It is estimated that the wellness industry is a $1 trillion business devoted to creating products and services that keep people in optimal health.1 Spas have the opportunity to position themselves at the forefront of this wellness movement because their clients already are proactive with health and beauty services.
Wellness spa defined
Ann Brown, director of Spa Shiki at The Lodge of the Four Seasons in Lake Ozark, Missouri, explains, “Achieving stress-reduction and wellness requires more than just an hour service in the spa once a month. Being a wellness spa means providing health education and incorporating home-care products that clients can use to sustain the benefits of their wellness spa services.”
Capitalizing on the demand for wellness results can be as simple as re-framing how spas educate the client in the treatment room. Much like daily home-care products that address skin care conditions, spas can recommend and create value for after-care wellness practices using retail products.
Wellness retail
Just by being in the serenity of a spa environment, a client’s stress level subsides, but what happens when clients leave the serenity as they walk out the door into the hustle and bustle of their daily responsibilities? Following are some examples of wellness services and products that can help spas extend stress-reduction for the client beyond the treatment room.
Aromatherapy. Smell is the most powerful of the five senses, triggering an emotional association with a particular life experience. Educate your client about the stress-reduction benefits of using scents on a daily basis to transform your spa service into a wellness solution. Spa Shiki offers a unique aromatherapy treatment called the Aroma-Balancing Massage, that combines essential oils and rhythmical light touch to serve as the therapeutic medium for treatment and balancing of the body. The same aromatherapy scents used in the treatment room are available as retail products.
Another innovative approach to wellness incorporates aromatherapy with the power of imagination. Michele Frye, spa director at La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, announced the launch of its Mindfulness Massage treatment. According to Frye, the treatment replicates ancient Japanese healing practices that walk clients through special therapy forests. The aromatic scents of the forest help to harness the imagination, giving clients the experience of actually being there, while also balancing and restoring natural energy flows in the body.
Mind and body. Skin care professionals understand the aesthetic significance of surrounding clients with natural images and sounds to help them relax. Consider introducing services and products to transport the client to relaxing scenes in nature via their imagination. Institut’ DERMed Spa in Atlanta offers a 30-minute, guided imagery protocol called the Health Illumina Mind Massage. Guided imagery audio tracks designed specifically for spas capture the imagination and transport the mind to a peaceful setting in nature. Lyn Ross, the spa’s owner, explains, “The audio tracks help to clear the mind of distracting thoughts that interfere with the healing benefits of a massage session. Massage therapists end the session by discussing how listening to guided imagery CD retail products sold at the spa during personal time reinforces stress reduction results gained in the spa.”
Extending wellness benefits beyond the spa and into your clients’ daily lives does not replace or minimize the importance of the spa; instead, it is maximized. When clients begin to look and feel better because of their elevated awareness of how to make healthy lifestyle decisions learned in the spa, they will value the spa as a resource for their well-being.
REFERENCES
(Accessed Oct 11, 2013)
Jeri Ross has been a licensed health educator for more than 25 years in public health, is a certified International Brain Education Association (IBREA) leader and is the business owner of Braintasia Mind Mastery Method, a brain-based stress-reduction program practiced in the spa industry. She can be contacted at [email protected].