A visit to a day spa should be a soothing and rejuvenating experience, leaving you feeling refreshed and revitalised. To achieve this, it is essential to incorporate key elements into the spa environment, ensuring that every aspect contributes to a sense of relaxation and well-being.
From the ambiance and atmosphere to the range of services and the professionalism of the staff, every detail plays an important role in creating the perfect day spa experience.
A luxury spa experience should do more than just pamper your body. It should indulge all of your senses and restore your well-being. A luxury spa experience is an escape from the stresses of a busy lifestyle and provides the opportunity of self-renewal. it should come as no surprise that luxury spa experiences here are unparalleled. From the opulent decor and spa etiquette to the relaxing aromas, the secret to unwinding is in the details.
A luxury spa experience is so blissfully mind-blowing that it will remain painted in your memory long after you’ve turned in your robe.
The spa industry, with its tremendous scope and worldwide reach, is poised, perhaps more than any other industry, to lead our culture into the next century, and into the next paradigm of living.
1. Waters: the internal and external use of water in its many forms.
Key words: the transforming power of water.
Water is the heart of the spa experience. Fundamentally transforming, it is used for cleansing and purifying: externally through compresses, showers, bathing, and swimming; and internally, through drinking.
2. Nourishment: what we feed ourselves.
Key words: nature as nourishment.
How do we feed ourselves to maximize our vitality? It begins with an understanding of food, nutritional supplements, medicine, and herbs in relation to our body type, body rhythms, environment, season, age and culture.
3. Movement: vitality and energy through movement, exercise, stretching and fitness.
Key words: the body as a vessel for growth.
How might a spa embrace different kinds of movement, from aerobic and cardiovascular exercise to yoga, walking meditation, and dance? This element also refers to a client’s posture and intrinsic demeanor, transitioning from one spa treatment to another.
4. Touch: connectivity and communication through touch, massage and bodywork.
Key words: experience of other.
Touch is not only one of the most profitable services in the spa, it is at the heart of helping people to enhance vitality and growth from within: physical, emotional, and spiritual.
5. Integration: the relationship between mind, body, spirit and environment.
Key words: experience of self.
Located in the center of the circle, this element is the ousia or essence of the elements. Ousia (oo SEE ahh; Greek in origin) is a concept that describes the search for true self, the pure connection of mind, body, spirit and environment. Process-oriented in nature, ousia is the search for self in connection to something greater than self.
6. Aesthetics: the appreciation of and active search for beauty.
Key words: earth as healer, art as healer.
Spa aesthetics involves our concept of beauty, and how natural agents relate to the biochemical components of the body. The goal is to connect and understand the relationship between physical health, external beauty, and healthy culture.
7. Environment: location, weather patterns, water quality, natural agents and social responsibility.
Key words: earth as home.
Environment is our place on the planet. A healthy environment is critical to healthy living. This element explores the interrelationship between the spa experience and the local and global environment.
8. Cultural Expression: the scientific, political, and spiritual belief systems of the time; the healing power of the arts.
Key words: sense of place in community.
Broad, yet basic in scope, the eighth element embraces the science, politics, belief systems and cultural appreciation of the arts in the spa experience.
9. Social Contribution: the cycle of giving and receiving; commerce, volunteer efforts, and intention as they relate to well-being.
Key words: integration of daily work as purpose.
What is our life’s work? What is our heart’s passion? There are at least two ways we are rewarded or satisfied by our work. One is monetary; the other is giving of oneself. This element explores the exchange or energy (including commerce and volunteerism) between service provider, client, spa, and community.
10. Time, Space, Rhythms: the perception of space and time and its relationship to natural cycles.
Key words: vehicle for transcending self.
COMMON SPA TREATMENT OPTIONS
It’s easy to get lost in all of the spa jargon, but let’s focus on the essentials.
MASSAGE
The most popular spa experience and treatment in the United States is a massage. Massage therapy has been around for thousands of years and offers numerous health benefits like reducing stress, pain, and muscle tension. Different types of massages use different techniques and therefore provide different benefits.
FACIALS
Facials are the second most popular spa experience and treatment. Facials usually include cleansing, exfoliating, extracting, massaging, and masking. With more options for facials than ever before,
BODY TREATMENTS
Body Treatments are like a facial for your body. They leave your skin feeling soft and silky smooth. It is equally as important to cleanse, exfoliate, and hydrate the skin on your body as it is the skin of your face.
SPA ETIQUETTE
The whole point of having a spa experience is to feel liberated from the stresses of your everyday life.
-Wear What Feels Comfortable. While it’s best to go nude to avoid any massage oils staining your clothes, you are more than welcome to keep your undergarments on if you so choose. Keep in mind, if you are getting a massage, you will be covered with sheets the entire time.
-Turn Off Your Phone. Completely. Even take it off vibrate. Those around you have come to get away from the distractions of everyday life and relax. A buzzing or ringing cell phone will likely get you a few evil glances from fellow patrons. Plus, many spas have a strict no photo policy.
Indulging in a top-of-the-line spa experience is a must when visiting Las Vegas. No matter what your reason is for visiting, make sure you leave feeling relaxed, rejuvenated, and revived!
10 WAYS A SPA CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE
A spa break is a great way to take time and relax, think about changes to make in your life while dozing by the pool.
But if you have something specific you would like to address – back pain, stress levels, or support with a chronic illness, for example – many spas can help there, too.
Based on the latest research, certain treatments have been shown to help with a wide variety of issues, from pain relief to mental wellbeing.
Many spas offer retreats that can improve your sleep, diet or general health. These can also be tailored to a particular life stage, pregnancy, the menopause or simply stress.
Here are ten spa hacks for life’s aches, pains and troubles.
1. Good for Sleep
A good night’s sleep is the modern holy grail, insomnia its plague. No wonder the popularity of sleep retreats is on the rise. This featured hypnotherapy, sound baths, yoga and equine therapy, focusing on anxiety as a root cause of insomnia.
2. Good for weight loss
With obesity on the rise and causing all manner of health problems, it’s important to drop the extra pounds and discover new ways to maintain a healthy BMI. A 2011 study in the British Medical Journal found that people who lost weight in groups lost three times the amount of those dieting alone. Slimming World and Weight Watchers are great, but a spa fitness retreat is a more focused way of breaking bad habits and changing your mindset. Champneys offer Weight Loss and Detox Retreats where you will learn to train your brain to regain control of your eating habits, motivate you to exercise and increase body confidence.
3. Good for menopause
Regular relaxation has been shown to improve menopausal symptoms. A small-scale Swedish study tracked menopausal women on a 12-week relaxation programme and found that, overall, their hot flushes reduced by 73 percent. You don’t need to go to a spa for 12 weeks to get the same result. Simply book a regular spa half-day, ideally in the week when it’s quieter.
4. Good for back pain
You don’t need to go far to ease your aches and pains. A review of current research on 2017 found strong evidence that massage therapy helped lower back pain, as well as tension in the shoulder and neck. Other treatments said to benefit bad backs include Reiki, acupuncture, Ayurvedic treatments and hydrotherapy, as well as yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi
5. Good For Recovery
While spas can’t claim to cure cancer, there’s increasing evidence that certain styles of massage can help with quality of life and wellbeing, whether you are in recovery from or having treatments for cancer. Cancer Research UK say that reflexology is one of the most popular treatments among patients; a 2008 study found it reduced anxiety in those with breast and lung cancer.
6. Good for pregnancy aches and pains
A recent study showed that massage can relieve many of the normal discomforts associated with pregnancy. The most common health problems in the second trimester were headaches, back aches, sleep disturbance, anxiety, muscle cramps; all of which showed a significant improvement after massage. Check your spa menu for mums-to-be treatments: they often use special pillows or beds to support your bump during the massage and will know the right products to use.
7. Good for mental health
Research into meditation and mental health suggests regular mindfulness practice can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety, help develop creativity, relationships and cultivate self-compassion.
8. Good for body confidence
In this narcissistic age we tend to focus on getting fit for looks rather than feels. In yoga, you are encouraged to experience your body from the inside out, relishing the feel of stretches and energy flow, letting go of the perfectionism and competitiveness of other work-out activities. With deep breathing, you can slow down and really enjoy what your body can do. A 2009 study found that women practicing yoga at least once a week felt less self-objectification and more body positivity.
9. Good for gut health
Gut health is the new buzzword in wellbeing as we discover more and more about the microbiome (bacteria living in our bodies, especially our stomachs) and how it can impact everything from sleep to mental health issues. A Belgian study found people with depression had smaller amounts of certain gut bacteria.
10. Good for headaches
What can you do for headaches other than take painkillers and lie in a dark room? A study on sedentary female workers showed that acupuncture improved neck and shoulder pain as well as headaches up to three years after the treatment.
12. Exercise
You might not believe it, but a spa is actually an ideal place to really engage in low-impact exercise. Submerging your body in the warm and buoyant water actually reduces the effects of gravity by nearly 90 percent .This means a tremendous amount of tension is relieved from your body by easing the load on your joints and muscles.
As you can tell, a spa can truly start improving your daily life from the very first soak. All you need is just 20 minutes a day to soak in your spa to begin to feel all the positive wellness benefits and to start enhancing your life.
