February at Soneva

Coming from a long heritage line of Mexican healers, Patti is a master practitioner and healer who has dedicated 28 years of service around the globe to understanding how the body works and helping others create positive change. Patti uses her intuitive desire to heal with contemporary bodywork techniques, and alternative healing. Her unique ability to read the human body enables her to structure and facilitate restorative sessions that address the physical and spiritual manifestations of disharmony to deliver a unique healing experience. In addition to her treatments, Patti will be offering Therapeutic Bodywork, combining a range of modalities for guests based on their personal wellness needs.

Malminder is renowned as the UK’s leading hypnotherapist and has developed an award-winning practice on London’s Harley Street to help combat the challenges at a subconscious level where our minds hold onto negative thoughts, habits and memories for years. Her bespoke sessions offer effective treatment for anxiety and depression, relationship issues overeating, confidence and selfesteem, letting go of the past, stress management, performance and addictions. Renowned for delivering fast, lasting results, she has established herself amongst royalty, CEOs and UHNWI as the go-to therapist for all matters of the subconscious mind.

Born and bred in Mumbai, Vicky’s wit and charm has a duality that is reminiscent of natural Indian spice. A foodie at heart, he is a heady cocktail of flavours, some still undefined. The initial explosive burst of personality and flair is followed through with a wild imagination, delicately layered with sensual middle notes, being excitable, entertaining, inviting, spontaneous and devilish. Through his culinary journey, Vicky taught at the White Star Chef’s Training School onboard QE2, in Manila and St. Nazaire, training over 180 chefs. Currently, Vicky consults as a Culinary Director with GIPL and conceptualises restaurant menus and food concepts for places such as Pizza Express, The Runway Project, The Market Project, The Poona Project, Ministry of Crab and Nihonbashi. He is most recently revamped The Bandra Project, which is a communal style, casual-yet-chic, all-day eatery serving global cuisine. Vicky’s travels and his knowledge of global trends have led him to develop a web series called Vicky The Gastronaut, which is streaming on his Facebook page. The series has gained over 10 million views. He has filmed in Peru and Australia and is now filming the third part of the series at Chiang Mai in Thailand.

Dr Henrik Melin is an astronomer and a James Webb Research Fellow at the University of Leicester, UK. Growing up in Sweden, he became fascinated by the beauty and strangeness of the universe and went on to do an undergraduate and PhD degree at University College London, UK. Passionate about the giant planets within our own solar system, he is currently studying how these planets interact with their surrounding space environment, generating magnificent displays of northern and southern lights, also known as aurora. He has also previously worked in Los Angles, where he contributed to the very successful Cassini mission to Saturn, framing the aurora of the ringed in a completely new light. Having worked extensively with telescopes both in space and on the surface of the Earth, he recently started working with the brand new James Webb Space Telescope, the largest and the most advanced space telescope ever constructed and launched into space. This telescope offers unrivalled detail and clarity of the universe, from planets in our celestial backyard to the earliest galaxies and stars formed in our universe.

Italian chef Alberto Faccani has been passionate about the restaurant industry since he was a small child. Named by prestigious Italian food and wine guide, Identità Golose, as one of the ‘100 chefs who have changed Italian cuisine in the last 10 years’, his dynamic style of cuisine is self-taught, blending styles, forms and traditions. After working at the Michelin-starred La Frasca and Enotecca Pinchiorri restaurants, aged just 27, he decided to open his own restaurant, Magnolia, in 2003. Within just 18 months, it had received its first Michelin star, and today has two Michelin stars to its name. In 2005, Faccani joined the Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe group, before starring on the popular Italian TV show, La Prova del Cuoco, between 2008 and 2010. Passionate about preserving and enhancing regional culinary traditions, he is a member of the Chef to Chef Emilia Romagna Association, and also runs a cookery school in partnership with KitchenAid. Soneva Fushi: February 5 – 11, 2024 Soneva Jani: February 11 – 15, 2024

The chef and director at Kong Hans Kælder Restaurant, located in the oldest building in Copenhagen. In Mark’s universe, food is not a gift sent down from heaven. In order to understand the taste and composition of a dish, it is essential to respect its origin and understand the craftsmanship in its preparation. With a distinctive mix of classic French cuisine and a new Nordic kitchen, Mark creates dishes that define palatability at its best. Soneva Fushi: February 11 – 19, 2024 Soneva Jani: February 19 – 25, 2024

Since 1663, the Wittmanns and their ancestors have been wine farmers in the town of Westhofen, Germany, in the southern part of the Rheinhessen appellation. Today Philipp Wittmann, his wife Eva and Philipp’s parents divide the tasks of running the estate. Riesling is the dominant grape of choice but also the Pinot varietals (Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris) and Silvaner have a long tradition in Westhofen. For more than twenty years their vineyards have been organically cultivated. The vines root deep in the living system of the soil which strengthens the expression of vineyard character year after year. This is complemented by the intensive hand craftsmanship in the tending of the vineyards to achieve the highest possible grape quality. Weingut Wittmann will be hosting wine-tasting experiences exclusively for guests at Soneva Fushi and Soneva Jani.

World-renowned breath coach and founder of Breathguru, Alan Dolan has been at the forefront of breathwork in the UK and around the world for the last 19 years, changing people’s lives through the simple power of breathing. Alan’s clients are of all ages and backgrounds including actress Naomie Harris and various other Hollywood A-listers. After graduating from Aston University, Alan worked across Africa, Asia and for 10 years in the Middle East, forging a career as a public relations manager in the high-pressure world of communications. After taking a sabbatical to pursue his interest in all things metaphysical, Alan was introduced to the wonders of breathwork. Almost two decades later, he has gained a wealth of experience and is now based in Lanzarote where he runs the Breathguru Retreat. He also runs training and mentoring programmes for budding breath coaches and hosts online breath sessions for both individuals and groups. During a 90-minute breathwork session, Alan teaches a simple yet powerful technique, known as conscious connected breathing, that helps us to open up to our full potential. Conscious breathing is natural, safe and designed to be practised independently once taught. Its benefits include increased energy, the release of emotional baggage, reduced anxiety, increased positivity, increased levels of relaxation, improved stress response and greater self-awareness. “After 65 anxious years, trying every conceivable treatment and therapy available, just one session of breathwork was all that was needed to calm a troubled mind.” John Crace, Political correspondent, The Guardian