I recently read a social media post that listed the top regrets of the dying. Among them was:

• I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.
• I wish I had let myself be happier.
• I wish I had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This post particularly resonated with me as I have recently left a coveted job in management at a luxury resort to attend massage therapy school. Many of the same thoughts above prompted my decision. I chose a career in hospitality because I love being part of making lifelong memories for guests. I specialize in spa and wellness because I want every single person to have an opportunity, at least once in his or her life to feel true balance, health and vitality as I have through my journeys. Spa offers an amazing platform to do just that.

It was a very difficult decision to leave a company that treated the spa department as an experience not just an amenity. We were given a great deal of support from the facility to marketing to training through the world-class ASTECC program.  Personally it was also difficult to leave the prestige and salary but despite all of that, I was still not happy.

We had the best resources to create the ideal spa experience so why was this no longer fulfilling? The answer involved what role I played. I felt disconnected from the guests and the energy of the experience. I used to feel strongly that my role was necessary as a facilitator to enable the team to focus on what they do best; healing and leave the administrative duties to me. I told myself that was my skill set and how I fit best into the overall mission.

Having a strong aptitude for business and struggling through science courses, I never thought a career directly providing spa services would ever be possible. That was until I had the opportunity to take the ASTECC program.

In our spa’s second year of business I sat in on the ASTECC classes. The first group that had graduated was truly transformed. One therapist said after 17 years of bodywork he never thought he would be working on this level. I had to find out what it was about this program that was transforming the lives of our therapists and guests.

I soon came to learn what makes ASTECC so special:

• Individualized approach. Each client is looked at uniquely and the course of treatment is customized based on that person. No protocols are necessary. In this respect, the therapy is driven by the consumer, not the vendors as is the case in many spas eager to sell retail products.
• Integrated approach. Providers are taught to think independently and “connect the dots” with knowledge gained through each modality. They not only design treatments which are combination therapies but they also often consider how one issue in the body may be caused by something else not as obvious.
• Holistic approach. Each client is looked at as a whole; body, mind and spirit. The course of treatment is designed based on what it will take to make that person whole again and return to a state of balance.

The feedback I often received from guests was that they had never received a treatment where the therapist was so connected and that they truly felt nurtured. I came to understand through this work what the true potential of spa is. We really can change lives and we are perfectly positioned as a non-intimidating alternative to the Western healthcare system. I deeply contemplated what would be necessary for this vision of raising the vibration of spa to be realized.  The answer was clearly freeing up more time to work with ASTECC so that this amazing therapy could reach the masses.

To truly understand, one must do. So I begin the journey with massage training. Once licensed, I will go through the ASTECC program again as a practitioner.  All those years of business experience will not go to waste. I will be by Anne’s side offering my perspective as an operator. However, now I will also be touching the lives of others…quite literally.

Hmmmm.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about a couple of emails that just showed up.

One was a link to a NY Times article “Destination Wellness”. It chronicled a writer’s search for the great American“Wellness” experience. The article is funny, a little mean and to my way of thinking, well worth reading, Like so many others, this guy is not exactly sure what ‘Wellness” entails and his journey takes him from coast to coast then down into Mexico in search of the elusive truth.

Most readers probably found the piece amusing. Those in the trade, probably didn’t. I prefer to think of it as a cautionary tale: If we don’t define who we are, someone will.

Here is the link.

The second email was from a family friend. A lovely woman in her mid-forties she had called the day before complaining of feeling tired, listless and generally rundown. A bad stretch, she called it, and she wondered what she could do to help herself. Without having to think about it, I recommended a Cold Sheet Wrap.

“ I hate the cold.,” she moaned .

It will help, I assured her. Her email arrived the next morning. Here it is:

“ Words cannot describe how invigorated, clear-minded and alive I felt after my treatment and for the rest of a wonderful day! This morning I woke with a lot of energy and for someone who hasn’t had much of it lately, it feels great.”

It was good to hear, of course, because it’s what makes our profession so rewarding. I was happy for my friend but I wasn’t at all surprised. Spa is as much a science as it is an art.

About the NY Times guy. A couple paragraphs into his piece he mentions that he’s dealing with a sore Achilles tendon and suffers from ‘heartburn and all manners of life stressors”. But curiously, as he moves from one property to the next, he doesn’t make an effort to address the issues he finds important enough to mention.

Instead, he dives head first into the W experience – hiked, floated, plyometric-ed and ceremonially ‘Crowned” and when he surfaces he’s in pain, dragging his leg, a casualty of excessive Wellness.

The article enjoys some laughs at the expense of our industry and that’s nothing new. Spa and now Wellness have been easy targets for mainstream press largely because… well, we’ve been easy targets.

But stop and consider how different the writer’s experience would have been had he met with spa therapists who understood their craft and had the skills and expertise to address stress related disorders, structural imbalances, injuries and digestive issues like heartburn – therapists who knew, without even having to think about it, that a Cold Sheet Wrap could do an exhausted, travel weary guy from NYC a world of good.

That would’ve been a different kind of story.

Hmmmmm.

A popular health treatment in the Sanitariums of the 19th and first half of the 20th century required patients to rise before dawn and walk barefoot on the damp, dewy grass. Contact with the early morning elements served as a tonic for circulation and the sensory body but most importantly it was the time of day when the atmosphere held the highest concentration of negative ions. The pre-dawn exercise was considered highly therapeutic.

This long forgotten practice is currently being re-discovered by a growing number of spas. They call it “Earthing” and it could well be another hopeful sign that Spa is reaching back as it moves forward.

The Sanitariums of yesteryear were largely built around Water Cures, Air Baths, Loam Baths, diet and herbal elixirs but with the discovery of penicillin and antibiotics they lost favor with the general public. As our love affair with wonder drugs heated up, Sanitariums disappeared from the American landscape and for the last half century the world of Health and Spa has undergone one incarnation, then another – from fat farms, to exercise till you drop, to an inordinate emphasis on luxury.

Its been a journey.

My hope is we are beginning to realize that we are “beings” who belong to the Earth. Composed of the same substance as the dust of the earth we are totally dependent on our environment – not just for our food and water but for the very air we breathe. We are, at once, the most evolved form of life on the planet and yet we require the most primitive and ancient form of life – ocean algae – to produce oxygen so we can respirate.

Nature is indeed, our benefactor. It is our inspiration, our sustenance and our solace. She nourishes us, her wisdom guides us and Spa will thrive to the extent we acknowledge this most fundamental connection.

Anne

Like nature, spa has a wonderful way of reminding us who we really are.

Water, mud, algae, mineral salts, and essential oils are the basis of most spa services, and it is in the application of these organic elements that spa becomes an artful expression of its remarkable therapeutic potential.

Consider the use of essential oils.

Essential oils are composed primarily of carbon and hydrogen chains – two of the most abundant elements on earth and in our body. Carbon’s nature entails cell division and new life. Hydrogen, slightly hypnotic in its essence, expands – reaching greater heights, penetrating to greater depths. Used in aromatherapy, essential oils engage the deepest part of ourselves, stimulating memory, emotions, dreams, and our creativity.

Not long ago while teaching at a resort spa, I gave a student-therapist an aromatherapy treatment. A woman in her mid-twenties, she was overweight and suffered with facial skin eruptions and lower back pain.

Palpation revealed restrictions in the root pathway of the nerve supplying the abdominal muscles and pancreas. Her hips were noticeably misaligned. She showed restrictions through the cervical vertebrae and thickening in the tissue below the mastoid process. In questioning her during treatment I learned she had a family history of diabetes. I also learned she suffered with digestive problems.  She admitted to an inability to express feelings and a difficult relationship with a family member.

In the course of the 90 minute session she began to relax, then fell into a sound sleep.

The following morning the woman reported that she’d had a good night’s rest, and over the next few days she began reading up on diabetes. She  purchased supplements to stabilize blood sugar and to assist metabolism. She made an appointment to be fitted with prosthetics to balance her hip and lower back.  She began eating healthier foods. Over a period of several days her voice grew stronger, her presence more visible.

Her response to the treatment was not uncommon. The woman was ready for change. The therapeutic application of organic earth matter had activated a creative and life-affirming process.

On my last day at the resort the young woman approached me. She looked vital and alive and she told me she couldn’t remember ever feeling so well.

That’s the nature of spa.

Plus, read our recent Q&A with Anne.

On Sunday the Southern California spa was awarded its 2nd World Spa Award as the Best Hotel Spa in North and South America  and on Tuesday they were honored with its tenth consecutive  Five-Star Rating. from Forbes ( formerly Mobil).

In 2003, a year after opening, Spa Montage became the first spa ever to be awarded a Mobil Five-Star Rating.   Ten of Montage’s  original crew of ASTECC certified therapists are still practicing at the oceanfront Laguna Beach property.

Montage not only earned top honors in spa and joined an exclusive group  of properties that received Five-Star ratings for their hotel and restaurants.

Congratulations to all of you. You’re the best!!! Read more. See below the Forbes press release.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestravelguide/2013/02/26/montage-laguna-beach-celebrates-10-years-with-a-five-star-award/

Anne

Congratulations to the winners in all 10 categories

Destination Spa of the Year – Middle East
sponsored by Elemis
Winner: Talise Spa at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai

Hotel Spa of the Year – Middle East
sponsored by Gharieni
Winner: Shuiqi Spa and Fitness at Atlantis the Palm, Dubai

Spa of the Year – Africa
Winner: One & Only Spa Cape Town, South Africa

Destination Spa of the Year – Asia and Australasia
sponsored by Elly Lukas Beauty Therapy College
Winner: Como Shambhala Estate, Bali

Hotel Spa of the Year – Asia & Australasia
sponsored by Elemis
Winner: The Oriental Spa at The Landmark Mandarin Oriental

Destination spa of the year – North & South America
Winner: Lapinha Spa, Brazil

Hotel Spa of the Year – North & South America
Winner: Spa Montage Laguna Beach, USA

Day Spa of the Year – Europe
Sponsored by Professional Spa & Wellness magazine
Winner: Urban Spa

Destination Spa of the Year – Europe
Sponsored by Thalgo
Winner: Ayurveda Parkschlosschen Bad Wildstein

Hotel Spa of the year – Europe
sponsored by Carita
Winner: The Caudalie Vinothérapie Spa at The Yeatman, Portugal

The winners of the Professional Beauty Awards were also announced during the same ceremony. The full list of UK winners, including Day Spa of the Year, Residential Spa of the Year: 11 Rooms or More and Residential Spa of the Year: 10 Rooms of Fewer, can be viewed on our sister website www.professionalbeauty.co.uk

Starbucks does tea just right. Whether you are in NYC, Topeka or somewhere in California you can count on Starbucks for a very good cup.

As any serious tea drinker knows, there are the finer points to consider when brewing this tasteful, civilized beverage.  Childhood lessons learned from my mother included :

“The water must be brought to a galloping boil”

“Let it steep for 2 minutes”

“A quality tea is better than one without virtues”

I travel quite a bit with my work and of all the places I visit – including some very nice hotels – not many of them match the quality and pleasures of a piping hot cup from Starbucks.

Oh, how I wish our world of spa was as simple as a good cup of tea! 

Well, the simple truth is:  It could be.

Consider this:  When you’re away from home, where do you go for a  high quality, basic massage? Being on the receiving end of a good massage at a place you’ve never visited before is your good fortune and an unexpected treat.

And it’s here that Starbucks has a thing or two to teach us.

In addition to wonderful tea, Starbucks serves up great coffee and some delightful fancy drinks – from chai latte to pumpkin spice frappucino!  Their menu is quite expansive and the quality is consistently good.

But the lion’s share of Starbuck’s business is in the basics. That’s what built their busines. The Basics. 

And that’s the lesson our industry must learn.   

Most spa menus feature varying degrees of fluff, buff and layers of product and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that approach except it won’t build an industry. Nor will it sustain one. Guests need a compelling reason to return again and again.

Guests need value.

Enter ASTECC. We specialize in the basics. We provide practical and theoretical instruction in authentic spa water therapies, hydrotherapy bathing, salt scrubs, soft tissue therapies, Dr Vodder’s MLD,  bio-chemical elements and along the way we teach a really, really great Swedish massage.

Spa, I’ve learned over the years, is equal parts art and science.  When you know how to brew it, it makes a very fine tea.

Anne Bramham

A good friend recently forwarded me your comments on manual lymphatic drainage (MLD) that appeared in your January 2013 Dr Weil newsletter http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART03409/Lymphatic-Massage-Therapy.html#.UNup2B6HzS8.email and as a practitioner and teacher of Dr. Vodder’s MLD I want to thank you for bringing attention to this therapy’s ability to effectively address lymphedema.

In the same article, however, you wrote that while MLD was beneficial for lymphedema patients it had no positive effects on individuals with healthy lymphatic systems.

My twenty five years of practical experience and a growing body of medical research would respectfully disagree.

Of all the tools in my therapeutic toolbox, MLD is the one I use the most.  Over the years I have successfully addressed a wide range of conditions including stress related disorders, pain, sports injuries and auto-immune conditions such as fibromyalgie.

MLD can do most of us a world of good. And here are the reasons why.

Manual Lymph Drainage (MLD) has four major effects:

• Sympathetic Response : The first, and arguably the most significant, is that of lowering the sympathetic response.  Stress plays an instrumental role in most lifestyle disorders – from insomnia to migraines to digestive issues – and research indicates that by quieting the sympathetic nervous system MLD induces a ‘relaxation response’ which combats the physical effects of stress.

Please see Int J Neurosci. 2009;119(8):1105-17.Effects of Manual Lymph Drainage on Cardiac Autonomic Tone in Healthy Subjects

Kim SJ, Kwon OY, Yi CH.

Source: Department of Physical Therapy, Kangwon National University, Kangwon-do, 245-711, Republic of Korea.

• Analgesic. MLD works on the nervous system and plays an important role in quieting pain. Similar to the Gate Theory,  fast moving mechano-receptors fire messages of touch toward the central nervous system thus overriding slower moving pain receptors.  In my personal practice I work with a lot of patients recovering from surgery and MLD is the therapy of choice for countering unpleasant post surgical effects.

Please see J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2009 Feb;32(2):127-33. doi: 10.1016/j.jmpt.2008.12.001.

Comparison of Manual Lymph Drainage Therapy and Connective Tissue Massage in Women with Fibromyalgia: A randomized Controlled Trial. 

Ekici G, Bakar Y, Akbayrak T, Yuksel I

Source  School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Ahi Evran University, Kirsehir, Turkey.

Chronic Tension-type Headache Non Conventional Therapy with Manual Lymphatic Drainage

Longo C, Rizzo R, Inzitari MT, Scumaci G, Caroleo S, Iocco M.

Source: Cattedra di Medicina Fisica e Riabilitazione, Università degli Studi Magna Graecia di Catanzaro. piax@libero.it

• Drainage: Manual Lymph Drainage techniques stimulate the rate of lymph vessel contraction.  Surrounded by smooth muscle, the pumping action of large vessels is mechanical and this accelerated rate allows pre-lymph to be collected from the tissues which reduces the space between blood capillary and cells which allows for improved delivery of nutritive naterials to the cells.

 For over 50 years,  physicians in Germany have considered micro-edemas to be a primary cause of disease. Their studies reflect a growing awareness here in the US that inflammation is a primary cause of many disease processes. 

This, in essence, is what manual lymph drainage therapists address: micro edemas or, in other words, inflammation causing congestion.

MLD is able to address inflammation caused by surgery, high blood pressure, trauma, lack of movement, changes in the tissue due to stress and pain as well as edema caused by a lymphatic system insufficiency.  Please see ref. below

Assessment of Lymphatic Contractile Function After Manual Lymphatic Drainage Using Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging

I-Chih Tan, PhD, Erik A. Maus, MD, John C. Rasmussen, PhD, Milton V. Marshall, PhD, Kristen E. Adams, PhD, Caroline E. Fife, MD, Latisha A. Smith, MD, Wenyaw Chan, PhD, Eva M. Sevick-Muraca, PhD

Lymphology. 2007 Sep;40(3):138-42.

Manual Lymph Drainage Efficiently Reduces Postoperative Facial Swelling and Discomfort after Removal of Impacted Third Molars.

Szolnoky G, Szendi-Horváth K, Seres L, Boda K, Kemény L

The fourth and last effect is, indeed,  a ‘hypothesis”.  It stems from the belief that movement is life and stagnation is death.  By maintaining a constant removal of metabolized proteins and bi-products from the tissues and directing them to the lymph nodes – for either destruction (macrophage activity) or recycling – we maintain that MLD helps keep the defense mechanism at peak performance.

Please see Ref.  Upon request, testimonials from patients and students.

Respectfully,

Anne Bramham

Ideal for Spa Management and Practitioners alike, this seven day experiential workshop integrates Europe’s traditional Spa Kur clinical approach with the emerging US Wellness model.

Focusing on the power and efficacy of hydrotherapy’s healing potential, the program includes lecture and practical instruction in: Kneipp, Steam, Whirlpool, Vichy, Localized Treatments, Saline Therapy, Tub Treatments, Aqua Wellness, Sauna, Heating Compress, Body Brushing and Liquid Sound.

Anne Bramham, Founder of ASTECC will join Bastyr University School of Natural Medicine students and faculty members from Bastyr and Toskanaworld Medical Spa Clinic, Klinikzentrum Bad Sulza. Click Here for the training itinerary: Toskana Therme Itinerary

In January, 2013, Bloom Training released the result of an online study on training of spa product knowledge and treatment protocols. The goals of the research were to uncover training challenges and find ways to improve competency levels in the spa environment. Spa directors from 110 resort and days spa locations responded to the online survey.

Quite obviously, training is a crucial component for any successful spa operation. Jenny Helling, Spa Director, Cavallo Point commented “Consistent training is a challenge; both from the spa’s perspective as well as the vendors.  Both need to be committed to providing training on a regular basis.  As a spa, it’s finding the time to schedule the training when it’s going to have the least impact on our bookings (i.e. revenue).  It’s also about getting the staff to ‘buy-in’ and be enthused about what they’re learning.”

Results indicate that more frequent vendor training was not only good for retail sell-through, but also created a bonding, team building environment for their staff.  However, spas directors often have difficulty scheduling live training due to time and budgetary constraints.

Here are some juicy stats from the study:

·The primary methods for training are manufacturer hosted trainings (92), followed by spa-hosted live trainings (88%).

·Less than half of the respondents (49%) were very satisfied with the quality of the trainer and training materials.

·Vendor-supported employee incentive programs are in place in 68% of the properties polled.

·91% are interested in having online training available from vendors (only 13% currently utilize online training.)

· 92% stated that quizzes and exams to measure employee performance were important.

· 85% currently use the lead therapist to train new employees.

Interested in the complete analysis of the results?  Email me at nancy@bloomtraining.net and I’ll send you the PDF.