Plenty of luxury hotels now offer a wellness menu. Far fewer have built a program around the whole arc of a woman’s life. That is the premise of The Yin Way Retreat – The Way of a Woman, the first women’s retreat that Six Senses leads itself. The first edition took place at Six Senses Kanuhura in the Maldives from October 1 to 4. The second comes to Six Senses Kyoto from December 11 to 14, 2026.
The Idea Behind It
The retreat is built on the “yin” principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Taoist thought: rest, receptivity, reflection and living in cycles. Six Senses applies them to every stage of a woman’s life, from before pregnancy to after menopause. The brand places the program within a wider shift that the Global Wellness Institute has described, in which women’s health is moving away from routines built on men’s data and toward longer-term longevity practices.
Each retreat is led by Hati S. Malinova, Six Senses Wellness Director and an integrative health expert. She has more than two decades of clinical experience in female and reproductive health, postpartum care and family wellbeing, including 12 years at a women’s hospital in Shanghai, and her training spans medical and functional health, counseling psychology and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Malinova argues that women’s wellness has too often been reduced to fertility and menopause. “Hormones are not the problem,” she said in the brand’s announcement. In her view, what is missing is knowledge: how to understand the body, work with it and support it through change. The retreat borrows the Traditional Chinese Medicine view of perimenopause and menopause as a second spring, a new season rather than a loss.
How the Retreat Works
Groups are kept small, and the days mix communal meals, workshops and unhurried conversation. Every guest starts with an integrated wellness screening that shapes a personal program, with the brand’s sleep and nutrition principles running through the stay. Treatments include lymphatic drainage and heat therapies, alongside sessions aimed at cortisol, cycle balance, circadian rhythm, stress and sleep. Six Senses says the aim is to send women home with practices they can keep up on their own.
Kyoto, December 11 to 14
The Kyoto edition takes a more cultural path. Guests get a hands-on introduction to kintsugi, the Japanese craft of mending broken ceramics with lacquer and gold, framed as a lesson in accepting change and imperfection. There is ikebana flower arranging, qigong and Daoist meditation, walks through the hotel’s labyrinth and specially prepared herbal teas. Expert seminars on women’s health and hormonal balance, offered with interpretation, connect traditional knowledge with modern science.
Dinners change daily, inspired by Japan’s 24 sekki, or micro-seasons, and by Eastern dietary therapy, with paired drinks. Biohacking sessions and access to hydrotherapy and contrast therapy round out the program, and free time leaves room for Kyoto’s temples and gardens. Rates start at JPY 666,000 per person in a Deluxe King Room.
Where It Began: the Maldives
The first edition at Six Senses Kanuhura paired daily yin yoga and sound healing with hormonal health workshops, an introduction to herbs and botanicals at the resort’s Alchemy Bar and a dolphin cruise on open water. Guests stayed in Beach Villas with private pools, from USD 3,361 per person.
Our Take
What sets this retreat apart is focus. Instead of a generic detox, it gives women a structured few days to ask specific questions about sleep, energy, cycles and change, with a clinician in the room and other women around the table. Kyoto in mid-December, quiet and wintry, suits that kind of reflection. That view is ours.
Plan Ahead
- Groups are small, so reserve early for the December dates.
- Rates are starting prices per person; confirm with Six Senses exactly what is included.
- Kyoto seminars are offered with interpretation; ask about languages when you book.
- The retreat is a wellness program, not medical care; speak with your own doctor about specific health concerns.
