My first reaction to health and beauty retreats is most commonly gasping in horror. Do I really want long days of no food, no internet connection and no contact with the outside world? Certainly not! Not to mention, I find the whole idea of cleanses, fasts and detoxes a shock to the system no reasonable person should inflict upon themselves. That’s when I stumbled upon Eucrasia. I immediately liked the name, a term coined by Hippocrates, father of modern medicine, which essentially means total balance. We all know ancient Greeks were big fans of moderation, and lord knows I needed some of that in my life! My body had taken a bit of a beating in the past year, as I had accidentally discovered marathon running, which is admittedly a ridiculous hobby for non-athletes.

The training hours are long, the wakeup calls constantly get pushed up (think 5am in mid-August!), the cuisine is supposed to be lean and the injuries are unprecedented. All in all, a near impossible feat for someone who’s also supposed to be holding down a job and maintaining a healthy relationship. That’s where Eucrasia came in, promising to rebalance my crazy lifestyle and help me become my own healer after a 7-day program specifically designed for amateur athletes.

Bingo! I arrived at the Tatoi Club, a rather luscious health & wellness retreat 30mins away from Athens, currently hosting the itinerant Eucrasia program, with a suitcase full or reservations. On the first day, I woke up to soothing views of the well-manicured gardens, followed by 7am fasting blood tests, a body analysis and psychological profiling. It might sound a little intimidating, but it paved the way towards a completely different approach to mind-body communication.

The food was hearty (organic fish, delicate stews, antioxidant-packed salads and a host of local delicacies), the workouts were dictated by the Club’s natural surroundings, combined with some tailored personal training in the various courts and gym facilities at hand, while the treatments included addictive Indian head massages, drawing a detailed map to a new you.

I was particularly excited to meet personal trainer Roula Strataki, a former track and field world champion, and physiotherapist Manolis Nikitakis, a handy renaissance man who lives off the land and looks as healthy as a wild duck. The team includes at least 15 more specialists, headed by founder Dr. George Leon, who really earned both their title as “international health cartographers” and their recent distinction in the 2015 Conde Nast Traveller Awards as “most progressive detox”. Needless to day, I returned home a new woman – even if I do say so myself!