Now you can go on a digital diet in a most unlikely place: Las Vegas
The term “journey into stillness” is generally not associated with Las Vegas.
But a new program initiated by a top hotel spa in the city is out to change that.
Launching this weekend, the Mandarin Oriental’s new Digital Detox retreat aims to part people from their devices for 48 hours, challenging them to spend uninterrupted time doing more healthful things instead -- taking a yoga class, learning how to make a green smoothie, writing letters to friends.
“It’s a little shocking for people when you tell them we are taking their phones,” said Jennifer Lynn, senior director of spa and wellness at the Mandarin Hotel Group. “Their mouths drop open.”
The retreat runs from Friday through Sunday evenings at the luxury non-gaming hotel, and will be offered intermittently.
Lynn said the digital detoxes are especially valuable at a time when mobile devices have become a source of stress: “Boundaries are pushed more, there are expectations on people to be in constant communication, and that creates stressors in the body.”
Guests can sign up for either a full or partial digital detox; with the first, they don’t see their communication devices from check-in until the time they leave. Alternatively, they can look at their phones -- which are cleaned, charged and safely stored -- at pre-arranged times during the weekend.
In either case, devices are prohibited from group events, which removes the temptation to check Snapchat in the middle of a yoga asana.
The retreat includes yoga and guided meditation classes, deep breathing sessions, an introduction to sound meditation, demonstrations on how to make a green “beauty” smoothie, eating for energy and sessions with an iridologist -- an alternative health practitioner who checks a client’s eyes to determine what is happening with the body. There are also sessions on subjects such as how mobile devices affect the quality of family life. Participants receive a kit containing artistic coloring pages, a notebook for journaling and a phone pouch to help shield them from electromagnetic frequencies.
Guests will leave armed with suggestions on why it’s best to leave a device out of the bedroom, keeping healthy boundaries in social media and how to use fitness apps — in moderation.
The Digital Detox at the Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas costs $699. ($199 extra to bring a friend to share the room.) Spa treatments not included. mandarinoriental.com/lasvegas
