Harnessing Nature’s Medicine
HOW HAY-MAKING AND HERBS HAVE SHAPED THE DOLOMITES’ CULTURE
Destination 5 minute read
The Alpe di Siusi is home to COMO Alpina Dolomites, an architectural masterpiece in the heart of a UNESCO Natural World Heritage site. It’s also Europe’s largest high-altitude alpine meadow — renowned for its mountainous landscape and rich flora. Here we look at some of the flowers and plants that make the Dolomites special, as well as their uses in COMO Shambhala’s wellness treatments.
The Alpe di Susi in South Tyrol sits at an elevation of over 1,600 metres and covers over 20 square miles. It’s Europe’s largest high-altitude alpine meadow, surrounded by dramatic mountain peaks and rocky outcrops. From November to April, this region is blanketed in thick snow, but in summer it transforms into a glory of gentians, edelweiss and orchids.
The significance of this natural environment — home to some 790 plant species — is underscored by the occurrence of endemic plant species including the violet-blue Dolomite bellflower and the pink-petalled Tyrolean primrose. But there’s more than just pretty flowers to this alpine meadow. It’s also habitat for an array of medicinal herbs and plants, as well as a rich hay-making tradition that has developed over centuries.
If you take a summer stroll through the meadows, you’ll probably spot the bright yellow flowers of arnica — widely used in homoeopathic medicine to release tension and soothe muscular aches — as well as wild thyme, verbena, sage and alchemilla. All these plants can be used in natural remedies, whether in herbal teas, or macerated in oils that are then used in our COMO Shambhala wellness treatments. To protect the landscape, we adhere to strict regulations on picking and harvesting, sourcing our local flowers and herbs carefully and sustainably. The result is a number of Dolomites-inspired treatments, offered in addition to COMO Shambhala’s usual favourites. The COMO Shambhala Alpina Scrub, for instance, is a revitalising body polish using honey and local mugo pine tree needles, which leaves your skin smooth and revitalised. Another popular treatment is the Gentian Wrap, using invigorating gentian blooms — recognisable by their startlingly blue, trumpet-shaped flowers — which are found between July and August around COMO Alpina Dolomites.
The higher pastures of the Alpe di Siusi are grazed by Simmental, Holstein, Tyrolean Grey and Brown Swiss cows. They play an important part in the plateau’s preservation, with selective and sustainable grazing practices helping maintain plant biodiversity. That biodiversity simultaneously plays a significant part in the centuries-old culture of hay-making. The process of hay-making is driven by the need to ensure a reliable food source for livestock during the winter months, when the pasture is snow-bound. The grass is cut in June or early July, then left in the pasture to dry. The hay is then raked into rows, collected and baled. The end of the hay-making season is marked by feasts and celebrations; the better the harvest, the bigger the party. And once the festivities are over, there’s one final tradition for the local farmers: a hay bath.
The hay bath is a traditional wellness treatment used to relieve the aches and pains associated with the traditionally demanding work of hay-making. It involves immersing yourself in fermented, warm hay, rich in medicinal herbs and plants. If you take a regenerating mountain hay bath at COMO Alpina Dolomites — part of a COMO Shambhala Signature Ritual — you’re wrapped in the warm, fermenting hay, after a full-body COMO Shambhala massage. While you luxuriate in the balsamic scent, a 30-minute facial is administered, using local products. The treatment is deeply relaxing, and relieves muscle tension, improves circulation, and rejuvenates the skin.
There are a thousand modern wellness treatments which promise relaxation — many of which are spearheaded by COMO Shambhala. But what a hay bath really comes down to is a connection with the culture of the Dolomites — the essence of a mountain meadow, distilled into a practice which has been perfected over centuries. It’s a tether to a simpler life spent in the outdoors, harvesting hay grown from wildflowers, and surrounded by nature.
Experience the Alpe di Suisi for yourself, with a summer stay at COMO Alpina Dolomites.
