Kamalaya Koh Samui
Clean up your act and soothe your very soul

A new spa on Koh Samui schools Natalie Walsh in the ancient and varied art of yoga, while, Andrew Hildebrand spends the first day of his honeymoon in a Mexican steam hut.

'Enjoy your Buddha belly' was the message writ large in the welcome letter I was given on checking in to Kamalaya, a new wellness sanctuary and holistic spa in beautiful hill-top grounds in a quiet corner of the island of Koh Samui.

It's a sentiment that is as reassuring as it is cheering. I'm all for turning my body into a temple, but I was slightly fearful that I'd be marooned on the island in yogic boot camp with po-faced, bean-eating puritans.

Centred around a cave that once served as a place of meditation and spiritual retreat for Buddhist monks, Kamalaya embraces its natural surrounding landscape with its hillside rooms and villas, yoga pavilions, pools and outdoor hot tubs set among ancient, granite boulders, streams and tropical vegetation with sweeping views of the south of the island.

I'd signed up for yoga fusion, a six-day yoga fest to sample six styles of yoga practice, with life-coaching classes and a host of alternative therapies thrown in for good measure. As a beginner, the prospect of four hours of yoga a day, not to mention soul searching with a group of strangers was slightly daunting. Would the rest of the class be Lycra-clad Elle McPherson look-a-likes, and would there be tears over the breakfast muesli?

All such fears were squashed within minutes of meeting our yoga teachers, Carole Warren and Lorraine Taylor, who created and now run the yoga fusion programme. Although master practitioners of the bendy art, who have swapped the trappings of the West for spirituality and sarongs, they confess an enduring love of chocolate and coffee that's positively endearing.

"We haven't forgotten what life is like back in London," Carole said. "We know that people don't live in caves. This programme is all about going at your own pace: we'll teach you the different styles and at the end of the week devise a personal practice for you that you can realistically continue at home."

Day one and our little group of six apprentice "yoginis" - two fellow Britons, Ally and Louisa, business high-flyer Anne, from Denmark, and three Americans, Bonnie and Doris, who live on the island, and Sara, a journalist based in Bangkok - assembled cross-legged in the yoga sala at dawn. This large bamboo hut, perched on the hillside with sweeping views of the ocean, was to be our second home for the week. Thick with the scent of incense and birdsong, the atmosphere was peaceful and inspiring.

Our group, ranged in age from 25 to 50, was restricted to six so that we were all able to benefit from one-to-one coaching as Carole and Lorraine took us through pranayama (yoga breathing exercises), followed by athletic Ashtanga yoga and the more fluid style of Vinyasa flow.

Each morning brought a new challenge and yoga style as we quickly got to grips with sun salutations, progressing to trickier standing postures, before running - still sweaty and starving - to the breakfast buffet, high on endorphins and achievement.

Day three, and I staggered into the yoga sala like John Wayne, fed-up and dreaming of lying on the beach with a margarita and a trashy novel. It was a downward dog too far and I wanted to give up. But with Carole's unswerving encouragement I not only kept going, but, as the days rolled by, also found myself bending into shapes previously unimaginable.

Day four brought an introduction to Kundalini, a style that involves much gyrating of hips, with Dorien Israel, a force of nature who, at 60, is a glowing example of the youth-giving benefits of this ancient practice.

Yes, it is intense, but this retreat gives you the fast-track equal to bout 10 weeks of attending a weekly class. Immersing yourself in it helps you to master and remember the postures and feel yourself progressing, which means that you are less likely to give up.

There's nothing like whingeing about pulled muscles over vats of ginger tea to forge group bonding either. Flopped out on sunloungers on the beach in the afternoon, or sharing a delicious Thai lunch in the open-air restaurant overlooking the sea, we didn't stay strangers for long.

Like me, two of the other women had recently suffered a bereavement, one was hell-bent on losing weight, another was fresh from the divorce court, and the other, a would-be runaway bride with pre-wedding jitters. Together we could have composed a hit country-and-western song, but the mood was far from glum. What we all shared was a desire to stand still in a peaceful, supportive environment, which Kamalaya certainly provided on every count.

I wasn't sure what I'd make of the life-coaching sessions held every afternoon before the evening yoga session, but after some initial resistance, I got the point as exercises progressed to focusing on personal goals and the ever-elusive life-work balance.

Attempts at navel gazing when you're in the thick of your everyday life rarely produce much in the way of an epiphany, yet here, surrounded by exotic flowers and swaying palms tucked away from the white noise and many responsibilities and demands on your time, it's incredible how quickly the fog can clear.

"Most people try to avoid even thinking about difficult issues and often feel that they have to repress them in order to keep going," Carole said. "When you start doing yoga practice and meditation you start listening to your thoughts and hearing your needs and desires.

The postures clear stuff out of your belly, which can come as a shock. It is why life mapping not only works so well as part of the experience, but provides support." Letting it all hang out and being kind to yourself, including the bits that wobble, is, in lay terms, the fundamental ethos of Kamalaya. All packages -whether you opt for yoga, a detox or fitness programme - come with a free health check at the onsite wellness centre, where you're given a personal treatment programme for the week, comprising alternative therapies for relaxation to Chinese medicine for medical problems.

Forget fluffy facials: here you can experience extraordinary sound therapies and spiritual healing techniques, as well as relaxing massages; I was particularly impressed by the fact that the retreat does not attempt to push its products and services.

While it comes as no surprise that this type of holiday is tailor-made for people experiencing difficult times or seeking a new direction, I was struck by how positive and energising this kind of group experience can be. Whether your intention is to shed a spare tyre or two, or embark on a spiritual journey, you won't leave Kamalaya empty-handed.

I can now wrap my leg around my neck (almost), and I'm taking home a practice that I can realistically incorporate into the madness of London life.

Koh Samui basics

Getting there:
Wellbeing Escapes (0845 602 6202; www.wellbeingescapes.co.uk,) offers the seven-night Yoga Fusion and Yoga Synergy retreats at Kamalaya Holistic Wellness Sanctuary, in Koh Samui, from £1,540 per person, based on two people sharing, with two Kamalaya rejuvenation meals a day, plus healthy snack (smoothies, juices, protein snacks), and including flights from London to Koh Samui and airport transfers. The retreat includes an initial wellness consultation, twice-daily yoga classes, a daily coaching class and one 'vital essence oil' massage.