Vision Spa Retreat has had a short visitor poll on the site since it went up. Between November 2008 and May 2011, there have been only 7 anonymous respondents. Still, the results are interesting and I'd like to acknowledge these kind folk by sharing their thoughts here, along with a few of my own.
Although I didn't mention the word 'retreat' in this 4-part questionnaire, I often feel more allied with 'retreat' than 'spa'. I'm sorry to see 'spa' losing its association with water - I believe this fundamental element could guide us toward a more embodied consciousness.
I'll need to write more about what I mean by that last phrase in another post. Meanwhile, here are some thoughts on Spa+Retreat . I've summarized my own aspirations for Vision Spa Retreat, in this Pledge which is also interspersed below.
If you'd like to answer the current poll yourself you can do that now or at the end. This post shares the responses to the first two questions (shown in italics), directed to spa owners and spa goers respectively. The last two questions will be addressed in my next post.
Value people and planet equally
Inspire by example, not persuasion
Share knowledge and skills freely
Invite creative cooperation
Offer help without expectation
Nurture dreams and restore hope
If you are a spa owner/manager, what are your greatest concerns?
►Staffing and ensuring staff have good customer service skills and the reliability of staff.
It does seem that there is lots of scope for better training and selection of spa staff but perhaps what is needed just as much is to attract the right people to this work. To do that, you need to offer them something inspiring, something they can feel deeply committed to.
In a post entitled Putting the water back into spa, I wrote that I'd like to see Environment/ Sustainability at the top of the list of issues for the key movers-and-shakers in the industry, rather than the availability of good staff (which topped the Global Spa Summit list in 2009).
I suggested that the former focus would soon render Labor Shortages a non-issue, with top-quality people who long to be in service to people and planet - and training schools that promote that - naturally following suit.
It is true that there are many who are willing to take short cuts in order to make a profit - from massage schools that don't teach well, to spas that employ only novice staff, to people who take much more than they give.
But there are exceptions and those will always stand out.
I still dream of spas becoming centers for positive change, not just regards Wellness for people, but also for planet. The key is to be found in a stronger sense of our place and value in the world and in our communities.
The people who do understand that are often best rewarded by recognition of (and support for) their willingness to follow not the most popular trends but the more radical attempts to shift our collective consciousness towards ways that have greater benefit for all.
These people are not staff but co-creators.
► Making sure all my clients and visitors are treated with care and compassion.
I love this statement and I think it is a circular thing. If we treat ourselves with care and compassion, we will be more likely to do the same for our community which includes our clients and all living creatures, and that will come back in kind to us.
► Developing my retreat center, and finding my niche. Networking with other spa/retreat owners.
In the future, you can expect to see far more on the value of retreat in my posts. I want to create a community of spa-retreat owners who'd like to develop an ethos that carries the spirit of both spa and retreat, offering healing sanctuary that empowers rather than enslaves people. Read more.
► To attract clients.
Standard marketing-speak can entice even the best of us to be grandiose and inauthentic in our communications. When you are honest about what you have to offer and are sharing that with a true spirit of service, you will attract the guests who are right for you.
If you are just in it because it's trendy and/ or lucrative, then you'll have a lot of false appearances to keep up. This is the way of the opportunist rather than the visionary. I think we need more of the latter now in all fields of endeavor. Read more on Changing the dream of spa
► Meeting customers' expectations re green.
In Green marketing: 'Aspiring to a dream' after 'Deflating a myth' I looked at some of the changes afoot in 2008. Since then, alternatives to models promoting unlimited growth have gained momentum. Some are calling for an exploration of 'sufficiency' vs 'sustainability'. I like that! (see Seven Stones Leadership.)
I'm looking forward to the day when there is nothing but green.
Safeguard water in all its aspects
Protect the health of people and planet
Act with genuine care and consideration
If you are a spa goer, what do you think of the current spa culture?
► I believe that spa culture has become far too trendy. When I think of an ideal spa, I think of a place in nature with an atmosphere that focuses on simplicity. I think far too many spas have gone away from this idea.
Yes!
What if we considered retreat in natural surroundings, immersion in beauty and art, intensive personal attention, valuing dreams, visions and encounters with spirit, as our birthright? From this soulful connection with self we might then experience a more sacred connection with nature that could inspire us to support its preservation and healing also. What if water were the medium? Read more on Vision Spa Retreat
In Spa culture: opportunity for a paradigm shift, I suggested:
We could view the growing spa industry not as another consumer market but as a reflection of an underlying need to take time out and to consider the deeper meaning of our lives. Whilst many see spa as a way of relaxing and de-stressing, more profoundly it might offer an opportunity to restore our human values.
For this opportunity to be grasped, we must go beyond superficial style and develop authentic integrity in providing our services. Catering to an increasingly time-conscious and materialistic culture, though that might alleviate some stress to person and planet, will do nothing to change the inequalities that underlie the prevalent trends of society and modern spa business. Read more...
► It's very fragmented and largely concerned with the physical body. I would like to promote the mind and spirit part so that it's integrated with the body. Perhaps this is done in more of a 'European' type of spa such as in the Korean spa and a Russian Banya (in Dallas, TX).
Although the idea of holism has been around for a long time, we still tend to think of body, mind and spirit as separate. That can be convenient but increasingly we're discovering that these things are not separate at all. Nor are they separable from the environment.
In light of a market survey on Wellness (2010), Susie Ellis of Global Spa Summit has suggested that 'while the spa industry likes to use the term “spiritual,” that isn't the case for consumers. And yet, consumers are very much looking for solutions at spas to what they describe as their mental health'.
The survey was really far too limited to draw any serious conclusions. I'm not sure it's the industry that uses the term spiritual but rather the healing culture from which the industry has drawn its inspiration and some of its most devoted staff.
The language of healing has become increasingly confused. Some are developing truly holistic views of our world and attempting to integrate these into existing social systems. Simultaneously these ideas are sometimes distorted through their appropriation by industry.
Spa and Positive Psychology blogger Jeremy McCarthy suggests that: '[Spirituality] is not defined by something greater than ourselves, but it accommodates people who deeply value relationships and contribution.' This is a wonderful summary of positive intent.
► I think it is a long time since I visited anywhere resembling a spa.
and
► Don't have a good overview. I am not sure if spa is the same as retreat center. I've liked my retreat center experiences.
These two statements suggest that 'spa' has lost its shine for some. When something becomes an industry it is at risk of losing its originality and inspiration, of losing touch with the people. Perhaps it is time to reclaim the heart and soul of spa by shifting the emphasis from industry to individuality.
In future posts, I'll hope to bring you some examples of spa-retreat venues that are walking their own paths of relationship and contribution.
► Relaxing but rates are high.
and
► Seems more about money than anything.
I'm not an expert on business finances but I have had a couple of experiences that made me see how thinking out of the box with the best outcome for all (clients, staff, owners, other service providers) in mind can pay off.
As the new manager of a small spa within a five-star hotel, I rearranged the staffing budget to give everyone equal recognition for their contribution. As owner of a private spa-retreat, I created an inclusive rate that attracted guests and made our offerings simpler to understand and to manage.
Read more on money issues in Spa industry lemons.
We need an economy that gives the first profits to the planet upon which we depend for everything.
Relax into the creative process
Empty my heart of all past hurt
Trust in the natural cycles of life
Restore my faith in goodness
Expect love and peace to prevail
Act with integrity in all I do
Take no more than I give
Share your answers to Vision Spa Retreat's Reader Survey
