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How to Live Rikli’s Way

Rikli’s Concept at the Rikli Balance Hotel

The Swiss healer Arnold Rikli was the first to recognise the healing benefits of Bled, building the first natural healing resort here in the 19th century. At the Rikli Balance Hotel, we continue his tradition with the desire and commitment to offer our guests the perfect environment to relax and overcome stress.

More about the Rikli Balance Hotel

Arnold Rikli - Originator of Natural Healing in Bled

Arnold Rikli (1823-1906) discovered Bled by chance, following the advice of some of his friends, who recommended the hidden gem of the Slovenian Alps as a place for him to gather his strength while recovering from a serious illness. Upon his very first visit in 1852, he was fascinated by the freshness of the air, the purity of the lake, the mild alpine climate and the stunning view of the Julian Alps, which restored his vitality. He took advantage of the natural resources here and set up a natural healing institution, in which he treated thousands of patients in later years. During this time, he was developing his own hydropathic methods - natural healing methods, which he trusted more than regular cures and conventional medicine.

Photo: Turizem Bled

Beneficial Power of Air, Water and Sun

In order to improve his well-being, he relied on the natural elements of Bled - air, water, and sun. He advocated plenty of exercise in fresh air, a moderate but quality vegetarian diet, and invigorating sleep. Living Rikli’s way means getting up before sunrise, drinking fresh Bled water on an empty stomach, walking barefoot on a meadow covered with morning dew, enjoying light meals, swimming, sunbathing, as well as plenty of walking and hiking in the fresh alpine air.

The Rikli Balance Hotel – Tradition and Local Stories in the Service of Wellbeing

The very name, Rikli Balance Hotel, already hints at the story of the local environment’s rich wellness tradition, started by the pioneer of natural healing in Bled - Arnold Rikli. In addition to his story, the hotel rooms also tell the stories of the Carniolan honey bees, traditional Gorenjska embroidery, gingerbread hearts and spruces from the nearby Pokljuka plateau. Discover local and traditional dishes in our restaurants, and relax in the wellness centre by treating yourself to alpine and honey treatments. If you want to take advantage of the beneficial effects of nature and recharge your batteries with the goal of better health and well-being, the Rikli Balance Hotel is perfect for you.

More about the Rikli Balance Hotel

The Rikli Regeneration Room at the Rikli Balance Hotel

The Rikli regeneration room was designed to offer a soothing environment for total relaxation and regeneration. 100% natural materials such as wool and wood are used for comfort, while chromotherapy with red, white, blue and green light has a cleansing, relaxing, harmonising and reinvigorating effect. Some of the Rikli regeneration rooms have moss on the wall to purify the air and contribute to the total regeneration of the body and the spirit.

Rikli’s Relaxation Park

Rikli’s relaxation park, located in the close vicinity of the Rikli Balance Hotel, is meant for you to slow down the rhythm of life and take a few moments for your well-being. Reduce your stress levels and worries by walking on Rikli’s barefoot path, trade in your everyday problems for nature’s green embrace, hug a tree and restore your health. By practising yoga in the wonderful environment of the park, you will calm your thoughts, relax your body, and regain well-being. You can also relax on the rocking chairs and benches.

More on Rikli’s Park.

Gastronomy Rikli’s Way at the Rikli Balance Hotel

Arnold Rikli was a proponent of ascetic and vegetarian diets. His menu consisted of local, fresh and healthy ingredients, which can also be found at the Rikli Balance Hotel restaurant. Some of the foods approved by Rikli himself that you can find on our breakfast and dinner menus are:

Breakfast

Honeycomb

Nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds)

Millet groats with dried fruit

Local cheeses (Bobek, Planika, Blejski)

Crepes

Semolina porridge

Fresh local fruit

French toast

Dried fruits (prunes, dried apples, dried pears)

Oatmeal with honey

Local yogurt

Prnikar's cottage cheese

Pancakes

Rice pudding

Semolina pudding with roasted almonds and raisins

Dinner:

Potato soup

Pea soup

Bean soup

Salads

Spinach cannelloni

Potato with cream

Buckwheat porridge with porcini mushrooms

Corn polenta (from Bohinj "trdinka" corn) with cottage cheese

Apple strudel

Fruit compotes (pear, apricot, plum, cherry)

Hash browns

Plum cake

Barley soup

Lentil soup

Boiled and roasted vegetables

Traditional dumplings with cottage cheese

Potato rolls

Pot barley with vegetables

Spelt porridge with leeks and tomatoes

Polenta

Sour cherry strudel

Rikli’s vegetable soup

Potato "štrukelj" (rolled dumpling)

Vegetarian menu according to Arnold Rikli at the Julijana Restaurant

You can try the vegetarian menu according to Arnold Rikli at the Julijana Restaurant in Grand Hotel Toplice, starting on 8 April 2022. In addition to superb dishes made from seasonal vegetables, the menu also features many delicious desserts.

Check out the menu.

"Rikli’s Guided Exercise"

Every Saturday between 19 March 2022 and 30 April 2022, we have organised free morning and afternoon guided exercises for guests of the Rikli Balance Hotel, prepared according to the Rikli concept. The exercises will take place in Rikli’s relaxation park. In case of bad weather, the exercise will take place in the yoga room at the Živa Wellness centre instead. We took inspiration from Rikli’s wisdom, crafted a carefully prepared programme, and adapted it to fit the stressful modern lifestyle, in order to comprehensively connect ourselves with our body and nature. We are certain that after exercising you will feel a greater connection with your body, you will feel rejuvenated, and at the same time calm, relaxed and at ease. The purpose of these exercises is for you to take these carefully selected tips home with you and incorporate them into your daily rituals.

Morning Exercise Between 8 and 9 am - Awakening of the Body Rikli’s Way

JWe start the morning movement exercise with a short meditation, where we focus our consciousness to all our senses (touch, smell, hearing, sight and taste) and all the elements around us (earth, air, water and fire - symbolically represented by a stone). We continue barefoot with gentle movement work, which in combination with breathing and exercises will encourage gentle detoxification of the body and improve your circulation from head to toe.
Afternoon Exercise Between 6 and 7 pm - Rikli’s Sleep Preparation

After a whole day of activities, it is necessary to calm the nervous system and stimulate the processes of recovery to prepare the body for quality sleep. Pick a tree that will be your best friend for 60 minutes during the grounding process of the afternoon exercise. Carefully chosen exercises will draw attention back to your body, awaken a sense of gratitude and love for yourself, reconnect your feminine and masculine principles, your yin and yang, your right and left halves, your exterior and interior. The proximity and touch of the tree will calm and ground you, and a short relaxation at the end of the exercise will prepare you for a restorative sleep.
Individual Guided Exercises for Individuals, Couples or Families

Our trainer, Barbara, has prepared special programmes for individuals, couples or families who would like additional exercises, which can be booked at a surcharge. Every hour of movement in the fresh air under her watchful eye ends with a relaxing treatment, and for anyone under higher levels of stress, we suggest you try her unique relaxing treatment with tuning forks. Sound therapy will help to deeply relax and balance your body, mind and soul.

Spend a day like Arnold Rikli

04.30/05.00

Get up before sunrise. On an empty stomach, drink a glass of fresh tap water. Climb one of the surrounding hills: Straža, Ojstrica, Osojnica, or further to Talež or Hom. At the top, first take an "air bath": take five deep breaths and do 10 squats, push-ups and star jumps. This should be followed by a "light bath" in the first rays of the sun.
8.30 – 9.00

Take a walk in light clothes and comfortable shoes, on the grassy sections, walk barefoot on the dewy grass, which will massage your feet and stimulate your blood circulation. Instead of taking on one of the surrounding hills, you can also walk barefoot on Rikli’s barefoot trail in Rikli’s relaxation park next to the hotel, where you can also take your first morning air and sunlight bath.
9.00 – 10.00

Enjoy a healthy breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Enjoy meatless dishes: homemade black bread, butter and honey, local dairy products, millet porridge with dried fruit, fresh fruit and vegetables. Drink fresh water or unsweetened herbal tea.
10.00 – 12.00

Take another sunlight bath on the shores of Lake Bled, followed by a water bath in the lake. After a cold swim, walk part of the way along the lake at a faster pace to reheat your body.
12.00 – 14.00

Participants of Rikli’s therapies have breakfast for the second time at noon, while you can eat a light lunch in the hotels' aperitif bars or in the Kavarna Park cafe on the shores of the lake. Food should be exclusively vegetarian, while drinking only fresh water. Don't eat too much, as lunch will be followed by new activities!
14.00 - 19.00

You can repeat the air, light and water baths on the shores of the lake. Finish them off with an extended walk. We recommend the path around the lake, or an ascent to nearby Straža or Ojstrica, with a beautiful view of the castle, lake and island. After an active day, treat yourself to a massage and sauna at the Živa Wellness centre, and take a bath in thermal water, which will further enhance the effects of the wellness treatments.
19.00 – 20.00

Dinner time. Enjoy light and exclusively vegetarian dishes. We recommend dishes with ingredients or crops from local suppliers.
20.00 – 21.00

Rent a yoga mat and perform evening exercises, or meditate in Rikli’s relaxation park.
21.00

Arnold Rikli always recommended an early bedtime. At 9 pm, there had to be complete peace and quiet in his health resort. After an active day, a refreshing sleep will be incredibly beneficial. In the morning, you will wake up completely rejuvenated!

Rikli’s Day Ritual at the Živa Wellness Centre

Rikli’s Day Ritual is a programme for complete relaxation and regeneration of body and mind, modelled after Rikli’s best methods of natural healing. It includes unlimited access to saunas with pools, towels, sheets, tea and water, a selected herbal peeling in the sauna, a healthy meal in the hotel aperitif bar, a spruce tip massage (50 min) based on the essential oils that release from the special spruce tip bundles at high temperatures (tapping the warm spruce tip bundles on the body has a beneficial and relaxing effect), a healthy drink in the relaxation room and a surprise gift.

How to Live Rikli’s Way

How to Live Rikli’s Way

Arnold Rikli - Originator of Natural Healing in Bled

Beneficial Power of Air, Water and Sun

The Rikli Balance Hotel – Tradition and Local Stories in the Service of Wellbeing

The Rikli Regeneration Room at the Rikli Balance Hotel

Rikli’s Relaxation Park

Gastronomy Rikli’s Way at the Rikli Balance Hotel

Breakfast

Dinner:

Vegetarian menu according to Arnold Rikli at the Julijana Restaurant

"Rikli’s Guided Exercise"

Spend a day like Arnold Rikli

Rikli’s Day Ritual at the Živa Wellness Centre

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