Farm wellness

The growing global trend to embrace wellness is unmistakable and it is good news to many that this trend is now rapidly taking over our national consciousness as well. In everything and with most Pinoys, it is going natural, going organic and overall just going healthy.  We recently featured VMV Hypoallergenics’ products that are now being actively promoted in malls. This is a proudly Filipino brand of products from ordinary everyday products that we use on our hair and skin like shampoo, toothpaste and sunblock to cosmetics that are scientifically researched and formulated, with published clinical studies to back up the brand.  Best of all, these are natural/organic and are now sold in several countries.

Here at home, we have never really shed our age-old beliefs on the benefits of traditional methods like hilot and medicinal herbs. We came across a health farm that still espouses these – the Nurture Wellness Village in Tagaytay, which is a little more than an hour’s drive if you’re coming from Parañaque or Alabang on a weekday.  Being the 2014-2017 Traveller’s Choice from Tripadvisor should give you a clue on what to expect from this wellness farm.

CHOICES – this is their acronym for their core belief at the farm. Choose to be positive, control stress; Healthy eating, hydration; Oxygenate with exercise; Immune boost with natural supplements; Cleanse body and emotions; Embrace natural healing therapies; Sleep, social and spiritual support.

Nurture is a wellness farm but it is also an eco-tourist destination. It has become a popular venue for weddings and other social events with comfortable rooms, but what is surprising, as revealed by Irish Talay, the farm’s business development manager, is how it is also becoming a favored destination for many corporate clients from Manila for their team-building and conventions.  These are responsible corporate citizens who recognize the need to keep their employees well, the fun way, thus creating a healthier and happier staff. Corporate wellness at the farm means eating healthy, pursuing productive activities like yoga, tai chi, healthy massages and spa treatments and even healthy games, would you believe?  For instance, in the vast expanse of this farm, they grow organic vegetables which can be harvested daily. One of the team games has each team member bring a basket to harvest vegetables within a specified time.  The team that harvests the most wins. These same greens and veggies are what they will find on the table, cooked delectably and healthy. Their corporate day tour packages are reasonably priced that includes do-it-your-own barbecue lunch with freshly-picked vegetables while their Corporate Overnight Camping Package comes with binalot breakfast, barbecue lunch and snacks. Speaking of healthy cuisine, they recognize that healthy eating is not on every Pinoy’s consciousness, so their in-house chef has developed his innovative cuisine with imagination.  Nurture’s kare-kare comes with the same peanut-based sauce but with chicken instead; they have their own version of the popular sisig but with healthy tofu instead of pork.

While young adults are now open-minded about embracing wellness, young children are not yet into this. The farm introduced their “Glamping” (short for glamorous camping) services.  They have huge tents for families who love the idea of camping, but not in the hot tropics.  So they have air conditioned big tents that have all the amenities of a comfortable home while still sleeping under the stars.

One can enjoy a ‘day visit’,  have overnight or weekend stays and even longer stays with this farm’s various packages, but I warn you that these do not come cheap. Among their Friends and Family Spa Package is their Barkadahan (good for three) which comes with an overnight stay in a Superior Garden View Room with plate full set dinner and breakfast, one hour full body massage and thirty minutes of natural facial and foot massages. Their Pamilya (good for four) overnight stay offers family-type rooms while their Bakasyon (good for two) package gives a couple three days/two nights stay with dinner, lunch and breakfast plus the other amenities mentioned above. They have rates for additional persons for bed, massage, breakfast and dinner or simple bed and breakfast only. Their Romantic Spa Packages (all good for two) start at P8,500 for weekdays for a four-hour stay to P10,500 for an overnight stay on weekends.  They also offer the traditional hot stone massage for 1-1/2 hours, the Hilot and Lunas ni Nanay, which is Hilot with Ventosa. The rates are pretty steep but the farm has a regular clientele who can happily afford these rates.

What is also interesting about Nurture Wellness Village is their ‘Farmacy’ where one can go around their vegetable and herbal gardens while a knowledgeable staff explains the healing benefits of each medicinal plant. They are particularly ecstatic about their super vegetable, kale, which is much better than Popeye’s spinach.  They regard kale as the queen of greens and they grow rows and rows of this. They even encourage their employees to grow kale in their backyards and the company is set to market their organic Kale Calamansi juice in powdered form as well as their Kale Chocolate powdered drink. Their organic Farm Tour includes a demo on how to prepare healthy vegetable and fruit juices and how to roast coffee beans and make the perfect cup of coffee the way Amadeo coffee farmers do.  It also includes demos on how to make natural pesticide and fertilizers as part of their advocacy for natural farming.

There is a whole lot of activities in store for the farm guests, from simple swimming in the pool to hiking and walking on flat stones to camping and having healing massages. If you have the budget for it, bring the family or the whole corporate team and enjoy a healing, natural staycation that departs from the usual for a rejuvenating experience.

Mabuhay!!!  Be proud to be a Filipino.

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