Vision Spa Retreat: Reflections on spa, soul, and the role of water

Three Wishes and Four Guiding Stars for Spa: A Dialog with Marion Schneider

2009-10-27T15:35:29-05:00

Meet a Fairy Godmother of Spa ...

Sara Firman of Vision Spa Retreat talks to her friend and colleague Marion Schneider.

Audio link below

Sara says:

I've known Marion since 2001 when I visited her spa-resort Toskana Therme [1.] in Bad Sulza, Germany, to take part in the 'Dreams and Rituals in Healing Waters' workshop with Dr Jonathan Paul DeVierville that is held there there every summer [2.].
Marion is someone who is not only very much aware of the problems that face us all now - whether in business, politics, or regarding the state of our planet - but is also actively working to help on all these fronts. She finds an effective and healing arena for this in the world of spa.

Marion Schneider has:

co-created some extraordinary spas (and has plans for more, as you'll hear)
been instrumental in setting up many spa organizations and events (see later)
helped countless people with their own spa-related ventures (Sara is one)
included humanitarian and environmental considerations in all that she does.

This is the fourth in a series of interviews - below you'll find links to the previous three, which were presented as articles rather than audios.

This interview was recorded on Sunday 27 September 2009 via phone between the US and Germany. For your convenience in listening, the time markers for the different sections outlined below are given. The full length is 48.44 minutes.

For those who cannot listen or who would like to see a summary of the content, the 'three wishes' and 'four guiding stars' that the discussion was based around are provided next.

At the end you will also find Links for further information about the events, people and subjects mentioned in the course of the discussion.

You can read more about Marion on the Advisors page of Vision Spa Retreat.

(This audio venture* is a first for Vision Spa Retreat - feedback welcome! Note: Marion is speaking through speaker phone so there is a difference in quality that will be remedied in future recordings.)

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Audio link:

Listen VisionSpaRetreat - Marion Schneider

(Right click to open a new window and continue to review the text below)
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Introducing Marion Schneider: Sara Firman of Vision Spa Retreat provides some background (000-2.55)

Three Wishes (2.56-29.09)

1. If you could effect one single change in the world of spa what would that be? (2.56-11.56)

Marion's foremost wish delighted Sara. It is that 'water as THE source/ energy giver/ healer of spa be accepted by all spas – not that they need have huge water facilities but that they respect the role and importance of water'.

In her recognition of the value of water, Marion talks about its inclusion in the Global Spa Summit earlier this year in Switzerland (17-19 May 2009) [3.] and in her plans for the British International Spa Association (BISA, 3-6 June 2010) gathering in Budapest next year [4.].

2. Which of your many spa-related projects would you most love to see happen? (11.56-18.25)

Marion talks about an exciting dream project that she refers to as 'The Spa Planetarium'. This wonderful sensory environment has many similarities to her existing spa, Toskana Therme, in Bad Sulza, Germany. At the center of this concept is the unique Liquid Sound® system for underwater music by Micky Remann [5.].

Again, water is the element that makes this incredible healing-techno-art possible. Such a project does require enormous resources in terms of financing, technical know-how and creative direction but as you'll hear (and read in the links below) there is an underlying mission to celebrate the natural world.

3. Who would you appoint to your ideal team of spa-shape-shifters? (18.35-29.08)

Here, by way of a dream team of 14, Marion elaborates on some of the features she believes are important for creating extraordinary spa. Sara takes note that Marion lists her funding people first and herself (as CEO) last. Here are just four of the team, listen in for more:

an architect who would build sustainably and responsibly and have a genius for suiting buildings to site
a media and communication technology expert, ideally knowledgeable about film and sound technology
a cultural director - Marion references Mickey Remann and Liquid Sound [5.] as being indispensable to her spa
a marketing specialist, a specialist for press/ PR, a networking specialist - for Marion these three are distinct

Four Guiding Stars (29.09-48.44)

Sara talks with Marion about the following propositions and ask whether they might guide the future of spa:

Spas restore a sense of meaning, mystery and beauty to our world
Spas lead the way to a new attitude to health and wellness
Spas provide a good model for harmonious relationships with each other
Spas model a more sustainable way of life and contribute to positive environmental change

More information on topics in this discussion

1. Toskana World, Germany

Read more in this post by Sara Firman: 'Between Two Waves of the Sea'.

Extract: On the rural landscape of Bad Sulza a spaceship has landed in the form of Toskana Therme, and it is not out of place. The ultramodern architecture of the spa could just as well be compared to the microscopic details of a form sculpted by nature. It all depends on how you choose to see things. Goethe believed that a human being, making full use of all the senses, is the most exact physical measuring apparatus possible. I'm sure he would thoroughly approve of the way in which the sanatorium he once suggested be built at Bad Sulza has evolved into a multisensory experiment in both the social and medical arenas. I also expect that the skilled people who created and now manage this innovative spa would agree that all this amazing technology is nothing without the human instrument of reception, our bodies. The place exemplifies Goethe's view that humans need an approach to rediscovering nature that is stimulating intellectually and satisfying emotionally and spiritually.

2. Spa culture, dreams and healing waters: A workshop with Jonathan P. DeVierville

This unique experience has been described as an eco-social-psi-dreaming field event and an in-depth spa experience. You'll experience an aquatic journey into your dreams, healing imagination, and cultural creativities through an exploration and revelation of ancient and avant-garde ways. The next workshop is scheduled for June 29 to July 4, 2010, in Bad Sulza, Germany

Read more in this post by Sara Firman: 'The age of dreaming has come'.

Inspired by a workshop in 2001 with Jungian trained Dr J.P. DeVierville, I began to see how dreams and water might be combined in a powerful exploration of both personal healing and human collective consciousness.

3. Global Spa Summit 2009

At the Third Global Spa Summit (17-19 May 2009 in Switzerland) a group of panelists, including Marion Schneider, spent one precious hour looking at 'How Shining a Spotlight on Water Can Energize our Industry'.

Read more in this post by Sara Firman: 'Is there a basic philosophy all spas could accept regards water?'

4. BISA 2010 International Conference, Budapest

Marion Schneider is the current Chair of the British International Spa Association. The Fifth BISA Conference will take place 3 -6 June 2010 in Budapest, Hungary. The event will feature a special Water Ceremony.

5. Liquid Sound® system for underwater music

Micky Remann has found his creative home in Marion's spas with his unique Liquid Sound®. Read a fascinating article 'A director in flip-flops!' by Peter Krutsch here. Also see the Liquid Sound website and more on Wikipedia.

If you have any thoughts on the ideas about spa discussed here that you would like to share, we welcome your Comment below.

Three more people who inspire (interviews by Sara Firman)

The Evolution of Spa: Jonathan Paul De Vierville

Extract: Jonathan is more hopeful about the leadership of BISA (the British International Spa Association) which, he says, has not lost its appreciation of the centrality of water. He's delighted to note that the current chairman of BISA is German (Marion Schneider), and that as we speak she is launching a chapter of BISA in Japan. 'They [BISA] still have a commercial side,' says Jonathan, 'but Marion will steer it to deeper meaning.' I agree with him, though I would like to see BISA make issues of sustainability an overriding concern.

Beauty and Harmony: an interview with water advocate Barbara Harmony

Extract: Barbara has not only been locally focused in her mission, but also participated in water events worldwide. I asked her if she'd ever seen spas represented at these and she said - she had never realized this but - they hadn't been! The Bioregional events have 'holistic health' tents but nothing specifically on spa. 'It would be fantastic to have a whole spa section at the World Water Forum!' said Barbara. This event is about water sanitation and big business, but it's a huge gathering that might benefit from the softening intimacy of spa.

Imaging Spa: an interview with photo-artist Linda Troeller

Extract: Linda says, 'Another spa I worked with is Toskana Therme, Bad Sulza to help them find a 'brand' image for their new underwater and light pool. The director, Micky Remann, gathered a group of people who enjoyed the salt waters while I experimented with strobes and various amounts of lighting for a few weeks, which was a leap of faith to work so long. From those sessions evolved their brand image that is on all their products, ads and hundreds of stories written about them.'

*Gratitude to Neil Rosenberg of Somewhere In The Woods Productions for his generous audio edit.

Managing for sustained success of spa

2009-10-23T15:13:34-05:00

The new 2010 edition of The International Standards of SpaExcellence(SM)2010 released this month addresses sustainability and the environment in a number of places.

Julie Register, Managing Director at SpaQuality outlined them for Vision Spa Retreat:

Sustainability and the environment are considered in the Intention and Strategy section when evaluating the business viability and planning for the Spa quality system.

“Spa executive management considers the available natural resources and ensures the protection and availability or replacement of these resources. The Spa evaluates the nature, scale and potential environmental impact of its activities, products and services. The Spa plans for the reduction of consumption, waste and pollution.”

and

“At defined intervals, Spa executive management evaluates the results of the Spa's approach to protecting natural resources and the environment for adequacy and effectiveness.”

Sustainability and the environment are considered in the planning and managing of Operations Support section as a safety consideration:

“The Spa establishes and manages a plan to identify potential risks, hazards, emergency situations and potential accidents that can have an adverse impact on Guests, staff and the environment and for assessing, responding to and controlling the risks. The Spa ensures safety from biological, physical, thermal and chemical hazards throughout its facilities, and during routine and non-routine activities of staff and Guests.”

These issues are further discussed in the Guidance and Examples sections. It is recommended that:

concern for the environment be part of the Spa's culture
the Spa supports and has a positive impact on issues that are important to it including the environment
the Spa be committed to using environmentally sustainable operating practices to enhance the health of our planet
environmental performance, impact and sustainability be one of the key performance indicators for the Spa.

“It's in the Spa’s best interest to protect natural resources and ensure that it knows what its impact is on our environment. The Spa should measure its progress toward reducing its impact on the environment and identify trends. Setting goals and measuring its performance for activities and programs such as recycling, reducing energy consumption, converting to non-toxic substances, conserving water, etc. is an effective way to communicate their importance to the Spa's staff and Guests.”

the Spa consider environmental impact when it makes changes to its spa menu, facilities, equipment, products, and supplies.

the Spa consider environmental impact when it disposes of damaged or expired goods.

“Whatever can have an adverse impact on Guests, staff, or the environment ultimately will have an adverse effect on our Spa business.”

The International Standards of SpaExcellence^SM2010 also references The Green Spa and the (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ .

For more information or to obtain a copy contact: Julie Register Managing Director, Operations SpaQuality LLC Email: Register@SpaQuality.com Website

Spa Finder Awards: Environmental Practices and Mineral Springs

2009-10-15T12:47:29-05:00

SpaFinder has just announced the winners of its Readers' Choice Awards in three areas - favorite spa by continent, favorite by region or country, and best in any of 27 categories - based on approximately 300,000 votes. The categories range from Best for Accommodations to Best for Yoga, and include two of particular interest to Vision Spa Retreat. See below:

Best for Environmental Practices

Daintree Eco Lodge and Spa (Queensland, Australia)
El Monte Sagrado Living Spa (New Mexico, USA)
Post Ranch Inn (California, USA)
Rancho La Puerta (Baja California, Mexico)
Six Senses Destination Spa Phuket (Thailand)
The Spa at Mohonk Mountain House ( New York, USA)
The Spa at Sundance Resort (Utah, USA)
Spa Eastman (Quebec, Canada)
Sundara Inn & Spa (Wisconsin, USA)
Yaxkin Spa at Hacienda Chichen Resort (Yucatan, Mexico)*

Best for Mineral Springs

Calistoga Spa Hot Springs (California, USA)
The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa (California, USA)
The Greenbrier (West Virginia, USA)
Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort and Spa (New Mexico, USA)
Rio Caliente Hot Springs Resort (Jalisco, Mexico)
The Spring Resort and Spa (California, USA)
Sycamore Mineral Springs (California, USA)
Tabacón Grand Spa Thermal Resort (Costa Rica)
Two Bunch Palms (California, USA)
The Homestead (VA)
Willow Stream Spa at the Fairmont Banff Springs (Alberta, Canada)

* This spa has caught my attention before and I hope to visit it soon and report back personally. Savvy and creative spas grown their own spa products Extract: By an IMPRESSIVE margin in this listing the best website for relating the spa and the products used to the sustainability program of the whole property was the Yaxkin Spa at the Hacienda Chichen Resort in the Yucatan, Mexico.

Of course there are many special places that don't make these lists, often because they are small and relatively unknown (part of their great charm). Give them your own mention in the Comments below.

Here is my favorite mineral spa: Harbin Hot Spring

Spa culture: a metaphysical perspective

2009-10-07T11:59:52-05:00

Astrology provides a framework for imagining a profound intimacy between ourselves and our environment. It envisions an ecological cosmos, a cosmos which 'speaks' through symbol and metaphor. The same structuring principles and processes at work in the natural world are also at work in us, allowing us to see form and movement in our lives as metaphorically reflected in the movements of the sky. p. xvi The Astrological Imagination: Where Psyche and Cosmos Meet, by Brad Hiljanen Kochunas.

When Astrology meets Spa, some interesting things can happen. This post is an exploratory account of such an encounter. There is a serious intent, however: I'm worried about what is happening to our souls and I'm worried about what that's doing to our spas.

In August, I attended the International Society for Astrological Research (ISAR) conference in Chicago with my partner astrologer Joe Landwehr who was a speaking on the topic 'Why Astrology is Not a Science'. It's a topic that interests me since a similar dilemma (science or not) is faced by alternative health practitioners, many of whom find work and some recognition and validation in spas.

Astrology is not a common offering in spas. Where it is, the presentation likely does not do service to the depth and scope of this imaginal art (see 'On the Internet' below). As with so much else in our culture, this may reflect our attitudes both towards ourselves and our place on the planet.

Joe sees Astrology as a poetic language of soul (you can read more about his distinction between this approach and traditional astrology here). Any language can be used to communicate something silly or something more profound, depending on who is using the language.

Astrology's ongoing struggle for respect reveals that it is often its own worst enemy. Where astrology appears silly or superficial, the problem lies not with astrology itself but with how some astrologers choose to present astrology to those who have not explored its potential. We can say the same of the spa world and how that is presented that to the public.

There were many talks at the ISAR conference that interested me, in particular those concerned with the specialties known as psychological astrology and medical astrology. In the conference vocational track, Susie Cox - who has worked as a consultant astrologer at Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, Arizona, for 28 years - spoke on 'Presenting Astrology at Health Spas and Resorts'.

The talk description said Susie would be looking at ways that astrology can demonstrate its value to society through service industries such as spas, and sharing her ideas about astrology in the spa world. Unfortunately, she confined her survey of astrology in the spa world to the Top 6 Conde Naste Destination US Spas for 2009, which is, to be fair, her realm. This is my attempt to extend and elaborate that viewpoint.

I should add that I am a novice student of astrology (Astropoetics) under the tutelage of my partner whose approach resonates very much with that of his friend and colleague Brad Kochunas (quoted above and throughout). Both see astrology as an art that speaks the poetic or imaginal language of soul; both take it far below the surface in their eloquent writings and in their counseling sessions.

I find this view of astrology to be quite philosophically aligned with that of Vision Spa Retreat (tagline 'Soulful and Sustainable'). But the perspective of soul, like the question of what is sustainable, is not something that can be neatly defined and regulated for. And neither concept is fortune-making. Instead, they both require us to develop a deeper understanding of lack and limitation, and of the underside or underbelly of life.

The levity and leisure in our lives

'In an effort to increase the levity and leisure in our lives we have neglected the gravity of our existence.' wrote Brad Kochunas, in an article called 'Returning the Soul to Astrology' (part of a fascinating collection of essays on The Astrological Imagination, p. 26; quite readable for those new to astrology). I think this same statement could be applied to current trends in the spa world (less so to the growing retreat movement).

Until a couple of years ago, my impression of astrology was based on the trivial magazine sun-sign columns. My introduction to its value as a philosophical system has been profoundly life-expanding. At the ISAR conference, I saw that astrology addresses many areas of human experience with specialties in medical, vocational, locational, spiritual, predictive, and psychological astrology. Some astrologers would like to call it a science, a few won't.

[T]he very nature of any therapeutic intervention ... is not scientific. It is a participatory interaction between two conscious human beings, using whatever modality – be it astrology, psychotherapy or medicine – as a point of departure for an exchange, the outcome of which is not predictable or controllable by science. Astrologers have a set of tools to enhance the participatory experience, and direct it toward a set of outcomes tailored with exquisite precision to the needs of a specific client – but only if it is used in a non-scientific way that permits a free, intuitive exploration of astrological symbolism within the context of a dialogue between two conscious, creative, and rather protean beings, working together toward understanding and perspective. Joe Landwehr, from his ISAR talk 'Why Astrology is not a Science'

We live in a culture of heroic extremes, from the soullessness of science to the illusionary new age. We are manipulated by both because of our fear of what Jung called Shadow and our longing for Light. Perhaps we are drawn to spas because archetypally these are the places we go to in order to face or deny our 'shadows'. Likewise, astrologically spas are described by the elusive qualities of the element Water, especially the sign Pisces, the planet Neptune, and the 12th House (more on this later).

In the top echelons of the spa world, it appears popular to put astrology under the heading of Metaphysics and call its practitioners Metaphysicians. Maybe this title gives it a certain grandness, something similar to a physician but with an exotic tone. Under the same category come psychics, mediums, intuitives, numerologists, graphologists, tarot readers, color therapists, crystal energy workers, and so on.

Wikipedia notes that: Before the development of modern science, scientific questions were addressed as a part of metaphysics known as 'natural philosophy'; the term 'science' itself meant 'knowledge' of epistemological origin. The scientific method, however, made natural philosophy an empirical and experimental activity unlike the rest of philosophy, and by the end of the eighteenth century it had begun to be called 'science' in order to distinguish it from philosophy. Thereafter, metaphysics became the philosophical enquiry of a non-empirical character into the nature of existence.

or in the new spa language ...

Canyon Ranch, Tucson: Metaphysical Department - 'Inner wisdom helps you on your journey to personal growth. Metaphysical consultations are fun and offer intriguing pathways to self-awareness.'

I have nothing against any of the above practices, except where they are thinly veiled forms of entertainment masquerading as medicine. And I admit that my impression so far has been that that is what's often on offer. What is particularly interesting, and to me informative, is that these services may be increasing in their popularity. I'm curious to understand why. First, a little on the astrological worldview.

Restoring meaning, beauty and mystery to our lives

Astrology for an individual is based on the key tool, a natal chart. But charts can be drawn up for places, events, animals, all manner of things occurring in space and time. There is my birth chart, my 'progressed new moon' chart for an astrologically significant life-phase, a chart for the launching of this website, a chart for my first spa-retreat venture, and one for that partnership. From each chart, meaning can be gleaned.

While some struggle to demonstrate that astrology is not trivial or superstitious but a verifiable science (my partner Joe explains why this is not possible), others (like Joe and Brad) also see astrology as valuable - not as a science but as a language of the imagination that provides a means to restore meaning, beauty and mystery to our lives. For them it truly is a language of soul.

It is this kind of restoration of mystery and meaning, of soul, that I believe might also help us to see the natural world not as a resource but as a home in which we have a place. But what about spas? Spas, to my mind, have the potential to be a special kind of home - a sanctuary (read more about the 'father of spa' Asclepius here). Astrologically, they're linked with the 12th House, along with hospitals, monasteries, retreats, and curiously enough prisons.

These are all places we go to heal voluntarily (or to be held involuntarily) when we've been deemed sick in body, mind or spirit. For the most part, our culture considers all these kinds of sickness to be unwelcome. They are something we want to be rid of or to have remedied and rehabilitated. But as Thomas Moore writes, soul is not sanitary - it is wild and untamed and that is another curious characteristic of 12th House (read a related reference here).

Here's a little taste of the generic astrology that comes up in a Google search for 'astrology, spas'. This is the one-size-fits-all approach that mass-marketed businesses thrives upon. 'The best way to analyze the natal horoscope for matters of psychology and motivation, as well as therapeutic preferences', it says, 'is to use the 12-letter astrological alphabet devised by astrologer Zipporah Dobyns.' [Web link to quoted material.]

'[The medical astrologer then] formulates his counseling and motivational approach and his therapeutic recommendations for the client.' And comes up with the following for the 12th House.

Pisces - Neptune - Twelfth House

Often a codependent, addictive personality in need of emotional healing. Prone to excess, overindulgence, profligate behavior. Self victimization or self sabotage. Can place an almost religious, blind faith in the doctor or therapist, often having unrealistic or supernatural expectations. Will often be vague or confused in relating medical history, getting the facts straight. Needs to develop will power in following through with therapy. Basically good-natured, tolerant, compassionate, forgiving. Can be very sensitive to the effects of foods, drugs, medicines, herbs.

Therapies: Alcoholics Anonymous and twelve step programs, subtle energetic therapies, hypnotherapy, counseling and psychotherapy, foot reflexology, lymphatic detoxification, homeopathy, thalassotherapy (sea bathing)

Since my Sun, along with Uranus conjunct Mercury, lie in the 12th house, I'm a contender. So, already you'll know something about my darkest secrets! (You'd do better to look a lot more closely at my chart, and how I've responded to life.)

'Houses' in astrology (12 of them) can be seen as psychological and environmental contexts in which human experience and behavior are situated. The 12th House describes, for example, the realm of dreams, intuitions, the unconscious, and surrender. As mentioned earlier, apart from certain human institutions, it represents the untamed wilderness or where we go to connect with our true nature (our soul).

The 12th House also reflects, writes Brad Kochunas, 'personal and collective experiences in which there has been unfinished business, experiences we tend not to show or know well, experiences that are generally disdained, ridiculed or deemed irrelevant'. (Brad is a highly experienced mental health professional who works with prison inmates - prisons if you remember are also 12th House places.)

However, as hinted above for my case, the 12th House is experienced differently by each of us, depending upon the sign on the cusp (at the beginning of) the 12th House, any planets we have in the 12th House, where the ruler of the 12th House sits in the chart and the aspects to it, and the consciousness that we bring to these factors.

Thus one-size does not fit all, and a true understanding of your 12th hHuse (or anything in your chart) cannot be obtained simply by reading a definition of the 12th House, taken out of context. The same applies to working with individuals in any context, including that of spa. Whatever the setting, whatever the treatment, its effectiveness will be uniquely influenced by the individuals involved.

What is really going on in spas?

Many people go to spas to relax but also to regenerate, recover, or rediscover parts of themselves that feel unattended or lost. Spas seem to call us to the rest we all need at the end of one cycle and before another begins - which is where the 12th House lies in the circle of a chart. As for any 12th House setting, this rest requires a process of incubation and waiting, brooding and mulling, letting soul stir in its own cauldron.

Directly opposed the 12th House on a zodiac chart is the 6th House - described by the element Earth, the sign Virgo, and the planet Mercury. The 6th House provides ballast for the 12th, being much more grounded and disciplined. It's related to self-purification, rituals, habits, attitudes to work; where 12th House is wild and untamed, the 6th House is tamed or domesticated.

For me, this 12th-6th House opposition describes quite well one of the inherent tensions of spa culture and culture in general. Will our nature be wild or tamed? Will our healing be contained and sanitized or allowed to sit in its own chaos for however long that takes? The grand father of spas, Asclepius, apparently offered sanctuary to those who needed healing that respected this tension. We're a long way from that balance now.

Instead, we seem to be looking for (or purveying) the quick fixes, the easily digested information, the neatly packaged options. We're hoping (or claiming) that this can all be done in a fabulous all-inclusive weekend. We believe (or make-believe) that if we get the formula right, we'll be rich and beautiful and happy ever after. Who is going to point out that the emperor has no clothes? Who is going to dare to serve, not profit?

Psychological astrology (the realm Joe Landwehr and Brad Kochunas are immersed in) is concerned with the psyche or soul. It sees an individual's natal chart as an imaginal map that is not used to predict concrete life events or to provide solutions to the problems of living but rather to ask the person whose chart it is to discover for themselves the deepest meaning to their life and their place in the cosmos.

'In our culture we have lost the fantasy of the healing power of beauty and tend toward engaging only the medical fantasy. Astrology is simply a way of imagining the world differently, an alternative model for understanding human reality. Practiced imaginatively, its subject matter is soulmaking', writes Brad (p. 27). Spas have this potential - inspiring places of beauty, mystery, fantasy.

Yet - in grasping for medical credibility (Medi-Spa) or building megalithic manors, for example - that soulful quality is often lost. Brad Kochunas again, 'Americans tend toward expansive growth-oriented, manic, Jupiterian lifestyles and leave no place for Saturnine melancholia. In an effort to increase the levity and leisure in our lives we have neglected the gravity of our existence' (p. 25-6).

[Although I am focusing on the 12th House here, I'd like to add that the notion of spa as a place to go to regenerate and recover can also be understood as a 4th House experience. The 4th House can denote sanctuary or refuge, as well as home. Likewise, any further astrological study of spa where its links with the element water are recognized (unfortunately some in spa do not subscribe to this connection) would consider the watery zodiac signs or Cancer and Scorpio, the planets Moon and Pluto and the 8th House.]

When soul is lost by a culture

Let's return to Susie Cox's talk, and the Conde Naste Top scoring Destination Spas (all US) for 2009:

Canyon Ranch, Lenox, Massachusetts
Lake Austin Spa Resort, Texas
Red Mountain Spa, Utah
Miraval, Tucson, Arizona
Canyon Ranch, Tucson, Arizona
Ten Thousand Waves, Sante Fe, New Mexico

Of these grand spas, three (both the Canyon Ranch venues and Miraval) offer astrology. Susie established it at the first two a long time ago now but Miraval's appointment of astrologer Carolyn Crawford is more recent. Susie consults at Canyon Ranch, Tucson, which has 300 rooms and is a high-end venue. Its focus, she noted, is on body and mind with less attention to spirit. The tagline ''The Power of Possibility' says it all.

Canyon Ranch's Arizona neighbor Miraval (118 rooms), on the other hand, offers a more meditative atmosphere, perhaps more conducive to things spiritual. There's an important distinction to make here between spiritual and soulful, both words that are much used and sometimes misused (or misrepresented) in the business of spa and health. Though perhaps marketing meets us exactly where our dreams are.

'When soul is lost by a culture there is nothing to connect mind and body, no middle ground to keep these realms attached and thereby we suffer the untethered elevation of spirit and the degradation of matter as reflected in the deterioration of the environment, the despising of the body, shoddy materialism, the oppression of women, and substance abuse.' Brad Kochunas, p. 26-7.

At the start of her talk, Susie made a humorous comment about an encounter in the rest room. She had overheard two hotel guests (not conference participants) speculating that the woman in flowing robes and crystal jewelry who had just left the rest room was no doubt 'the astrologer'. Meanwhile, Susie was power-dressed and proud of her more conventional appearance.

How can we go beyond our stereotypes, to identify genuine authenticity, whether in the world of astrology or that of spa?

The light (and quick) or the dark (and slow)

Susie Cox has been a professional astrologer for over 37 years, and her clients include an A-List of international celebrities and business leaders. The highest service rate in the spa is around $300. That's what Susie's 50-minute astrology readings cost, and as an independent contractor she earns more than 50% of this. For me, her business acumen was far more impressive than her description of services rendered.

Yet, Susie reports that 40% of her spa clients return on their next visit, and 30% call her privately later. She can claim to have cast 42 000 charts in the course of her career. What also impressed me was that last year the department of Behavioral Health at Canyon Ranch, Tucson, showed such a significant decline in numbers of clients that it judiciously changed its name to Life Management. Metaphysics bookings, meanwhile, were up.

Susie insists that people (or at least her clients) don't want to be analyzed or to face the darker sides of life but rather to be uplifted. 'Astrology should be positive', she said brightly, and in the spa context she emphasized that it ought to be entertainment, not therapy. She assured her audience of career astrologers looking to diversify that this didn't mean 'dumbing down' her presentation; 'I get very deep' she added.

For most first-timers she'll summarize their chart reading in one potent sentence. Like a 17-syllable haiku (not Susie's analogy), perhaps it is possible to distill a great deal in those punchlines. For the circumstances and clients, this is perhaps what is sought. But does it have lasting satisfaction for them or send them away with something they can mull over and elaborate over the course of a lifetime of experience? (a main theme of Astropoetics)

'Working with charts in this (soul) way is a slow process ... many clients lost to the modern fantasy of more and better will not have time for it, they want the quick answers, the sure bets, the minimal effort, but life is an alchemical process and with enough attentiveness and imagination we see that change and transformation occur of their own accord.' Brad Kochunas, p. 29

'At Canyon Ranch, we believe that when you have the information and tools, you can improve the quality of your life. Our Health Packages, which can be added to any stay at Canyon Ranch health resort in Lenox, are sets of integrated services that are specially selected to focus on a specific health concern or personal goal.'

'An astrology that moves forward focused upon self-mastery, personal growth, problem solving, prediction, control, providing answers to life's problems, and simplifying our lives is an astrology which often neglects the longing of soul for attachment, complexity, repetition, otherness, meandering, and depth. It is an astrology used as one more weapon in an arsenal of the heroic ego in its move away from a soulful life.' Brad Kochunas, p. 27

Abandoning the heroic perspective

Returning soul to astrology (or spa) requires us to abandon this heroic perspective. Instead, astrology could provide a map of our inner landscape that is not used to predict concrete life events or to provide solutions to the problems of living but rather to lead us toward a life deeply enriched and satisfying. This might very well sound heinous to a society/ spa/ health/ industry bent on progress, betterment, improvement, and growth.

'We [Americans] are by no means materialists as some would clamor, but rather spiritists having little or no appreciation for the material world .... There is little appreciation for the real thing or for the time it takes to create and cultivate the real thing. This is the plight of the puer nation, the eternally youthful qualities of which are limitless possibility, high flying spirit.' Brad Kochunas, p. 26

Can we convince ourselves (or be convinced) that expensive tubs of cream are age-defying? How would we feel if we knew our spa therapist had been on a training course to learn 'how to provoke desire-to-buy emotions'? Is it possible that they and we are strangers desperately colluding in the substitute dream of being served, nurtured and healed by our own families and communities, and of knowing where we belong.

'[S]oul's absence denotes a loss of depth, meaning and attachment. In a society driven by disposable consumerism, we have lost a deep understanding of lack, of doing without, of making do, of abstinence, celibacy, solitude, restraint, and limitation. We move restlessly about, disposing of dwellings, vehicles, relationships, possessions, changing our beliefs, families and lifestyles as easily as changing undergarments, pursuing a fantasy of growth and progress.' Brad Kochunas, pp. 25-26

Or is there something hidden in these fantasies that can be owned, brought to light, dug up out of the depths of our 12th House longings? Perhaps clues lie in the glaring disparities between sun-sign (generic) astrology and the complex (highly individual) psychological insights that the likes of C.J. Jung and Dane Rudyar have gleaned from the stars. Or the deceptively simplistic new-age statement: 'healing is a process, not an event'.

If we really understood that, as a map of our inner landscape, our own natal chart is fathomless, would we dare look into that soul-well or run away?

Would we be happy with a cosmologist who tells us our lives are as stunningly beautiful as the cosmetologist we just came from exclaimed our newly scrubbed faces to be ... when we know this is not how we feel or see ourselves; when they said the same to the person before us?

I'm not saying that there is no value in enjoying being entertained and appreciated. What does concern me, is the market mentality that is so insidiously encroaching upon the inner and outer landscapes we once experienced as sacred. As an imaginal art, astrology (like other healing arts) has the capacity to move us beyond ourselves and to challenge us to create and discover meaning in our lives.

But this is not something someone can simplify, beautify, package up with pretty ribbons, and sell to us as a media-inspired dream. No amount of couching our pain in abundance affirmations, or masking our boredom with guided wilderness experiences; or putting green logos and grand oak trees on our websites, or selling sacred rituals - is going to help us to get in touch with our souls or to save the planet.

Making a leap of consciousness

Astrology describes beautifully the metaphoric or archetypal journey of maturation that, as individuals and as a culture, we make around the zodiac chart from the 1st House (personality expression and an internal source of motivation to take one’s place within the environment) to the 12th House (self-transcendence and sacrifice). Crossing from the 9th House (aspiration, search for meaning) into the 10th House (social values, career) requires a significant leap of consciousness.

With this leap, we are losing personal control and realizing we must adapt to the larger reality upon which we depend. If we do that well, in the 11th House we'll develop a social conscience and be ready to play our part in addressing social concerns. By the time we arrive at the 12th House, our lives will either be full of hidden enemies and dangerous dreams, or we'll be able to resonate with and respond to the collective unconscious.

How many of us who love spas or whose working lives have attracted us to spas are 12th House folk? (Brad Kochunas has compared the natal charts of prisoners and those who work with them, and found some remarkable similarities between them.) The difference lies not in what we've been given but in what we choose to do with it.

That's another key point about the non-generic astrology you won't read in the magazines - it expresses our individuality and our choices, and it asks us to take responsibility for how we are going to live our lives, for what we are going to make of them. No-one else can do that for us, though we can be given opportunities and time and support in following this very challenging path of self-discovery.

At the same ISAR 2009 conference, astrologer Maurice Fernandez, speaking on 'Vocational Orientation in the Birth Chart', discussed how the 12th House can provide interesting insights into the challenge of vocational choice - that of merging personal creativity with collective needs. My affinity for spa, especially as a tool for personal and social transformation, and my renegade approach, was made rather obvious by his analysis.

The personal, professional, and relational insights I've gained from astrology in my 2 years' experience of it have been extraordinary. It is not possible nor appropriate to go into that here because, unlike the generic astrology many will be familiar with, there is no adequate way to simplify its many-faceted view of a person or a situation or an option. There are some good guides but your own study is best.

Speaking of guides: at ISAR, medical astrologer Jane Ridder-Patrick presented her work in progress of accompanying people through sometimes very difficult health crises. In a talk entitled 'The Expert Patient', she described people who are taking an active role in managing their own health, a group that is becoming increasingly accepted and welcomed by health-care professionals.

Astrology, she said, is an outstanding tool for facilitating self-knowledge about the inter-relatedness of mind and body which could have important positive economic and research implications. She used a variety of intriguing case-studies to show how everyone can become an expert patient or stay as healthy as possible. Astrology encourages client-centered, rather than therapist-centered, interpretation of an illness or issue.

That last statement is key. It puts someone firmly in control of their own life. It makes them an active participant rather than a passive receiver. It also helps each of us to see how what we do affects not only our own life but the lives of others and the state of our planet. In the spa world, there is the increasingly 'Expert Spa-Goer' who knows what they expect to feel and who is on the look-out for green-washing.

The price of selling soul-water

Whether, we're talking about spas or hospitals or hospices (all 12th House places in astrological terms) the same leap from personal to collective consciousness is always required. If we attempt to sell what should never be sold - soul or water - it will fail badly. Jung had a favorite story about the price of selling soul=water, that is beautifully told in the 'Introduction' to Robert A. Johnson's book 'Owning Your Own Shadow'.

Water has often been used as a symbol for the deepest spiritual nourishment of humanity. It is flowing in our time in history, as always, for the well is faithful to its mission; but it flows in some odd places. It has often ceased to flow in its accustomed sites and turned up in some surprising locations. But, thank God, the water is still there. Robert A. Johnson, p. ix

I'm worried about what is happening to our souls, I'm worried about what that's doing to our spas, and I'm worried about the way we treat water. I think all three (soul, spa, water) are irrevocable linked. I want to ask all who work in spas to stop and make a leap of consciousness, to ask themselves if the fantasy they are subscribing to, or reinforcing, is really of value to the world.

People are seeking meaning (remember Susie's comment about increases in Metaphysics clients) and ways to relieve the hurt in the world they see around them. Spas could be part of this but only if they stop commoditizing, branding and trivializing what might otherwise be a profound and valuable service.

Here's a final quote about the potential in astrological counseling. What if this client were a spa visitor?

'The client can see his or her own life movement paralleled metaphorically in the movements of nature. S/he can see that they have every right to be here. S/he belongs, is an integral expression of the natural world, and has certain responsibilities towards it as her/his progenitor. This fantasy can help ground and connect the client to both larger social and natural realities.' Brad Kochunas, p. 42

If you've read this far, you are probably another renegade spa person. I invite you to write to me and to join me in creating an alternative vision of spa. Comment below or email me directly.

Jung also believed that 'in spite of its function as a reservoir for human darkness—or perhaps because of this—the shadow is the seat of creativity.' (Wikipedia)

On the Internet: Astrology at the Spas

The extracts below are presented as a sample selection of how astrology is currently being presented in the spa world. Some suggest little more than generic entertainment.

1. Star Pedicure: Astrological Spa Services: Pedicure Customized to Your Horoscope Sign

2. Zodiac Diva: Zodiac therapy column now featured online at Spa Magazine

3. SpaGazer: Astrological Calendar (click the oracle and discover the Astrospa Almanac)

ARIES - THE RAM
Dates = 21 March - 20 April
Planet = Mars + Metal = Iron
Spa Stone = Diamond

Space research has identified Epsom Salts in proliferation on Mars. This is a time for broadening your horizons with saline immersion or a thalassotherapy. Take a friend to a tropical spa and indulge in a traditional Epsom Salts Water Cure, perhaps ending with a spa stone exchange?

4. Celestial Roadmap

Scottsdale, AZ: The Sanctuary Spa at Sanctuary on Camelback Mountain & The Centre for Well-Being at The Phoenician.

Tucson, AZ: Miraval and Canyon Ranch

Sedona, AZ: Mii amo

Mexico: Rio Caliente

[I'm sure there are other spas offering astrology that don't turn up in a Google Search - if you know of one, please do write in.]

Further astrological reading

Astropoetic School of Soul-Discovery (Joe Landwehr)

Jane Ridder-Patrick

Maurice Fernandez

Greg Bogart

Books

The Seven Gates of Soul: Joe Landwehr

The Astrological Imagination: Where Psyche and Cosmos Meet: Brad Kochunas

Astrology course online

Astropoetics

Also by Sara Firman:

Beauty and Harmony: an interview with water advocate Barbara Harmony

Extract: Among her water assets, Barbara has the planet Venus in the sign Pisces in the Sixth House of her natal chart. Whatever your knowledge or view of astrology, this information provides a fitting watery storyline for the conversation she and I enjoyed about how spa culture might help build a community that is not only concerned with human wellbeing but is also more environmentally conscious (especially regards water).

Harbin Hot Springs: quintessential spa retreat

Extract: The word hospital, notes one of my favorite writers on soul, Thomas Moore, comes from hospis meaning both stranger and host and pito meaning lord or powerful one. It was interesting to go from this hosting place to the one that is Harbin. In both places, the people are mostly focused inward; in both places touch is valued. In Care of the Soul (p. 174), Moore asks what it would be like if hospitals cared for the soul in illness, as well as the body. Harbin takes care of the soul. You'll see all kinds of bodies - the conventionally beautiful and the less so - but most seem at home in their skins.

Water bridges a therapeutic gap: Joe Landwehr comments on the issue of research (On the website 'Aquapoetics: Creative Aquatic Bodywork')

An underground stream of spirituality: quoting Brad Kochunas (On the website 'Diving Deeper: Adventures Inspired by Water')

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Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this post are my own impressions and interpretations; there is no intention to imply that the people or organizations quoted or mentioned agree with or share these same views regards the nature of astrology and its application in spa settings.
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Recession and Spas

2009-09-24T10:48:44-05:00

Two definitions ...

Recession:
1. A moderate and temporary decline in economic activity
2. The act of restoring possession to a former owner

From The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition.

Earlier this month, Susie Ellis of SpaFinder Inc. reported the closure of two established day spa operations in a blog post entitled 'Spas and Recession'. She wrote that she found this:

Heartbreaking - yet not particularly surprising given the current economic climate. In fact, I am sure that we will be seeing more spas closing. Frankly, I am surprised that we haven't seen more already. I think it speaks to the fact that these businesses likely did everything they could to try and weather the recession, but at some point they had to pull the plug.

The post goes on to makes some suggestions about ways to weather the storm, but I think there is something important missing here. It is something I've been exploring on this blog over the last year. It is a view that asks for an enormous shift in perspective.

Below I have compiled six posts that look at what is happening in our culture in general, how this might relate to spa, and how we might respond - not in terms of surviving as businesses but rather in order to support cultural change and contribute to our survival on the planet.

First, here is a copy of the comment I made on the above post:

Chaos or crisis can be thought of as opportunity disguised as loss. I know what that feels like, both personally and professionally. We all do. I think what is needed now - more than adaptations or limitations on business as usual - is a reevaluation of what role spas have played (and could play) in our culture; and a re-examination of why people work in and go to spas.

Not for marketing or business purposes but for our souls!

This calls us to examine our underlying values, our world views, and to see if what we do (through spa in this case) is really meeting our needs and those of others in a way that respects the source of our livelihood, the planet itself (including all things sustained by it).

We'll need to hold the paradox of thinking big and thinking small. In the latter respect, spas could both support and inspire sustainable local communities. Any spa that is growing beyond and outside its local community and not engaging that community fully is not in service.

I don't think it is a question of how much you pay your staff or what you do to entice customers but how much everyone really feels valued and involved. If we were to think of spa as a form of culture not as an industry, that might help us make the shift.

Here, in chronological order, are my earlier posts on the topic of spas and recession.

1. Green marketing: 'Aspiring to a dream' after 'Deflating a myth' (Nov. 2008)

I've been learning a lot about 'green marketing' recently and what that means from the varying points of view of consumers, companies, marketing professionals, and those in the business of providing information resources to niche groups. My particular interest is in how this relates to the spa world but it runs deeper. Here, I want to explore what supports the need to go green, why I'd like to see it become a primary consideration rather than a 'selling point', and what it might take for green to be taken for granted as a sustaining and sustainable way of making a living and doing business.

2. Economic blues: asking deeper questions (Dec. 2008)

This week's Splash e-newsletter for the aquatics industry addressed the topic of 'Attracting Patients in a Down Economy' and suggested that it would be beneficial to look at how other aquatic disciplines are approaching this concern. Particular reference was made to the spa industry and a recent blog post from Susie Ellis (spa guru) of Spa Finder giving her top 10 list of new spa trends for 2009. I too had seen the list and have been thinking about what it might mean in the context of 'economy' and 'choice'. What might spas and aquatic therapy clinics, both service-oriented, have in common when it comes to attracting custom?

3. Spa culture: timely opportunity for a paradigm shift (Dec. 2008)

This image shows two deer stranded in a river while the forest burns around them. For me, it conveys well the current challenges we face in deciding how best to survive economic and environmental crises. These deer know that the water may save them. Could a new vision of spa play its part in helping us to survive? For this opportunity to be grasped, we must go beyond superficial style and develop authentic integrity in providing true spa (sanus per agua - health through water) services.

4. Spa culture meets corporate culture: a force for positive change (Jan. 2009)

Long before colonization of the New World, Native Americans gathered at thermal mineral springs for physical health, spiritual, and social purposes. In Europe, the Romans were cultivating spas as places for both play and politics. And in ancient Greece, people went on spa sabbaticals to receive healing dreams from the gods that offered solutions to otherwise intractable problems.

Our own society is now recognizing the value of adding spa culture to its social and business settings, to meetings and events. It's an interweaving that, if fully realized, could provide us with solutions to our own personal, social, and environmental issues by immersing us in an inclusive and informal setting where all three aspects of human life are recognized as being inseparable.

5. Corporate social responsibility: how does spa biz show up? (Feb. 2009)

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the spa world is a topic I'll be looking at in more depth on this blog. Though my main focus is on small businesses, the influence and potential leadership role of the larger corporations is significant. I want to highlight those who are showing the way. There is a majority in the spa world still who have nothing to say on the topic of sustainability (including environmental and social responsibility) and others who talk the talk but may not be walking the walk.

6. Spa industry lemons (March 2009)

Is the spa industry in general more concerned with profit than with people and personal and environmental health? Unfortunately, some of the reactions (from industry voices and in professional networks) to the current economic recession would seem to suggest that this has been so.

Anyone want to join me in brainstorming an alternative to business as usual or business at all?

Growing for spas: a local enterprise

2009-07-29T11:41:44-05:00

This month, Vision Spa Retreat ventured into the local community with the article below which was extracted from the series of six related posts about spa products and the powerful potential they have for enabling sustainable spa culture already posted on this blog (see the end for links to those).

The article was included in the first newsletter of the Ozarks Sustainability Community Center ('A place to discuss sustainability and schedule events within our beautiful Ozarks!') that was launched earlier this year in West Plains, Missouri, near Sara Firman's (Director of Vision Spa Retreat) home-base.

We're hoping to extend this small initiative further to another Ozarks community action The Well-Fed Neighbor Alliance - 'a grassroots movement working toward a vision of a peaceful, abundant and sustainable future' - also launched recently, and very successfully, from the city of Springfield, MO.

Look out for forthcoming posts on ways in which spa community could be integrated with local community initiatives like the Transition Town Movement that started in the UK and has recently begun nationwide in the US.

If this is a topic that interests and inspires you, please do comment on any of the blog postings or write to Vision Spa Retreat directly.

Quoting the Well-Fed Neighbor Alliance: Together, people of the Ozarks are fostering neighbor-to-neighbor partnerships to re-establish our local food supply by planting community gardens, supporting local family farms and area farmer's markets.Let us not stop until we’ve achieved a vertical integration of our farm to market products, the relocalization of good-paying jobs, the creation of an all-Missouri buy Local Directory, and the widespread installation of alternative energy sources by and for the people. In the process, we’ll be reuniting neighbors, engaging the better angels of our public officials, and reskilling our kids to face the future.

Growing for Spas

Food cooked and presented with love has always been appreciated. Spa treatments conducted and presented with heart are no different. And these things tend to be home-grown and timeless. They don't depend on ethnic or exotic imports but rather on creative and caring aspects of human community. Spas can both support and inspire sustainable local communities.

At the spa-retreat I used to run in our area, I once served some guests a pasta sauce I'd made with tofu and lavender (from the retreat garden). I had followed a recipe and they were polite enough to eat it . But it would probably have made a better sunburn soothing mask in the spa - lavender is a well-known anti-inflammatory!

The point is that a spa product that is also edible is likely to be safe to use on someone's skin. Basic products can be made from cold-pressed and unrefined oils, freshly prepared certified organic vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds etc., therapeutic grade herb and flower extracts, and pure water. Making a product directly before use in the spa or in the treatment room can give it a further potent quality.

With freshly made products there is no need to worry about shelf-life which can involve all manner of less desirable ingredients in manufactured products. (It's important to note though that some natural substances can also cause allergic or other unpleasant reactions in some people and knowledge of this is extremely important if for anyone who plans to make up their own products.)

The underlying elements of any spa treatment can (and I think should) be appropriately and effectively adapted to suit and enhance whatever setting a spa is in. Including locally grown ingredients, local suppliers, and local flavor in spa offerings certainly blends these treatments more naturally with a particular setting than if they are outsourced.

The demand for body care products has proliferated dramatically, along with the growing spa industry. 'Green' products have commanded a premium (and not always justifiable) market price. With increasing evidence of green washing, body care product manufacturers face scrutiny from conscious consumers who also represent a significant percentage of spa consumers.

This ought to encourage spas and other related venues to examine their choices and offerings more closely. The best and most creative solution, I believe, is to source local and to involve the community - from suppliers, to staff, to customers - in the creation of a unique and varied spa menu. For a spa venue, making food-based spa treatments, including sourcing local materials for these, will require either:

establishing their own on-site organic garden, perhaps with bee hives for honey and wax, or

researching and networking to find good and reliable local suppliers

Also:

training of staff and set-up of a space/ facility for the making of products

creative design of a range of services involving these products

All or some of these tasks can be provided or coordinated by a local spa design and consultancy service creating yet another form of local employment (for example, Vision Spa Retreat!). The home-made products may also be of interest to those who do not want to partake of the spa's services but might like to order fresh supplies of body care products.

For spa venues that do choose to sell products they make onsite, it is essential to look into local and state regulations regards retail of 'home-made' beauty products. There are many websites and blogs on the internet promoting this kind of business that will also provide lots of good ideas for recipes and equipment and supplies needed.

As part of a program I'd like to develop for promoting local spa products and services, I'm interested to hear from (or about) anyone who is already making locally grown and produced body products, would be interested in making them, or would like to offer them as part of their existing therapeutic services (massage, spa, etc.). Please contact me (Sara Firman).

This article was extracted from the series of six related posts about spa products and the powerful potential they have for enabling sustainable spa culture already posted on this blog.

Visions for Spa?

2009-07-12T10:44:00-05:00

Visionaries see possibilities and promise. Excellent visionaries see real and significant possibilities, not simply the utopian variety.

Vision Spa Retreat take the first part of it's name seriously, though that's certainly an ongoing process of exploration. In fact, a friend recently commented that Sara 'seems to be trying to work something out' though this website and sharing. That's true! No definite answers or opinions but a call to wonder, to envision how things could be better - specifically in the world of spa.

Please join me in sharing your vision for a new spa culture.

Meanwhile, others are visioneering in many and broader spheres. Here is an extract from the home page of The Vision Project, where you can peruse the inspiring thoughts of 67 visionaries. And perhaps contribute your own (especially called for are perspectives from non-English speaking parts of the world: Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle-East, Africa, and South America).

[Visionaries] are not the mystics, prophets, or forecasters. These are not the ones who tell us what will, probably will, or should happen. Visionaries see possibilities and promise. Excellent visionaries see real and significant possibilities, not simply the utopian variety. The vision they see is not one to which others must be persuaded. When they show us how to see it, we instantly see it as our future. It makes a connection with some esoteric circuit in us that knows it is seeing the truth of our existence more fully revealed. A true vision points the way to our purpose for existence, and it gives a glimpse of how our lives could be if we lived in the context of that purpose. It imbues how we live with the power of why we live.

A vision, like all else in time and space, is limited. It will have its time, it will stir the activity of those it touches towards its fulfillment, and then it will fade in the face of the new vision. If there is an ultimate, all-encompassing vision, we must not be ready to see it, because we (apparently) can only see a small portion at a time. Vision inspires us to expand, evolve, and elevate; it causes us to change the way we think, what we expect, and who we believe ourselves to be. Vision reveals a light in which we can change our world and ourselves for the better. The change itself is the construction of a new step on the ladder, and from that higher step we can see farther still. The change is the seed for the new vision, and thus we grow. In it all, vision is integral to the process. It is in this light that the ancient proverb, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18) derives its meaning.

Old visions sometimes live beyond their usefulness. Looking at the world today, many are becoming convinced that humanity is at war with itself, something like an autoimmune disease a human might have. One explanation of this disorder is that we seem to be applying older, nearly used up visions in ways that are inappropriate for an increasingly interdependent, globalized humanity—a humanity waking up to itself. Segments of humanity are seeing that all others should become what their individual group is or holds dear. We have just come through a millennium where we killed great numbers of humans in the name of competing visions of religions, economic and political systems, not to mention the competing national, racial, tribal, ethnic, and gender visions.

In these confusing, often dangerous times, we need a new vision for a new humanity, and we need it yesterday. This urgency demands that we know if this vision exists, and if not how we can aid in its formulation.

The new vision is becoming visible, but certainly not in crystal clear completeness. We have a wealth of visionary thought and writing in the world today, but not one thinker or writer has resonated with of all of humanity, and for obvious reasons. Six and a half billion viewpoints create much diversity within humanity and form great barriers to anything resonating with everyone. Any visionary faces the problem of his or her own viewpoint: each is a specific gender, age, nationality, and race; each has been taught in a specific educational system, and colored by the traditions and mores of his or her own culture. All of this colors the vision regardless of how essential it is intended to be. And this coloring is a hurdle for others because each of us must work through our own unique viewpoint.

Another obstacle is that the new vision is humanity’s vision; and it may not be possible (yet) for any human to contain the vision in its completeness simply because of scale. If humanity is a great being (even if immature and only semi-conscious) living through human beings, it may be impossible for a single human to contain the vision for the greater being. How many of us truly identify with the greater being over and beyond our own individuality? This complicates the work of both the visionary and those potentially affected by the vision.

Please join me in sharing your vision for a new spa culture! Comment below or Subscribe or Email.

Certificate of Sustainability for Salons and Spas from NAEFSS

2009-07-11T10:18:01-05:00

The National Association of Eco-Friendly Salons and Spas™ founded by Tamara Jercha recently launched it's Sustainability Certification proposal for US venues.

The obvious focus on environmental issues, Tamara's credentials, a membership service, and a certification that is based around that look promising to Vision Spa Retreat.

The Association is 'organized to build a community of like-minded business owners, mindful of their impact on the environment and dedicated to learning how to implement green business strategies while sharing success stories with others'.

The website states that 'There are eleven areas of concentration created to encompass all aspects of owning and operating a salon/spa using green business practices. Sustainability Certifications are awarded as a result of points earned from each eleven categories.'

The Sustainability Certification is in test mode right now: those joining have the opportunity to be part of that at reduced cost.

Membership at $129/year compares well with the minimum membership of the Green Spa Network (first-year fees for Pledge membership begin at $360 per location).

GSN members sign a Pledge confirming commitment but are not currently assessed regards compliance.

It will be interesting to see how the NAEFSS Sustainability Certification is taken up and followed through.

Vision Spa Retreat invites spas to support one or both organizations if they can and to report back on the service and value over time.

Future Spa: Bringing concepts to life

2009-06-30T11:42:57-05:00

This new forum on Vision Spa Retreat is intended to inspire free-flowing dialog about some of the challenges of visioning and then manifesting a spa venue that can truly call itself 'eco'. We're inviting questions or concerns that you can present openly or anonymously (although you must make yourself known to Vision Spa Retreat). All kinds of topics relating to ecospa could be covered, we'll just let that evolve. Feel welcome to offer ideas.

To start us off, we're looking at:

What turns an inspired spa concept proposal into

the real thing?

Recently, 'B' the managing director of an architectural firm in the UK wrote to VSR about a spa project his company has taken on.

An existing US resort (cabins accommodating just under 100 guests) on 14,000 acres of mountainous forest land currently offers golf and outdoor activities. It now wants to complement a new golf lodge, accommodating about 50 and still under construction, with an 'eco-spa' of about 9,000 square feet that will serve the 150 or so guests of the resort.

The architect (B) sent me the initial Concept and Design proposals dated end of 2007, adding that working drawings have been completed for the spa but that it will not be constructed this year as planned. Curious as to how they were bringing those early proposals down to earth, I wrote B the letter below. Although he agreed with the points made, B did not offer any specific answers.

I suspect that this is because the issues I raised are about giving as strong a foundation to ethos as to bricks-and-morter, which may not be exactly his role though I think it is one he is exploring. B's company has teamed up with a spa consultant who has a strong background in ayurvedic health and products. He kindly agreed to sharing our correspondence here.

We invite you to write in (see comment box after this post) with any thoughts that are sparked off by what you read below. Please share in the spirit of the positive (how this project could be even better) rather than negative (what is wrong with this picture). Feel free to draw on examples and experiences of your own in order to develop the dialog. And if you have an idea for another Future Spa post - let us know!

Dear Vision Spa Retreat

Thanks for that 'critique'...... all very valid points. The project is at it's beginning and we were employed by [the late owner of this family concern] to bring our design, our ethics and our vision to the resort. There was no real vision when we started. He wanted to created something in tune with nature and our concept vision document is merely that.... a vision that everyone, including the local general management and staff, will embrace, believe in and see through.

I agree with some of your comments and perhaps it could be taken as being naive but then we build dreams and we stay focused to our vision and ethics no matter how hard it is. It is normally our clients that waver and, of course, in these challenging economic times it is easy to take the route of least resistance.

We hope that the resort will be developed further with our vision and that of the late owner at the heart of it. We can only wait and see. We are waiting until the golf lodge is built and then we will see what way the resort is to be guided.

Below is an edited version of the letter B was responding to above. The actual proposals are not reproduced here but we hope you will still find it interesting and informative.

Dear Spa Visioneer

I realize that you are quite a lot further along the line than those brief documents convey,and that they have the conventionally upbeat tone of marketing materials.

I believe that your firm is concerned only with the spa architecture, including its interior styling and function, as part of a new golf lodge within an existing destination resort.

At first glance, it is not clear that the resort as a whole was established as a green development, except insofar as the natural setting is highly valued.

I see the issue of 'sustainability' regards spas - and authenticity in working towards this - as an ongoing process of exploration (and sharing).

We are all still refining what we really mean by the concepts and terms we are using to describe our creations and actions.

Do our good intentions match up, and if not, how do we approach that discrepancy to present a consistent and honest reflection of our purpose?

As [your spa consultant and concept proposal writer] rightly comments in her spa concept text, the word 'spa' been overused.

I'd add that the newer term 'ecospa' is also very much a matter of interpretation on the part of the business and customer.

[Her] text was well-written but not, in the ecospa world, as unique as claimed. You're going to need to match up to some strong frontrunners.

The results of our visions - the actual doing - over both the short and long runs, come up against all kinds of 'reality' checks (building and operating costs, staffing, environment and community issues).

However high our aspirations might be (mine included) it's not easy to translate the language of ideal into actual practice.

Below are some questions that arose for me after reading your concept documents. I think these establish an important background for any such development.

The construction materials, technology incorporated, and layout reflecting what will actually be offered in your spa, will all want to convey this background philosophy.

The concept text reads: 'we plan to meet with native people and find out first hand'.

Do you now have such people on board locally? How do you determine that they are authentic and supportive?

(All over the world - including the US - indigenous peoples do not share much enthusiasm for 'western' land development projects or the adoption and adaptation of their sacred practices.)

The concept text assumes a warm welcome from willing nature spirits.

Are you or [the resort] really collaborating with the land/spirits? How do you know or show this?

(It has been suggested that the very structure of a technological and consumer/product-orientated culture prevents it from communicating in any depth with the native peoples or the nature spirits.)

The text assumes experienced local staff with the ability to interpret and share such wild spirit knowledge with clients.

Do you have such people, or are you confident they can be found?

Do you think it is possible to 'train' spa staff to offer or represent that highly skilled practice?

(Right now, the spa industry is both expanding and failing, true 'healer' staff are lacking, and those that exist are not infrequently very poorly compensated for the work that they do.)

Where does [the resort] stand regards solutions to the challenging state the industry finds itself in?

The text talks about 'premium' and 'profitable' signature treatments based on natural local ingredients and tiling and lighting that captures the feel of moss-covered river rocks.

Is [the resort] fully acquainted with local conservation issues regards both plants and materials and the potential impact of harvesting these?

(The taking of wild medicinals from the land is on the increase in the US, largely unregulated, and a cause of great concern to those who are trying to protect, conserve, and make good use of such herbs.

In order to create the spa retreat that my ex-husband and I ran in the Ozarks, I had to address local mining issues that threatened water-quality in the environment in which we were working.)

Is [the resort] prepared to take an active and proactive response to help protect the natural environment in which it is sited, as part of the eco-spa ethic it purports to represent?

(Where I live in Missouri, the forest is being impacted by increasingly wild storms that some suggest are related to climate change, and the effects of economic recession on the US timber trade.

We are becoming painfully aware of our lack of understanding and knowledge when it comes to really taking care of the forest land and doing what is best for it's survival as well as our own.)

Is [this particular region], is [this company], that different? How are businesses and the local community working together to face this?

(For Vision Spa Retreat, ecospa means a venture that is concerned with both safeguarding and celebrating the natural world.

I believe we need to find ways to articulate the truth about what, as a culture (or as a business within that), we are trying to repair and reclaim; without fantasizing a paradisical past or pristine present.)

Do you envisage that prospective customers want to participate in the reality that faces us all, or to escape from it?

Can you dare to present the ecospa concept more openly, honestly and realistically than the hotel and spa industry generally does?

Vision Spa Retreat believes it is possible and necessary to develop promotional materials that accurately reflect both a company's mission and the current state of its development.

What do you think?

We invite you to write in (see comment box after this post) with any thoughts that are sparked off by what you read below. Please share in the spirit of the positive (how this project could be even better) rather than negative (what is wrong with this picture). Feel free to draw on examples and experiences of your own in order to develop the dialog. And if you have an idea for another Future Spa post - let us know!

Safeguarding water

2009-06-26T10:53:30-05:00

Here are two ways to get involved and show that your spa venue is committed to care of water:

Standards for Pool and Spa chemicals

This week (22 June 2009) EcoLogo^TM launched an initiative to develop environmental standards for pool and spa chemicals.

They would like to hear from individuals and companies [including spas] who want to participate in a process that will reduce the environmental and human health impact of these products.

Contact Terri Cundy: tcundy@ecologo.org.

EcoLogo^TM is a third-part, multi-attribute eco-labelling program approved by the Global Ecolabelling Network, an international association of eco-labelling programs. Please explore their website.

Standards for Water Stewardship

Earlier this year (17 March 2009) The Nature Conservancy, The Water Stewardship Initiative of Australia, Water Witness, the Water Environment Federation, the Pacific Institute, and the World Wildlife Fund announced the launch of a new global water stewardship program to recognize and reward responsible water managers, corporations, the agriculture industry, cities, and water authorities for sustainable use of water resources.

This group of leading business, social development and conservation organizations has joined together as the 'Alliance for Water Stewardship'™ (AWS) in order to develop common standards to manage water in a way that enables social and economic development while also maintaining environmental sustainability. See Press Release for more.

Over the next several years, the Alliance members will work with water authorities, industries, local communities and environmentalists [and spas] to establish a voluntary certification program for water managers and users based on the following:

• International standards developed through an equitable, inclusive, transparent, science-based, multi-stakeholder process.

• Verification to determine whether these standards have been met.

• A global brand that allows managers, users and organizations to demonstrate their compliance with or support for water stewardship.

• Training and education to promote achievement of water stewardship.

Participation in AWS is open to anyone interested in promoting sustainable water use, and stakeholder outreach and engagement will be involved in every aspect of the design, development, and implementation of the water stewardship program.

Learn more about how to join this effort

Vision Spa Retreat welcomes notices about organizations like those above.

Is there a basic philosophy all spas could accept regards water?

2009-06-26T09:29:12-05:00

Spotlight on Water: 3rd Global Spa Summit,
17-19 May 2009

Last month, the 2009 Global Spa Summit focused on 'The Power of Collaboration' was held at Victoria-Jungfrau Grand Hotel & Spa in Interlaken, Switzerland.

The Global Spa Summit (GSS) is 'an international organization that aims to bring together leaders and visionaries to positively impact and shape the future of the global spa and wellness industry'.

One of its objectives is to identify and assist in resolving issues affecting the spa and wellness industry. Right now, these might well emphasize the effects of the global recession and urgent awareness of the troubling impact human activity is having on the planet.

What really matters from Vision Spa Retreat's point of view is the response such considerations generate from the top-level spa business audience that attends. Will they, for example, be prepared to subjugate profits to meet the pressing needs of the planet?

Among the issues discussed at this year's Summit was Water - also a central focus for Vision Spa Retreat. See also Putting the water back into spa on this blog.

Spas use water for the ubiquitous human requirements of drinking, cleaning, landscaping, and bathing. The last area (including various forms of hydrotherapy and mineral/thermal waters) is, for many of us, a distinguishing feature of 'spa'. Water issues are spa issues.

On Tuesday May 19, a group of panelists, including one of Vision Spa Retreat's Advisers Marion Schneider, spent one precious hour looking at 'How Shining a Spotlight on Water Can Energize our Industry'.

Vision Spa Retreat was not at the summit and cannot report directly: the summary below may be of interest to others who likewise could not attend but are concerned about the environmental impact of spa.

If you were are participant, we welcome your comments and input.

Before the meeting Marion suggested that this title 'How Shining a Spotlight on Water Can Energize our Industry' helped to express (quote):

the possibility for our industry/ for a spa to focus on water

the possibility that the use of water as an agent can energize our work/ business/ company

that our industry needs energy

that we have influence to create this energy.

She also pointed out the following challenges (quote):

water plays very different roles in the different nations/ cultures/ philosophies of spa or spa experience

water is expensive if we use it in general for therapy

water will become even more expensive in the future

the relationship to water is still very practical and non-spiritual in most cultures – it is not seen as precious, valuable, admirable.

Taking into account the many different approaches to, and views of water, she felt that 'there will be no general solution for all spas concerning water – but there might be a basic philosophy all spas could accept'.

She also noted that the spa industry would be interested to learn more about the 'profitability of water treatments or water based investments'.

This last aspect was affirmed by Susie Ellis, President of SpaFinder Inc., and one of the Summit organizers whose focus is strongly on the business perspective and who also asked the panel to consider: 'How can you collaborate to increase understanding and demand for what you do?' For example by (quote):

igniting enthusiasm in consumers regarding the health benefits of hydro/thermal experiences so that they demand them in spas

educating the spa industry so that they can properly instruct usage so that people really see results in their health, etc.

or maybe the concerns are safety? standards? pricing?

The Summit also included:

A presentation on 'Medical Hydrology, Balneotherapy, Thalassotherapy and Spa Therapy: Understanding How Research which Validates Spa Therapies can Greatly Increase your Bottom Line'

A breakout session on 'Galvanizing Interest in & Understanding of Hydro/Thermal Spa Experiences to Increase Profits'

But much of this focus on profiting from water may be diluted in importance when and if we accept that 'The world is running out of clean water' (Maude Barlow, April 2009).

Iain Trousdell of the Healing Water Institute in New Zealand whose work has appeared on this blog was also a panelist for 'How Shining a Spotlight on Water Can Energize our Industry' and had the opportunity to present the trailer for his forthcoming film on the value of water and the perils of our neglect of this element.

Here is what Iain had to say beforehand about the important part he felt spa could play in the current water crisis:

'...if the SPA industry became known worldwide for helping water, it would not only help water but also raise the SPA market profile. In this way the SPA Industry can be (more) energized...water is the perfect medium for it....healing people and people healing water.'

Iain suggested that we can help water support life better by understanding how nature has looked after its water so well for so long. He noted that in capturing water, removing it from its context in nature, and not returning it to the world's fresh water sources, we have seriously interfered with water's natural capacity to support all life.

The Water panel Moderator was Marc Cohen, Professor, RMIT University, Australia, an authority in holistic health and wellness, who also sits on the advisory boards of many national and international associations. He hoped the panel would provide education on the main issues, explore the possibility for collaboration, and identify and direct people to resources / expertise.

He summarized the following water topics as being relevant to the spa industry:

biological, social and cultural importance of water

the current water crisis

hot springs tourism and geothermal water

Cohen highlighted a few of the technological and environmental solutions for water use in spas: flow forms, natural pools, biocycle systems, billabongs, quench reticulating showers, and steam power.

He also brought to the panel's attention the Opening Keynote speech at the very recent Australian Water Summit, April 2009 presented by Maude Barlow, Senior Adviser on Water to the President of the United Nations Assembly and author of Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water. See below for more on her concerns.

After the Summit, Marion wrote me that there were about 180 attendees, including many owners and CEOs from hydro/thermal spa experience companies. She felt that there was a positive spirit enabling the sharing of experience and knowledge.

Apart from Iain Trousdell's film presentation which she found both very moving and practical – 'he shows what we can do to care for the water in pictures and with words', she referenced another panelist, Ian Lyons who 'is able to show the power of water in on stage demonstrations and has visited many waters of the world'.

After the event, Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider, wrote in a post on her blog (Susie's Spa Blog, 4 June 2009) 'Words from Adolf Ogi, Keynote at Global Spa Summit 2009':

[Mr Ogi] had just finished attending the Swiss Economic Forum where the topic, of course, was the global economic crisis which was beginning to hit Switzerland extremely hard....He went on to talk about how important character is for both individuals and countries, and how that has become even more significant in an increasingly troubled world.

He also spoke about how important nature is, specifically water, to the quality of life in Switzerland .... He recognizes the importance of the spa and wellness industry and is proud that Switzerland as a country has taken a lead in promoting its value. It was my impression, however, that at the core of his remarks he was challenging us to look beyond our industry and our immediate issues to the greater needs of the world.

With respect to that last call, here are some pressing points extracted from Maude Barlow's recent speech as referenced by the Water panel's moderator Marc Cohen. If you are a spa owner or operator (or anyone alive on this planet), you might ask yourself how this affects and is affected by your life and your business (or soon will be):

The world is running out of clean water.

How is this possible?

• We are polluting massive amounts of surface and even ground water, rendering it inaccessible to us.

• As a result we are over extracting our rivers to death, mostly for flood irrigation and to grow crops in deserts, creating more desert.

• We move water from where it supports a healthy hydrologic cycle and ship it away from watersheds embedded in commodity exports.

• We mine groundwater far faster than nature can replace it and ship it to mega-cities, which dump it into the ocean instead of returning it to the watershed.

• We pave over water-retentive landscape, negatively affecting the hydrologic cycle and reducing rainfall on land.

By these actions, humans are emptying aquifers and watersheds, perhaps permanently. This means that whole areas of the world may be drying out, not experiencing what many incorrectly describe as 'cyclical drought.'

We are just beginning to understand the devastation of this drying to the ecosystem and other species as we humans continue to rob the earth of the water it needs for survival. The human water footprint surpasses all others and endangers life on earth itself.

Close to two billion people now live in water-stressed parts of the planet and almost three billion have no running water within a kilometer of their homes. The global population tripled in the twentieth century, but water consumption jumped sevenfold.

By 2025, unless we dramatically change our ways, two thirds of the population will face water scarcity and by 2050, we will need an 80 % increase in water supplies just to feed ourselves. No one knows where this water is going to come from.

....

Tragically the world community has been inexplicably slow in confronting this crisis and has only introduced stopgap measures at best. And most countries have yet to properly confront their own water crisis in a systematic way in order to prepare their citizens for the changes to come.

Let me say here today: we will have to deal with this crisis by design or default. We will either see it coming and plan accordingly or we will be forced to deal with it once it has hit us and then our actions will just be reactionary.

...

The Way Forward (in Australia but likely elsewhere also)

Public trust: declare water to be a public trust

Watershed restoration: revitalize wounded water systems and return and protect enough water in rivers, aquifers and watersheds for their survival and the survival of other life

Conservation: conservation alternative favors rainwater harvesting; recycling; strict codes for new buildings and funding for retrofitting old ones; energy reduction and the development of alternative energy sources; investment in municipal infrastructure to cut down on loss of water through leaks; and the collection of grey water and storm water which is captured and re-used, not dumped into the ocean.

Fair allocation: after ecosystem health and protection is guaranteed, water for peoples’ daily use, and water for local, sustainable food production must be paramount.

The right to water: finally, it must be commonly understood that water is not first and foremost a commercial good, although of course it has an economic dimension, but rather, a human right.
...

Vision Spa Retreat is convinced that we must:

get down to details, speak the truth about what we see going on, and work together ('the power of collaboration') to face the very real problems that are affecting all parts of the world now.

give more attention to the healing power inherent in nature, appreciating the fine balance that it depends on and how easily that is disrupted.

put the planet and our communities first, especially in business where the impacts both negative and positive can be huge.

How will we do this? Did the panel discussion bring to light any immediately actionable solutions? Who are the movers and shakers in the spa industry when it comes to standing up for water?

What do you think about the link between spa and water?

See also Putting the water back into spa on this blog.

Summer solstice celebrating water worldwide

2009-06-20T08:43:50-05:00

Direct from artist-visionary extraordinaire - Micky Remann who created Liquid Sound® - an extraordinary spa celebration that Vision Spa Retreat is thrilled to see since it's all about WATER:

Summer solistice 2009 will witness LiveH20, a worldwide concert for Living Water. Preparations are under way all over the world with groups and individuals who want to promote a heart connection with water and to express it in different ways and styles.

Two innovative 'Culture Spas' in Germany, Toskana Therme Bad Sulza and Toskana Therme Bad Schandau, both equipped with the Liquid Sound® system for underwater music will participate in LiveH20.

You'll hopefully be able to see and hear the concert in a livestream broadcast on "Germany / Vancouver" Saturday, June 20th., from 9 p.m. till midnight (Central European Time).

Toskana Therme Bad Sulza, near Weimar, will feature Australian duo Sacred Earth in a live concert that will be heard under water. Sacred Earth has fascinated people with their contemporary spiritual sound. On the occasion of the LiveH20 they will have their first European concert in the thermal saltwater pools of Bad Sulza – an unusual but fitting venue to honor the living water through music.

Toskana Therme Bad Schandau, near Dresden, will feature 'Liquids', visual art of photoartist Ortwin Klipp. The images will be projected in the dome of the Liquid Sound Temple. The audience, floating in body temperature salt water, looking up to the dome ceiling, will be exposed and immersed in Ortwin Klipp’s visual waters. The corresponding underwater soundtrack can be heard here.

If all goes well, these concerts will be streamed live over the Internet, along with artists and groups from all over the world who share their music, talks and prayers in honor of the living water on our blue planet.

Please let Vision Spa Retreat know of any other spas that participated in this event and how it went!

More about the venues

Liquid Sound

For global schedule details

Read more about Sara Firman's first visit to Toskana Therme.

Experience Spa Culture at Toskana Therme with Vision Spa Retreat's Advisor Jonathan Paul De Vierville.