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

Season's Greetings 2011-2012

2011-11-25T06:00:00-06:00

Vision Spa Retreat wishes all readers and visitors a peaceful and healthful holiday season. Thank you for reading!

I'll be back with fresh posts in the new year:

Exploring the role of spa-retreat in restoring human community and enhancing local landscapes

Developing the concept of spa as culture before industry, and as more communal that commercial

Promoting creative approaches to advancing the healing arts, critical thinking and honest science

Highlighting the value of water as a therapeutic medium and the importance of its preservation

I welcome involvement in ventures that are committed to enhancing the health of both natural environment and human community.

This involvement may take many forms from help with early visioning, to concept creation, to manifestation, and promotion.

Contact me for more

If you have appreciated this web resource, and can afford to share the love, Vision Spa Retreat welcomes your gift contribution:

Wellness within the spa: guest post by Kate Riley

2011-11-14T17:26:10-06:00

I'm delighted to present Vision Spa Retreat's first guest post from Kate Riley. Kate is an Eco-Centered Spa Consultant and Therapist Educator and determined to 'raise the bar' in both arenas. In her own healing work, she specializes in a sensitive approach to chronic pain relief.

Recently, Kate and I have been enjoying a flow of conversation about what it really takes to create a spa environment that epitomizes caring for people and planet. Here, Kate turns the idea of offering wellness outside-in and looks at the wellness of the spa as reflected in its staff.

She suggests that weaving wellness into a spa means encouraging a real sense of synergy among spa staff, emphasizing sharing and service to create a flow of good energy that will be palpable to all those who visit.

The article below was first published in July 2011 on The Riley School of Integrated Somatic Bodywork blog, and is reproduced here with kind permission of Kate Riley. For more about Kate, or to contact her directly, follow the links at the end.

Wellness within the spa by Kate Riley

There is much discussion about bringing wellness to the arena of spa, of serving the guest holistically in mind, body and spirit. Of course we should do this: spa is a wonderful atmosphere in which to relax and let go, and we all hope that they will be able to gain something in the process.

I would like to take a few minutes here to address the wellness of the spa itself. More and more spas are moving toward being eco-friendly, and “greenwashing” notwithstanding, are asking for more and more certified organic products. This is good for the environment and for the marketing potential of the spa. Moving past this physical aspect of the spa, “the what we use and what we do” aspect, there is the wellness of the most integral part of any spa: the therapists.

Therapists are what separate a particular spa from all other spas, and can separate a spa from all the other spas in the area, and make it a formidable competitor. Many spas use the same product lines and offer the same treatments. What can make a spa stand out as a spa among many other spas: a spa where people want to come often, and a spa that people talk about to other people as the place to go are the therapists and the excellence with which they perform the services on the menu.

Certainly, the therapists should all be highly trained and have impeccable guest relation skills. More than that, though, there should be a dynamic synergy—where there is a feeling that all the staff are in a rhythm and a pace of working that holds the guest’s well being as the highest goal. All the therapists should be diverse in their knowledge as a whole, and also be specialists in their specific areas of expertise. Each person, secure in their own knowledge, can accept and support the knowledge of others …especially when talking to guests at the spa.

As a team, and all spa staff, and therapists most importantly, must do more than verbally represent the spa in this way. They need to feel it. They need to believe it. They have to know it and operate from that knowledge. Only then will it become real, and when it is real, there is the energy of teamwork that permeates the entire spa. It creates a flow and a rhythm that becomes synergistic to where the whole becomes more than the some of its parts. This will bring success to the spa through the dynamic wellness it fosters.

It should never be a thought, much less an issue, that one person can do a better treatment than another. It should be that each and every therapist gives the absolute best treatment for the person in their care in the moment. And how the therapists, as a team, do that? Of course they are present and caring; secure in the knowledge that they know what they know and can do it well.

But, there can be more to it than that. There could/should be the desire to expand awareness, to expand knowledge, and to want to discover new and different ways of approaching treatments. If this is accomplished with the support of each other and of management, there is both progress and added wellness in the process of the learning and the growing. The attitude of “I don’t get what you’re talking about” and closing the mind is replaced with the attitude of “Wow, that’s intriguing…tell me more” The latter attitude is how we grow and broaden, both individually and collectively. It’s also how we educate our guests and help them move toward their own wellness.

Working as a team, and moving the spa forward effectively, is impeded if therapists see themselves as independent. It should never be a (spoken or unspoken) fight to see who gets more treatments or a competition over who knows more. Sometimes, the better way is to give up a treatment in deference to the interests of the guest, or because by doing it, one can create a little more abundance for a teammate. It can be a very good thing to step outside ourselves and look at the bigger picture to create abundance and success for the team and for the spa as a whole.

One cannot be innovative and be “in the box” at the same time. The spa must keep up with, if not surpass, the current trends in the industry. This means that staff, as a team, needs to be available to training in innovative spa treatments. Things cannot be done as they always have been and maintain a place on the forefront of the industry at the same time. In the present atmosphere of competition in the spa industry, there is no room for competition within the spa itself. No one therapist is better than another, though each has certain training that others may not have. Certainly, all have experience that, if shared, can only work to increase the holism of the spa and wellness of the spa environment.

One part of the equation is being willing to share. Another part of the equation is being willing to receive. To be competitive as a business, management cannot rely on what they have “always done” or “always known”. To create this internal wellness of the spa is to move forward in an innovative way that will allow the spa to flow in to progress and thereby flow in to success.

We invite you to share your thoughts or experiences below

More about Kate and The Riley School of Integrated Somatic Bodywork:
Consulting . Blog . Facebook . LinkedIn

Related posts:

Spas: service is a humble art

Creative team work

Will spa take root in an ecological economy?

2011-10-14T06:38:39-05:00

Vision Spa Retreat is a virtual think-tank aimed at inspiring cultural shape-shifters, nature-based visionaries, and free-thinking entrepreneurs who are interested in creating community-oriented spa retreat venues and providing locally sourced services in line with an authentic soulful ethic. Sara Firman

As Vision Spa Retreat approaches its third year online, I've been reviewing my original intent which was to develop a spa-retreat consultancy service. First, I wanted to observe what was happening in the spa world and how this reflected (or not) shifts in business towards environmentally responsible practices and in health towards more holistic views of what this means to individuals.

The findings shared have often been personal reflections on the schism taking place as the spa industry in general dissolved its connection with water and began favoring hard science and technological sophistication over intangibles like spirit and soul. I linked spa with retreat to emphasize the value of slowing down and taking time out to contemplate the pleasure and purpose of our lives.

When we are in peaceful surrounds that include water, fresh air and fresh food, doing simple activities that engage us with nature - and are sufficiently unplugged from the 'outside world' - our innate capacity for self-healing is stimulated, along with a sense of being nurtured by the planet upon which we depend. An impulse to take care of our communities and our environment may naturally re-emerge.

Vision Spa Retreat supports values and practices that put planet and people first, before profit. As a communal and cultural concept, spa-retreat has the potential to effect positive change in personal and planetary health. It is possible, necessary, and effective to integrate spa-retreat specialties like self-care, self-development, and self-expression with environmental concerns.

These concepts will continue to infuse my writing on Vision Spa Retreat as we enter the next phase of a global economic and environmental crisis that requires all of us to be entrepreneurial. Meanwhile, the seeds of more venues that subscribe to these ideas will hopefully begin to germinate, grow and flourish. This week Green Spa Network held their 4th annual congress entitled 'Taking root: making a difference for your planet and the bottom line'.

Their focus is on finding actionable solutions to the issues faced by spas seeking to take full responsibility for the impact of their business on the environment. Just as GSN's meeting ended, Slow Money convened for their National Gathering. Their message is that 'The soil teaches us that we must put back as much as we take out to ensure long term health and a strong, secure, restorative economy'.

In the vision of Slow Money, investors are the water. The imagery is continued with the idea that when water (investment money) percolates slowly into the system through the soil at the level of local organic food growers, there is less erosion of the natural economy. Then, they suggest, money will nurture rather than erode. That word nurture reminds me of spa's association with comfort and caring.

Slow Money Principle III:
The 20th Century was the era of Buy Low/ Sell High and Wealth Now/ Philanthropy Later—what one venture capitalist called “the largest legal accumulation of wealth in history.” The 21st Century will be the era of nurture capital, built around principles of carrying capacity, care of the commons, sense of place and nonviolence.

Also this month, Sonu Shivdasani - Chairman and CEO of Six Senses Resorts and Spas - hosted a SLOW LIFE Symposium where influential leaders and planetary stewards including Richard Branson and Jonathan Porritt discussed ways of progressing sustainability in the tourism industry. Sonu defines SLOW LIFE as Sustainable-Local-Organic-Wholesome Learning-Inspiring-Fun-Experiences.

How all this will work in practice requires new vision and inspired action. I'd like to end this post by giving special mention to the work of Natural Logic under the directorship of Gil Friend who believes that 'the well being of the living systems that ultimately sustain the human economy, and the well being of economic and ecological systems, of both humans and other living things' are compatible goals.

How will you participate?

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When is a spa like an umbrella, Part 1

When is a spa like an umbrella, Part II

Spa culture: timely opportunity for a paradigm shift

Growing for spas: supporting local community

Money is like water: Lynne Twist

Vision Spa Retreat sees the ideal spa as a place that encourages health and relaxation in an inspirational natural setting in which water plays a key role. Such spas promote safe healing practices, environmental responsibility and community involvement. Read more

Back to Eden: the water cure

2011-07-10T12:11:23-05:00

An aquatics colleague writing about water's healing power, introduced me to a piece of American health history that I had missed, when she referenced the 1930s book below. It would be a good read for anyone who wants to understand how some of the ideas still active in spas (especially under American influence) gained popularity.

My partner had the 1975 (5th edition) of this book in his library, since it was a survival bible for many an Ozarks-bound back-to-the-lander. It sounds as if it still is an important reference for health conscious people seeking self-sufficiency, though the language and some of the ideas are definitely those of the last century.

Back to Eden: The Classic Guide to Herbal Medicine, Natural Foods and Home Remedies by Jethro Kloss (original edition copyright 1939 Jethro Kloss. Authentic Kloss Family Edition copyright the heir of Jethro Kloss 1975, 5th edn, Woodbridge Press Publishing Company).

Kloss was a staunch Christian - he believed that God gave health to the good and the sinful in equal measure, and that it is Nature that is the Grand and Great Healer. Most of his book is devoted to herbal and dietary remedies emphasizing home self-care. He was associated with Seventh-Day-Adventist John Harvey Kellogg's Sanitarium at Battle Creek, Michigan, and followed very similar health practices.

Kellogg and Kloss both promoted the use of hydrotherapy. Their ideas were based on water cure (a synonym for hydropathy and later hydrotherapy) practices developed in the early 19th century in Europe, mostly involving cold water. The Americans used both hot and cold treatments and combined hydrotherapy with other therapeutic modalities.

Read more on this Wikipedia link for Water Cure, which has many good references.

The most recent edition of Kloss' book is published by Lotus Press, 2004. A description on Amazon reads: 'Now in its expanded, updated revised edition, this is the original classic text (with more than 5-million copies sold) that helped create the natural foods industry. It remains today one of the major texts on herbs, natural diet and lifestyle and wholistic health.'

I haven't seen the latest edition so I'm not sure how 'original text' and 'updated/revised' can exist side by side. I understand from the preface to volume I have, that there have been many unofficial copies of the original text which the Kloss family did not approve. When it comes to using the remedies, check the information against your own commonsense and current medical understanding.

Back To Eden
by Jethro Kloss

Five of the 36 chapters in Kloss' original book are devoted to water though others reference its therapeutic use; below are a few extracts, from the copy I have, that caught my attention. The first extracts suggest a possible reason for the decline in interest in hydrotherapy, and also for a general dismissal nowadays of specific healing properties for different natural mineral waters - once a huge selling point for famed American spas like Eureka Springs (cold) and Hot Springs in Arkansas.

Chapter XIV History of Water Cure

The water cure spread to America [from Europe] about 1850 and until about 1854 prospered greatly, but the doctors would not stand for this as they did not want people to get hold of any remedy which was practical and non-expensive, that could be used in any home. About 1870 they had successfully prevented the water-cure practitioners from practicing in New York by a medical law. New York City was headquarters, and as soon as it was stopped there, its use was abandoned nearly everywhere for a while. (p. 106)

...

Of late years people have come to believe that there are remarkable virtues in certain spring waters. The claims that these waters are possessed of a wonderful healing virtue is not true. The healing virtue is in the moist heat that is gotten from it. The whole thing in a nutshell is that the use of water, combined with abundance of fresh air, sunshine, exercise, rest, recreation, and pleasant surroundings effects a cure. (p.106)

Chapter XV, Water

Mineral water. - These waters contain solutions of salts of magnesia, iron and others, as well as iodine, arsenic, and sulphur, which give them a medicinal taste and they have been much used for cures of chronic ailments. These waters are absolutely unfit for drinking and cooking purposes. They contain no particular value for cleansing. One would naturally know that water which is unfit to cleanse the outside of the the body, could not be of much benefit as an internal application. (p. 109)

Chapter XVI, Water - effects and treatment

The use of water aids all vital processes by increasing change of tissues....Therefore we see that when water is applied at proper temperature it is the most natural and powerful means of depressing or increasing the vital activities of the body.

[This chapter is mainly concerned with the effects of cold, hot and warm water on the body. The author recommends drinking only pure, soft (no or low mineral content) water.]

Chapter XVII, Water - its effect in sickness

There are very few agents that possess as many remedial properties as water.

[Listed effects for conditions that mainly describe general body system effects: Sedative (cold water), Anodyne (hot and warm water), Antispasmodic, Astrigent (cold water), Laxative, Eliminative, Diaphoretic, Alterative, Tonic (cool water), Stimulant (hot water), Derivative.]

Chapter XVIII, Baths

[Sixteen] 'Rules for bathing'.... 'Baths are one of the most powerful ways of affecting the human system in either health of disease.'

[Included are: Turkish bath, electric light bath, Sitz bath, foot bath, leg bath, bath for cleanliness,vapor bath, eye bath, ear bath, nose bath, salt glows.]

[Also of interest to bodyworkers:]

Chapter XIX, Compresses and Fomentations

Chapter XX, Massage

PS The phrase 'water cure' also became a description for a form of torture that was by 1900 well-established in the American army - it involved forcing someone to drink large quantities of water by which method it is possible to kill someone. This is actually a very old form of torture documented back to at least the 15th century!