by kyle roderick

spa bliss for any budget

Indeed, health conscious boomers and working women and men across socioeconomic lines ?have been fueling an increasing demand for spas and treatments that serve diverse needs and income brackets,? says Mary Blackmon, founder and CEO of spa-addicts.com, a website providing discounts and special offers at spas in California and around the world.

Blackmon continues, ?With increasingly demanding careers, hectic personal lives, deeper stress points and more difficulty in maintaining a balanced lifestyle, demand for various spa experiences is ever-increasing.? She notes that people tend to choose spas primarily by budget and time constraints, by physical and emotional needs, and by fitness interests. Also, men are becoming an increasingly vital part of the spa equation. ?Many spas are catering to men with special treatments and facilities, regardless of whether they have a golf course,? Blackmon says with a laugh.

While some spas have pushed the envelope of what qualifies as a spa treatment by offering increasingly extreme and invasive procedures involving needles, neurotoxins and synthetic chemicals, many others are moving in the opposite direction and embracing natural, organic and holistic methods of rejuvenation and healing, drawing upon traditions like Ayurveda, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, acupressure, reflexology, herbal medicine and aromatherapy, just to name a few. It’s worth noting that a growing number of spas are incorporating Ayurveda, the ancient Indian tradition of natural healing and yoga’s sister science, into their treatments. This reflects a distinct movement toward healing and promoting physical and mental balance, rather than focusing on external beautification. Yoga is another practice that many spas, particularly those at resort hotels, are incorporating into their programs. More and more spas are working to fill the growing demand for yoga’s ability to engage and integrate the whole person, mind, body and spirit to beautify and promote health and balance. Organic ingredients, pure essential oils and treatments aimed at shifting consciousness and balancing energy are becoming the norm, as Americans become increasingly conscious of healing modalities besides the allopathic approaches that we grew up with. A trip to the spa is no longer just about pampering. It’s about brightening our inner glow and teaching us to make a space for ourselves.

One element shared by both spas and yoga is that many people come to them seeking one thing and end up experiencing their minds and bodies in unexpected ways. Many come to yoga seeking fitness, but end up experiencing profound spiritual and personal awakenings. This is often due to the fact that yoga provides a space for us to become quiet, present and focused. When that happens, we are able to actually experience and process our emotions and existence. This can sometimes be uncomfortable and frightening, but this awakening is a healthy awareness to foster. The same phenomenon can occur with spa treatments. We store a great deal of energy, emotion and tension in our bodies. When we take the time to enter into a space of stillness and safety and allow someone to work on our bodies, the potential for that energy, emotion and tension to emerge in a healthy release is great. In these situations, we have the opportunity to confront conditions that may be causing us physical or even emotional pain. Most massage therapists have had the experience of suddenly finding a client crying during a treatment. This emotional expression is a cleansing as a result of closeted tensions being liberated, freeing the individual from a troubling weight. While this may not always be the case for everyone who steps into a spa, the potential is there for us to have profound shifts of consciousness and energy as a result of our spa experiences.

California has a rich and varied wealth of spas that emphasize naturally based healing treatments and cater to practically anyone regardless of financial means or time constraints. Whether it’s an hour of pampering or a week of luxurious sensual celebration, California blooms with establishments to provide whatever you seek. These are just a few examples of the superb spas that are setting new standards in California and throughout the world.

Luxury Spas
High-end spas may cost top dollar, but sumptuous surroundings, superior personal service and top-of-the-line treatments make them worth every penny. Some of these are ideal destinations for healthy and romantic weekends, or for a full-on spa vacation. Some of these spas also specialize in comprehensive athletic facilities, highly qualified health and fitness counseling and profoundly committed yoga instruction. What’s more, all of these spas use top-quality products from their own eponymous lines or from other great lines such as Shankara, Dermalogica, Life Resonance, Dr. Hauschka and Phytobiodermie, as well as organic essential oils from leading companies like

Floracopeia.
La Costa Resort & Spa
30 minutes north of San Diego and 90 minutes south of Los Angeles, La Costa is linked by a paradise of pathways, vibrant vegetation and artfully planned gardens. The resort offers a first class spa, tennis and golf facilities, yoga classes and a fitness center. Before most spa services, each guest enjoys La Costa’s complimentary water circuit: whirlpool, cedar sauna, steam room and an exfoliating body scrub applied by a spa attendant. The outdoor spa courtyard houses a lounge pool, sunbathing areas and the Roman waterfall shower. The Chopra Center at La Costa (founded by Deepak Chopra) offers Ayurvedic-influenced mind/body programs and treatments that are renowned for their effectiveness.

2100 Costa Del Mar Road, Carlsbad, CA. 92009 - 760.438.9111lacosta.com, chopra.com

Claremont Resort & Spa, Berkeley
This 100 year-old hotel features the Bay Area’s most avant-garde resort spa with views of the East Bay and Golden Gate Bridge. The Claremont also offers day spa services. Many of these transcend a healing spa experience by also transmitting profound aesthetic delight. During the Tibetan Sound Massage, (a Swedish and deep tissue treatment), ancient brass bowls are played and placed on chakra points as they resonate and massage the mind and body with sound vibrations.

The only West Coast spa offering isolation tanks, the Claremont boasts two, where in total darkness, you bob weightlessly in warm water loaded with Epsom salts. Chilling in these tanks is ideal for healing injuries or relieving stress. They also have an inspiring yoga schedule here. Take a class with Chris Hoskins, who never fails to inspire.

41 Tunnel Road Berkeley, CA 94705 - 510.843.3000 - claremontresort.com

PUUR SPA Mobile Day Spa
While resort and destination spas will never go out of style, one of the most momentous trends in California’s spa world is the mobile day spa. Take for example PUUR SPA Mobile Day Spa in San Diego. Open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., PUUR brings serenity into the home, office or hotel for individual treatments and parties. The minimum booking rate is one 60-minute treatment; with spa parties, a minimum of four treatments is necessary.

While all treatments are top notch, PUUR’s organic body scrubs are state-of-the-art: all scrubs are made from scratch at the time of order. Organic mango and sugar, sand and sea salt, and organic crème brulee scrubs each cost $95 for 50 minutes. The Custom Facial is designed to remedy the individual’s complexion type; this runs $110 for 60 minutes. Hot stone massage lasts 60 minutes and costs $130. Reflexology is $60 for 45 minutes.

858.205.7887 - info@puurspa.com - puurspa.com

Surya Spa
While Ayurvedic treatments are offered at various California spas, there are few that offer truly customized Ayurveda as the ancients devised it thousands of years ago. A full-service Ayurvedic day spa, Surya is run by Martha Soffer and John Holmstrom, who is the chairman of the Ayurvedic Bodywork Department at the American University of Complementary Medicine in Los Angeles. Catering to executives, athletes and yoga goddesses such as Shiva Rea, plus midlife women seeking to manage menopause naturally, Surya offers personalized Marma Therapy, which harmonizes the junctions in the body where the body’s energy pathways meet; Shirodhara, the pouring of heated medicated oils onto the forehead to relax the nervous system and stimulate the mind, Nasya, which involves facial massage and the opening of the sinus cavities; and Swedhana treatments, which promote the detoxification of the body through the skin by sweating in herb infused steam. Three to twenty-one day individualized Panchakarma (full body detoxification) services are also available.

After an initial, detailed consultation with John Holmstrom, who radiates intelligence, compassion and calm, Soffer and Holmstrom blend personalized organic, wild-crafted herbal preparations for treatments. Surya offers deeply personalized care, and the detoxifying and re-energizing Panchakarma is highly recommended.

563 Muskingum Avenue, Pacific Palisades, CA. 90272 - 310.459.7715 - suryaspa.com

Spas for Mid-Range Budgets
At the best mid-range spas, people can expect to enjoy nurturing and inimitable spa environments without paying top dollar. While settings and style will vary widely, mid-range spas often feature adventurous and even unique specialty treatments. If you are new to spa-going, mid-range spas are good places to start: they’re far less intimidating than high-end ones, yet just as service-oriented. The result is that you get excellent care without breaking the bank.

Osmosis, The Enzyme Bath Spa
Osmosis is the only U.S. day spa offering the Cedar Enzyme Bath, a traditional Japanese rejuvenating heat treatment. This treatment involves sitting in warm, wooden tubs filled with fragrant, finely ground cedar, rice bran and plant enzymes imported from Japan. These ingredients heat naturally, by fermentation, creating warmth that parallels the body’s natural metabolic process. Many people fall asleep from the lovely heat, which remedies muscle tensions, arthritis pains and emotional aches. Attendants periodically come by to refresh heads and faces with cool, wet cloths.
The Cedar Enzyme bath costs $80 weekdays and $85 on weekends. The 90-minute treatment includes pre-bath organic tea in the Japanese garden. Located 90 minutes north of San Francisco, Osmosis is an oasis of bonsai and bamboo gardens, ideal for rest and reflection.

209 Bohemian Hwy Freestone, CA 95472 - 707.823.8231 - osmosis.com

Esalen Institute
Situated on the cliffs atop Big Sur’s pristine coast, Esalen Institute comprises 120 acres of land featuring hot mineral springs gushing out of seaside cliffs. A mountain stream runs through the lushly beautiful property, which blooms with organic vegetable gardens, edible flowers, cypresses, redwoods and other strong, old trees. A nexus of the ’60s human potential movement and a world-renowned mineral hot spring, Esalen is a mind/body spa without compare.

The mountainous topography blocks cell phone transmissions; there are no telephones in rooms and oceanfront, hot-spring fed tubs are open for much of the day and night. Book a massage in advance, or take a workshop in yoga, dance or cranial sacral therapy. The organic, mostly vegetarian breakfast, lunch and dinner defines delicious, yet healthy cuisine. Save money by booking sleeping bag accommodations or sharing a room.

55000 Highway 1 Big Sur, CA. 93920-9616 - 831.667.3005 - esalen.org

Grace Massage & Bodyworks
Grace Massage and Bodyworks is a mobile massage spa serving the greater San Francisco bay area and San Jose. They bring licensed massage therapists into your home, office, hotel suite or party. Modalities offered include: prenatal, acupressure, deep tissue, reflexology, Shiatsu, Swedish Massage, Thai Medical Massage and Japanese Hot Stone Therapy. While a one-hour massage costs $90, 90 minutes is $135. A two hour massage is $180; and for Japanese Hot Stone, add $25.

More yummy add-ons include Aromatic Body Scrub, the Kyoto Leg and Foot Bath and the Paraffin Hand Dip. If you’re planning an office party or want to reward a wonderful work team, book the On-Site Chair Massage. At $70 per hour, it’s a reasonable price for mind/body therapy.

888.778.2782 - gracemassage.com.

Aris Institute
The only spa on the West Coast with treatments expressly designed to create energy balance throughout mind/body, Aris is paradise for people wishing to cultivate their prana, as well as those seeking treatments that nurture the life force for health and beauty.

Using Life Resonance skin and body care products (exclusive to the U.S.), Aris signature treatments include the Himalayan Salt Full Body Scrub (50 minutes for $90), which packs a high-energy wallop. Follow this session with Whole Body Energy Brushing, a profoundly balancing and restorative massage treatment patterned after traditional Tibetan feather massage (80 minutes for $160).

Consistent with their energy balancing philosophy, Aris massage therapists specialize in deep tissue (80 minutes; $160), adrenal support and postpartum massage. Arrive early and chill in the Energy Room. Here, the walls are painted with natural pigments that have been electrically charged with positive energy patterns. You have to feel it to believe it!

3723 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. Westlake Village, CA. 91362
805.449.1799 - arisinstitute.com

Great Value
Most of us find ourselves dealing with the crazy yoga of balancing two-career households, rising gas prices and the ever-increasing demands on our time. It’s a given that the majority of us are time-crunched, budget-conscious and yearning for an affordable refuge. For those whose aim is to fit in those few, precious moments of stillness and nurturing between picking up the kids from soccer and heading to the market to pick up dinner, there are many fine and well-priced spas in California that offer excellent, high quality spa experiences. Not only are these places happy to serve, but they also provide rejuvenating beauty scrubs, profoundly restorative body-work, or a killer pedicure just when you need it most. Even more importantly, their price points mean that you can afford to visit more than once in a blue moon. Here are just a few examples:

Olympic Spa, Los Angeles
This women-only, Koreatown spa defines gourmet spa-going on a budget. The Olympic charges $15 for admission to hot and cold whirlpools, the steaming herbal mugwort bath, dry and steam saunas (including one lined in jade) and a detoxifying sauna replete with a purifying charcoal ceiling.
In traditional style, many of the treatments involve the circulation-boosting, super-exfoliating Korean akasuri body scrub; the nearly two-hour goddess body treatment incorporates massage and scrub and costs $130. The Olympic’s restaurant serves delicious sushi and soup meals for under $10. Along with a funky cosmetics boutique, there are also areas for lazing in between treatments. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m.
3915 West Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 323.857.066 olympicspa.com

The Massage Place
This mini-spa chain is rich in healing, affordable massage. It draws male as well as female devotees. Because many Massage Place therapists work at top spas, chiropractic, acupuncture and physical therapy practices around L.A., the quality of treatments far exceeds what the prices may suggest.
Founded by licensed massage therapist Michael Marylander, who gives superb massages, the M.P. charges $44 for a 60-minute massage and a 90-minute massage costs $64. Modalities offered include: Swedish, deep tissue, sports, shiatsu, reflexology and pregnancy massage. When you book an appointment, specify the modalities that you prefer to ensure a customized massage.

Marina del Rey: 2805 Abbot Kinney Blvd. 310.306.5166.Santa Monica: 625 Montana Avenue. 310.393.7007Venice: 245 Main Street. 310.399.5566

Santa Monica/Ocean Park: 2901 Ocean Park Blvd. 310.399.9484

Harbin Hot Springs,
Situated two and a half hours north of San Francisco on 1600 sylvan acres, Harbin is a clothing optional retreat featuring healing waters, daily yoga classes and spa treatments. Large soaking pools are filled with spring water in varying degrees: very hot, soothingly warm, or ice-cold. Thanks to an earth-friendly, sophisticated filtration system, all swimming pools are chlorine-free.

More of an earthy retreat than a traditional spa resort, Harbin’s friendly vibe and nudity feels natural and nurturing. When it comes to lodging, creek-side camping is a low-cost option; well-maintained Victorian-style buildings offer more costly dorms as well as private rooms. Intimate cottages are the most expensive lodging.

Free lectures and other events are open to guests on a drop-in basis. These include thrice daily yoga classes, dances and satsang. Harbin is a massage Mecca; if you desire massage or Watsu ®, the in-water massage therapy that was invented at Harbin, then booking ahead is essential. Spa treatments are first-rate and fairly priced. The “Ultimate” Spa Package Aromatherapy Body Scrub, Body Wrap, Massage, Face Treatment and Hot Oil Scalp Treatment is a bargain at 2 1/2 hours for $180.

18424 Harbin Springs Rd. Middletown, Ca. 95461 - 707.987.2477 - 800.622.2477 - harbin.org.

Tawas Shiatsu Spa
This Little Tokyo storefront offers shiatsu in a clean and well-lit private room. This is the kind of place that’s great to go after work and before a night on the town. If you’re in a rush, for example, 45 minutes of shiatsu costs $45. An hour-long massage runs $60. While men can enjoy the hot tub, cold pool, saunas and showers for $15 with a massage or $15 without, women are only admitted to the massage rooms.

362 E. 1st Street, Los Angeles - 213.680.9141

TruSpa
The clean and minimal ambience in this day spa is somehow sensually comforting, and the caring staff makes you feel like you’ve wandered into a spa filled with long-lost relatives.
TruSpa’s commitment to serving each guest provides a luxury spa experience with treatments priced at mid-range. For example, when you book, TruSpa asks if you are pregnant, have allergies to shellfish or nuts, are on any medication that affects the skin, or have had a deep chemical peel, laser treatment, etc. These conditions (and any current health issues) could be pertinent to your spa service, and TruSpa wants to ensure the highest level of care. A major credit card is required to secure a reservation here.

750 Kearny Street San Francisco, CA 94108 - 415.399.9700 truspa.com

Now that so many people view spa-going as a mind/body necessity rather than as escapist pampering, an increasing number of spa services are priced to reflect this trend. No longer just mere luxury, making space in our lives to invite stillness and healing through bodywork and self-care are tantamount to preserving health and emotional stability within a chaotic world. And most importantly, embracing the truth that we are all worthy of pleasure and renewal is perhaps the most significant step toward living full and healthy lives.