is drawn to measure cholesterol and blood glucose levels, two things Agus says in his book “A Short Guide to a Long Life” (Simon & Schuster, 2014) are vital to track for all age groups. Guests who are diligent about annual physicals may be able to skip the finger prick and simply share results from their medical provider. 

The nutrition consultant walked the tightrope between finger-wagging and counseling like a seasoned circus acrobat. In general, I found the Sensei guides to be skilled at providing information and ideas without creating a boot camp or judgemental atmosphere. I detailed my weekly eating habits, and we identified areas where small tweaks could make a difference: brown rice instead of white, whole-wheat pasta rather than regular and whole fruits and veggies as opposed to my expensive, sugar-heavy, nutrient-light juice habit. 

The lone on-site restaurant is Sensei by Nobu, which serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers both a menu of signature dishes found at the acclaimed chef’s other restaurants, like the famed miso black cod, and a “nourish” menu specifically crafted for the resort and in keeping with the staff nutritionist’s recommendations.

In addition to Sensei’s complimentary classes on meditation and mindfulness offered daily, the Optimal Wellbeing package came with a mindset consultation covering techniques to better self-regulate emotions and become more present-minded in everyday life. 

It was here that the data and counseling really came together. Together, the counselor and I looked at how to influence my heart rate variability through focused breath work and guided imagery.

And, true to the Sensei ethos, even the recommended meditation had components to incorporate testing and metrics. I went through exercises with a device attached to my ear lobe monitoring my breathing and heart rate. This real-time feedback showed whether I was achieving a desired rhythm or experiencing fluctuations. Some of the techniques worked wonders, easing me into a consistent pattern, while others threw me off, interrupting the flow and sending my heart rate soaring. 

The Results

I left Lanai with a “guide to growth” action plan; all of the information collected about me is stored on the Sensei Portal, a password-protected site where guests can see all of their data and notes from consultations, in addition to comprehensive move, nourish and rest scores. The Sensei Porcupine Creek, a second property from the brand, is due to open in Southern California in early 2022, and a guest’s information from multiple stays and across properties will be aggregated on the portal. 

Back to that Sensei Follow-up email: After I detailed my post-Sensei progress for Washington, he delivered a long-distance pat on the back.

“What I hear you highlighting is already a significant change. There is an ideal state we’re all hoping for, and you’re not there yet,” he said, “but nonetheless when I think about what you’re saying, it’s a night-and-day difference. … There were so many things we discussed, you couldn’t expect to put all of them into action already. It’s only been a few weeks since you were here, and Covid had 18 months to change your habits.”

Perhaps the thing I appreciated most about Sensei’s approach to wellness was how implicit it was in the structure that behavioral change is ongoing. After all, only so much can be accomplished in a few days on vacation.