Strengthens the immune system and sharpens the senses

Great program at Terme Šmarješke Toplice

Strengthens the immune system and sharpens the senses

Immune balance program

The ImmunoRebalance program proved a great success and was popular with the guests. The goal of the program is to strengthen the immune system, spend active time in nature, revitalize and engage in sensory awakening. Recently, a new workshop which helps sharpen the senses of smell and taste was set into motion.

The stimulation of the senses – smell, taste, touch, sight and sound – enables us to experience life more fully. Heightened senses also allow us to immerse ourselves in nature and feel its healing power. Nature helps promote self-healing processes in the organism.

At Terme Šmarješke Toplice, we want to encourage sensory capabilities with natural methods that guests can also practice at home. The ImmunoRebalance program includes services like treatments in the forest, barefoot stream-walking, Kneipp therapy, breathing exercises and pilates at the park where the air is full of soothing negative ions, as well as a variety of massages, saunas and whirlpools.

Special treatments available at an extra charge include breathing exercise in an altitude chamber, which stimulates lungs and increases their capacity, as well as a new service – nose and taste buds training.

Improve your senses of smell and taste through interesting training

At the workshop, guests will learn how to strengthen their olfactory nerve cells which in turn helps strengthen the sense of smell. The sense of smell can be compromised due to different reasons, most often respiratory infections and age.

The smell and taste training is also held for guests participating in the Post Covid rehabilitation program meant to aid faster and more effective recovery after covid. A common consequence of long covid is a diminished sense of smell or even loss of smell. Covid-19 is a unique kind of virus that acts fast in attacking the nervous system. This means the virus travels up the nose and attaches to the olfactory nerve responsible for the transfer of sensory smell information into our brains.

Normally, we can differentiate between sweet, sour, salty and bitter tastes. If we can't smell, however, we can't tell the difference between the taste of a cherry and a grape as they both taste exclusively sweet to us. If we lose our sense of smell, we normally also lose our sense of taste. When we eat, the aroma of the food sticks to the bottom of the tongue and travels up to the nose from there, causing us to say: "Oh, this is a cherry."

Ever heard of smell training?

Smell training helps the body create new neural pathways to renew the senses of smell and taste. It should be done in a longer time span. It's best to start with smelling familiar aromas, aromas that we have memorized, such as the smell of coffee, perfumes, citruses, fragrances and different familiar essential oils. These exercises have no side effects and can help aid recovery.

At Terme Šmarješke Toplice, the workshop is most often held in nature, namely at the Castle garden that offers a bounty of fresh vegetables, bramble, herbs and aromatics, all of it produced organically and grown in the sun, allowing us to enjoy full smells and flavors.

How you can »train« at home

Adapted from a book by Nataša Špiranec Maurer: Aromatherapy – Fragrant Portraits, 2015.

1. Relax and then try to perceive your surroundings with all your senses.

2. Have three different aromatics or foods at the ready. Choose more intense flavors for the first training (vanilla, cinnamon, cloves) and less intense ones for exercises that will follow.

3. The scents should be spaced out on separate plates. Raise each scent to your nose and inhale deeply.

4. Memorize each scent and try to bring it to mind several times.

Terme Smarjeske Toplice zdrava lokalna kakovostna kulinarika healthy ageing2

Guests' thoughts on the smell and taste training

»I was surprised by how much home-grown vegetables from the organic garden we visited differ in taste from store-bought ones. There's no comparison.«

Matej, ImmunoRebalance program participant

»Now that we've visited the Castle garden, we understand why the restaurant dishes here are so tasty.«

Sabina and Gorazd, ImmunoRebalance program participants

»My sense of smell has been weakened due to chronic rhinitis. The training brought back some of the smells, in turn improving my sense of taste. I also learned how to practice at home.«

Melisa, ImmunoRebalance program participant

Invest in your health by staying with us

The ImmunoRebalance program offers other treatments that help strengthen the organism. It starts with examining your health, which includes a visit to a cardiologist, lab tests (along with complete blood counts, these tests also show potential vitamin deficits and check liver function), as well as lipometabolism, physical capacity and biological age tests. A variety of options promoting physical and psychological strength follow. Diet is an important part of the program (three meals and two healthy snacks daily). The food is prepared for each guest, taking into account their health condition.

ImmunoRebalance also makes for a relaxed stay full of pampering for body and soul. As a souvenir, a complementary bath bag and a water bottle will be provided. Welcome to Terme Šmarješke Toplice.