The Garden is a haven for those seeking holistic wellness, offering a range of services including yoga, meditation, and sound healing. The Garden’s unique selling proposition is its focus on creating a serene and calming atmosphere. This is achieved through a combination of natural elements, such as plants and water features, and a minimalist design aesthetic. The space is designed to be a sanctuary for the mind, body, and soul.
This lack of mirrors is a curious anomaly in a space designed to promote self-awareness and body awareness. The absence of mirrors, however, is not a random occurrence. It’s a deliberate design choice, rooted in the founder’s belief that true self-awareness comes from within, not from external validation.
The approach is in sync with Abbadessa’s ultimate mission, that is to “help as many people as possible to find this balance between body and mind, and break away from the idea of fitness we have [in order to] reach a healthier relationship with our body.” Inside The Garden in Milan. Davide Gallizio/Courtesy of The Garden To break free from the city’s frenzy and one’s daily fast-paced life to find a moment to slowdown and reconnect with nature is what led Abbadessa to this venue, too. After checking out 10 other locations during her scouting activity, she found a luminous open space that could channel that sense of harmony the disciplines in The Garden’s schedule are intended to deliver.
The Garden, a new women-only wellness center, opened its doors in a renovated space. The center offers a variety of services, including massage, facials, and body treatments. The Garden’s success is attributed to its unique focus on women’s wellness and its commitment to providing high-quality services.
Flavia Abbadessa, founder of The Garden. Davide Gallizio/Courtesy of The Garden Abbadessa speaks from experience. She tested the benefits of Gyrotonic firsthand in 2013, after a pirouette gone bad during a dance tour in the U.S. caused her a knee injury. “That fall marked everything that came afterward. I had a surgery and a very hard time after it….Then I discovered this practice as a form of rehabilitation, instantly fell in love with the technique and got to experience its benefits,” Abbadessa said. Conceived by Hungarian ballet dancer Juliu Horvath in the ‘70s, Gyrotonic combines principles nodding to yoga, dance, swimming and Tai Chi, with each movement flowing into the next to allow the joints to move through a natural range of motion without jarring or compression. It requires specialized equipment, while its sister practice Gyrokinesis is performed without machineries.
“In few months, I fully recovered and returned to dance professionally, but the love for this discipline stayed,” recalled Abbadessa, adding that she kept practicing it as a warm-up before dancing, and studied to become a teacher of the discipline. A moment from the Gyrotonic class at The Garden in Milan. Davide Gallizio/Courtesy of The Garden She focused on her training skills upon her return back to Europe, when she set roots in Spain. In 2018 she opened the first The Garden studio in Madrid and two years later she relocated from the original 1,076-square-foot space to the current location, which is six time bigger.
“The first venue had become a little difficult to manage with COVID-19, also due to the need to have more distance between people,” she said. “That year, I took a business management course, I set up a new company and found a larger space, enrolling also other teachers and expanding the offering.” This additionally includes different types of yoga classes; barre ballet, contemporary and African dance; low pressure fitness programs; meditation, and massages. Inside The Garden in Madrid. Davide Gallizio/Courtesy of The Garden Available for small groups or as one-on-one lessons, courses are mostly the same in Milan and Madrid. The former has a stronger focus on yoga, with mother-and-children classes, as well as massages for mums-to-be, while the latter has a wider schedule when it comes to dancing.
The program will be offered in both English and Italian, catering to a diverse range of mothers. The program will also include a support group for mothers who are struggling with postpartum depression. The center will be offering a variety of classes and workshops, including yoga, meditation, and mindfulness.
The Yoga Kids class at The Garden in Milan is a popular and well-established program that offers a safe and nurturing environment for children to learn and grow. The program focuses on developing physical, mental, and emotional well-being through the practice of yoga. The class is led by experienced and certified instructors who are passionate about sharing their knowledge and love of yoga with children.
