Sangha Retreat by Octave Institute has appointed Alan Navarrete as spa director.

First opened in 2017, Sangha is a holistic wellness retreat providing immersive experience in nature and healing, located on 47 acres on the outskirts of Suzhou, west of Shanghai, China.

Embracing ancient Chinese wisdom backed by Western science, Sangha Retreat helps guests find a path to self-clarity and wellbeing by making lasting lifestyle changes through customised programmes that include comprehensive wellness assessments, nutrition, exercise, mind-body practice and healing treatments.

Navarrete will oversee daily operations at the 65,000sq ft spa, integrating wellbeing programmes, fitness classes, an extensive spa treatment menu and a hydrotherapy circuit as part of a guest’s customised schedule in accordance with their wellness assessment.

Navarrete began his career at the Ixchel Spa at the Hilton Los Cabos, where he spent five years in management, developing best standard practices and operational logistics.

He has served as spa director at The Resort at Pedregal and at the Auriga Spa at Capella Pedregal, both in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, where he was selected to be part of the opening team in 2009. Navarrete’s passion for spa culture and travel led him to the Canyon Ranch Spa Club on-board Regent Seven Seas and Oceania Cruises, where he served as spa director for two years. In 2014, he returned to The Resort at Pedregal as spa director for Luna y Mar Spa.

Sangha Retreat is the vision of Fred Tsao, a shipping magnate and fourth-generation leader of a family business, whose book Quantum Leadership: New Consciousness in Business shows how leaders can flourish by changing their consciousness to better serve business as well as humankind. He believes wealth and wellbeing should go hand-in-hand.

Fred Tsao has pursued the quest for a better way to live and work for the past 30 years. He has seen the profound and positive impact that a shift in awareness can have on people and society. Sangha Retreat is the place where he brings together all of this knowledge.

Tsao has spent the last two years adding to and refining elements of the retreat. Today Sangha Retreat includes an advanced medical clinic with an international team of doctors and wellness experts; an expansive healing spa with a 12-stage hydrothermal circuit; movement studios and gym; a sound healing and meditation dome; a restaurant serving customised menus featuring local, organic products; 60 guest suite accommodations; eight lakeside villas; and a complete village to accommodate and host quantum leadership retreats with translation services for summits, celebrations and festivals.

Sangha means community in Sanskrit, and the offering is designed as a community.

The unifying principle behind Sangha Retreat is derived from the Chinese wisdom of retreat, the need to withdraw and go within (Yin) to expand our horizons and therefore our potential in order to have the outward energy (Yang) to propel us towards our goals. Inspired by practices of Tao and Confucius, Sangha Retreat fuses traditional Eastern wisdom with modern Western science to create integrated, holistic retreats to help guests begin the transformation they seek.

Retreats are customised to each guest, beginning with a comprehensive wellness assessment that determines a programme of exercise, treatments, and personalised meals. Guest suites are designed for relaxation and a good night’s sleep, with a crystal mandala beneath each bed.