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approach César Tejedor, founder of Massage Around the World, examines how the spa industry has evolved, and how we can move towards a more integrated approach to wellness
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n the last few years, the spa industry has seen a shift towards an integrative wellness approach that reflects a desire to provide sustainable solutions that enhance the quality of life of our spa guests. There has been a huge transformation, from the reactive approach of the early days when the focus was more on healing a specific physical illness or reducing discomfort, to today’s more proactive perspective; striving to help people maintain good health and wellbeing The spa industry has been highly influenced by the holistic concept in the last two decades; an approach that stresses that treatments should not only work on the physical body but also integrate mind, energy and spirit. This trend has opened the spa market to all kinds of Asian treatments, including Ayurveda, yoga, meditation, traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture, Thai massage and sound therapy with singing bowls. It has also seen us embrace many western disciplines, such as physical therapy, dietetics, fitness and pilates. This has really made a difference in our industry, widening the market and changing the mindset of many people who now incorporate these methods into their lifestyle.
mind and energy. But is today’s spa industry truly responding to these needs? Not always, unfortunately. Because even though many spas offer great treatment menu variety, most of the time they lack someone with the capacity to integrate all these elements in a coherent manner, tailor treatments to each client and make them truly effective. Without guidance and a multidisciplinary team working as a
Combined efforts So what have we learned from all this and where are we going at the moment as a sector? We have learned that a strong and beautiful body is useless if the mind is not well, and that we need to balance body, 40
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“A strong and beautiful body is useless if the mind is not well and we need to balance body, mind and energy. Is today’s spa industry responding to these needs? Not always, unfortunately”
single mind, the results will not be 100% effective. And here comes the difficulty, finding a person who is able to guide the entire staff; including yoga teachers, meditation and fitness instructors, spa therapists and nutritionists. In the late 1990s, some of the most innovative hospitals in the world introduced a new department, strongly criticised by more purist doctors, known as integrative medicine. Supporters of this new approach believed that the focus of modern medicine is usually on the symptoms and pain reduction rather than on the root of the problem, and that medicine should be more integrative and holistic. In the spa industry the attention has also traditionally been on the symptoms. But what do we really want to offer, pain relief or real solutions? Integrative medicine departments in hospitals combine different medical and nonmedical traditions and under the supervision of one director, doctors, therapists, yoga instructors, nutritionists and others work together with the same objective; to achieve amazing results in patients suffering from cancer, stress, anxiety, and digestive illnesses, for example. The spa and wellness industry has now realised that the same concept can be introduced in our sector. However, instead of having a medical purpose, the aim is aesthetic, relaxing and balancing effects and the promotion of health, beauty, happiness and wellbeing.
Integrative options The spa industry comprises all the necessary elements to work in an integrative way, and this is the direction the sector is moving in today. Instead of applying the same protocol to all our clients we now try to tailor treatments to their personal needs. Rather than training our staff like robots, we identify each staff member’s specific talents in order to develop and make use of them.
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And instead of always using the same products we often adapt them for the client. Yes it sounds challenging and it is, but it’s not impossible. It’s also the only way to show the world that our industry has something to say, that it wants to be part of change, and that the concept of wellness is much more than just another marketing tool. Some of the most innovative people in the spa industry are, little by little, trying to incorporate an integrated wellness concept into their business in a progressive and profitable way. If you’re looking at turning your spa into an integrative wellness centre, there are a few different routes you could go down: • The traditional in-house route: This entails tailormaking a programme for each client based on a pre-treatment consultation, to find out what the client’s needs are. The programme would address physical, mental and energy elements. Resorts who take this approach include Chiva-Som in Thailand, Ananda in the Himalayas in India and the Sha Wellness Clinic in Spain, among others. • Forging partnerships: There are prestigious integrative medicine departments and centres around the world that you can join with, creating an integrative programme with their help. A good example of this is the Mandarin Oriental hotel group, which has created the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program in collaboration with the clinic. • Detailed wellness screenings: Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas is a good example of this approach. Their Six Senses Integrated Wellness initiative consists of an initial in-depth analysis of key physiological biomarkers to gain deep insight into the client’s health. Based on the results, a personalised wellness programme is developed, with the aim of enhancing the client’s life and wellbeing. The most important task for the industry at this stage is to change the mindset of spa owners and directors, making more of them receptive to integrated wellness. Are you ready for that change?
César Tejedor is the founder of Massage Around the World, which provides spa training and consultancy services, and also offers online continuing education massage courses. Tejedor, who is the author of a series of spa treatment and training books, lectures and teaches around the world and is also Global Wellness Day Ambassador for Spain. www.massagearoundtheworld.com
online at professionalspawellness.com
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