Vision Spa Retreat

The bathing pool: rituals

Recently, a dear friend, Diana Mihajlova (artist and chess player extraordinaire), who lives in Budapest wrote asking: 'Would you be able to advise how best to use the time when I go and spend a day in the hot baths in Budapest in order to relax, and de-stress the best? '

Her request reminded me of a short article I wrote on the topic for a community newsletter a few years back, and a ritual I developed for guests at my previous spa-retreat venue. 

Below you'll find updated versions of these (the second one is offered in audio also), which can be adapted for use at home, in nature, or in Budapest!  I'd love to hear of your experiences (comment below).

Harbin Hot Springs: quintessential spa-retreat

The focus of this blog is to envision a manifestation of spa-retreat that enhances our appreciation of soul (as in the deeper, wilder life) and of water (as in this life-giving, essential element); and through this (plus a variety of other helpful additions), our sense of wellbeing.  Every so often, I will review places that meet (or in some cases fail to meet) that ideal.  What I want to convey is that it is not the glamor but the spirit of the place that matters.

This post celebrates one of my favorite places - Harbin Hot Springs in northern California.  If you share that sentiment or have any constructive view on what you read here, please feel welcome to comment below.

In times of rapid change, it can be hard to find places that do not disappoint good memories.  Remote  places may have more chance of this, but less and less so with the relative ease of travel and trendsetting communications.   Places where people gather, especially the popular ones, seem to be subject to even more of an erosion of character.  Sometimes, it is better not to go back to the scene of love for fear that it turn into a scene of crime.

Finding the divine: spiritual spa retreats

Phil Stone is one of those rare and special people who truly walks his talk.  He writes on one of his websites:

As a retreat leader and facilitator myself, I am sensitive to the challenges faced by retreat centers to market their planned events. Our objective is to help retreat centers, churches, retreat leaders and groups to market their events with the use of Internet technology.

As a recipient on several occasions now of Phil's help, I want to share with you two valuable services for those seeking and offering retreat services:

FindtheDivine & SeekaRetreat

for

Spiritual Retreats... Retreat Calendar...over 1,700 Retreat Centers... over 1,200 Conference Centers... over 300 Spiritual Directors and Retreat Leaders. An information source and directory for retreat centers, spiritual workshops, spiritual conference centers, camps, retreat centers for sale, retreat events, retreat leaders & spiritual direction.

See Vision Spa Retreat on FindtheDivine and SeekaRetreat.

Thank you Phil!

A new online spa magazine launches with 'World class spas in Costa Rica at eco-friendly jungle resorts'

SpaFinder has just launched a web-based spa magazine called SpaFinder Lifestyle. The earlier bright-green announcement logo was very promising and I look forward to seeing how they promote green issues in the new magazine.

The first issue covers (in the Escapes section) three spas in Costa Rica.  They are described as being 'small-footprint spas', 'tiny-footprint resorts', 'light footprint' and 'eco-friendly' all in the same breath. 

This is a good example of the challenge of defining green, something that interests and concerns Vision Spa Retreat.

Here's a link to the magazine feature on SpaFinder Lifestyle (Tabacon looks especially promising to me):

World class spas in Costa Rica at eco-friendly jungle resorts with a light footprint at SpaFinder

Tell us what you think, and what you'd like to see more of on this issue of the 'greening of spa'.

Goethe's legacy for water and spa

On the rural landscape of Bad Sulza a spaceship has landed in the form of Toskana Therme, and it is not out of place. The ultramodern architecture of the spa could just as well be compared to the microscopic details of a form sculpted by nature. It all depends on how you choose to see things.

Goethe believed that a human being, making full use of all the senses, is the most exact physical measuring apparatus possible. I'm sure he would thoroughly approve of the way in which the sanatorium he once suggested be built at Bad Sulza has evolved into a multisensory experiment in both the social and medical arenas.

I also expect that the skilled people who created and now manage this innovative spa would agree that all this amazing technology is nothing without the human instrument of reception -- our bodies. The place exemplifies Goethe's view that humans need an approach to rediscovering nature that is stimulating intellectually and satisfying emotionally and spiritually.

My visit to Toskana Therme in 2001 marked a significant turning point in my view of the potential of spa. It led to an ongoing friendship with one of the owners, Marion Schneider, whose courage to be herself and make a difference inspires me greatly. The text above is an excerpt from an article I wrote in August 2003, titled 'Between two Waves of the Sea' after a line from a poem by T. S. Eliot (included in the piece).

You can read an updated version by following the link below. The article makes a bold leap in connecting the Missouri Ozarks with Goethe's German home state Thuringia in a bid for social-economic-health revival. I was inspired to envisage the concept of 'vision spas' as venues for exploring alternative and positive futures, as well as for relaxing and revitalizing.

I throughly recommend a visit to Toskana Therme spa in Bad Sulza, Germany. It has a fascinating history: one that American spa entrepreneurs might pay some attention to. If you have been there yourself, please leave a comment.

Click here to read more of Between Two Waves of the Sea.