I'm not suggesting that experiencing the arts, healing methods, foods and traditions of different cultures isn't enlightening and life-expanding. I'm talking more about being aware of what we are really seeking when we try, for example, a Turkish hamam, a Native American sweat lodge, or a Finnish sauna* (I can't resist a watery example here).
Once we know this, the underlying elements can 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 will likely blend these treatments more naturally with a particular setting than if we outsource them.
Caught up in the glamor of the spa trade, many spa ventures focus on popular trends whether these involve a particular kind of treatment (from ayurveda to hot stones to reiki) or a particular brand of product (from ubiquitous Pevonia on down). Everywhere a spa customer goes, the same offerings may appear.
Though this might seem to offer spa clients something familiar and reliable, it can also highlight problems related to inappropriate or unskilled application of methods and materials that have been designed outside the context of a particular spa for a different client population, and just don't work in the adopted one.
Recently, I listened in to a telephone seminar by a spa consultant/ therapist who was once a restaurateur. Nicolay Kreidler of Spa College was talking with Christopher Brazy of Day Spa Owner about eco-centric spa treatments sourced locally and made on site.
It occurred to me that as a concept this offers a potentially effective and creative key to instilling and inspiring sustainability in spas. Sustainability, for example, in terms of:
- sourcing safe and purpose-beneficial ingredients,
- supporting, not exploiting, those who supply them,
- making up small batches of fresh product for direct use,
- eliminating the need for packaging, transporting, and storing products.
Though healing waters may have been side-lined by some sectors of spa culture, body care products have not been. They have proliferated 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 in turn ought to encourage spa owners to examine their choices and offerings more closely.
Kreidler's eco-centric model 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. He gave a chef's image for this of the 'specials blackboard' vs the fixed menu card. It can likely only be pulled off if you are both authentic and audacious.
I once served some spa-retreat guests a pasta sauce I 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!
*Watery aside: Steam and heat sessions occur in many cultures as communal experiences and also as part of healing traditions that consider both physical and spiritual elements. Something about the dark warmth of these spaces induces peace, relaxation, and sometimes a sense of spirit if conditions and setting are right.
This series of six related posts is about spa products and the powerful potential they have for enabling sustainable spa culture.
- Spa treatment menus: authenticity and audacity
- Eco-spa-chefs: cooking up a better future
- Savvy and creative spas grow their own spa products
- The value of growing and making your own spa products
- Natural, organic? Spa products under scrutiny
- How to make your own 'soulful and sustainable' spa products
