One night during Eha’s four-day retreat, a member of the small 30-person staff told a story: in ancient times, people of Hiiumaa (the island off the Estonian coast where Eha is located) believed that the North Star held up the sky. Living in fear that one day the star might move and cause the sky to collapse, they built teepee-like structures to live in, made from the towering trees that populate most of the island. The belief was that the pointed top would protect them from the sky if it did eventually fall and hole through its centre to monitor the star’s location.
The legacy of that ancient belief is woven into the structure of Eha’s very modern wellness retreat. A eleven-like retreat located along the Baltic coast, Eha is a minimalist, house-like structure with pitched roofs, light-wash wood interiors, and expansive views of the region’s rugged, otherworldly landscape with its seemingly infinite view of the Baltic Sea and its dramatic, reed-filled coastline. The effect is a deliberate reminder, wherever you are within Eha, that you are in Estonia.
Of course, the Baltic country is not an obvious choice for a wellness retreat, which are often associated with sunny beaches or mountainous Swiss clinics. But that is precisely Eha’s point: by creating a retreat grounded in the traditions and landscape of the region, the Eha offers its visitors a novel approach to finding a healthier body, and a calmer mind, behind its doors.
The programming at Eha is structured around Hiiumaa’s five seasons, adding ‘Springrise,’ the season between end of winter and the arrival of Spring, into the traditional four-season mix. Each period has its own distinct philosophy, which informs the food that is served, wellness treatments offered in the spa, exercise classes, and guided experiences offered in the resort's saunas, steam rooms and hydrotherapy pools. During Autumn, for instance, a season Eha associates with grounding and preparing for rest, practices are designed to help guests let go of what has passed during the year so far. There is a post-dinner sound bath session, one-to-one sound bowl and lymphatic drainage massages, energy and fascia flow sessions in the morning, and a traditional sauna whisk using birch twigs gathered in the forest. Then, there is the food, which is one of the most impressive aspects of the Eha experience.
Using only ingredients sourced from the island, chef Peeter Pihel, constructs an ever-changing menu that uses only a few ingredients to create Michelin-level dishes. Served as a buffet-style for breakfast and lunch, and family-style during dinner, a recent Autumn-focused menu included dishes like homemade rye bread, yogurt with plum compote and eggs from local chickens for breakfast; pumpkin gnocchi and tender steak for lunch; and, for dinner, white fish harvested from the ocean right outside the dining room’s window, a warming beetroot and cheese broth, a roasted root vegetable salad, to name just a few.
The structure of Eha’s two night, four day retreat, strikes a good balance between being structured and loose, with everyone receiving a schedule upon arrival that details the times for morning workout sessions, meals, and treatments, with plenty of time built in for guests to relax as they please, whether that be taking a walk along one of the forest trails behind the retreat; relaxing in the private living room area within every room; or using the sauna, steam room, hot tubs or pool at one’s leisure (an outdoor swim in the heated pool overlooking the Baltic is particularly recommended during cold weather seasons).
Hiiumaa is an island roughly the size of Singapore that is populated by only 10,000 people, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve dominated by forests and marshlands. It’s a serene, secluded atmosphere that permeates every aspect of the Eha experience. The design of the space to be almost like a large house, with a communal living room and dining room, and a no-phone, no-shoes (slippers are provided for every guest) policy that gently compels guests to step away from routine habits and find solace in a new environment that feels both distinctly foreign and just like a home.