By Shelby Jones, ISPA

We all know the benefits of exercise, but when you combine that with meditation, stretching and a balanced diet you’re living what we call… a healthy spa lifestyle. September is National Yoga Month (as a pre-cursor to Spa Week Oct 10-16, of course) and spas around the country are offering classes to help you de-stress and clear out your mind. Stress is the No. 1 reason people go to the spa worldwide, and yoga is frequently a part of stress-reduction programs. If you need a reason to start stretching it might help to know that yoga helps improve muscle tone, flexibility and mobility, reduces stress and anxiety, and induces a sense of well-being.

According to ISPA’s research, yoga is the most popular mind, body and spirit treatment offered by spas; in fact, one in two resort/hotel spas offer these types of treatments. ISPA’s Medical Advisor, Dr. Brent Bauer, the director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at the Mayo Clinic recommends yoga and meditation for reducing stress. Dr. Bauer says, “When you slow your breathing through meditation, your autonomic nervous system (which plays a role in our ‘fight or flight’ response and also allows us to rest) slows down and you get a great relaxation response.”

Now that you know what yoga can do for you it’s time to find the type of yoga (there are several) for your lifestyle. Some of the more popular types of yoga include:

Ashtanga

This type of yoga was developed by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (1915-2009), and involves synchronizing the breath through a series of postures. It’s also sometimes called power yoga and can be physically intense.

Bikram

This form of yoga is also known as hot yoga. Popularized in the 1970’s by Bikram Choudhury, it includes a set of 26 postures performed in a room heated to 105°. The heat allows for deeper stretching and injury prevention.

Hatha

A branch of yoga introduced in 15^th century India. This is the most basic form of yoga and focuses on slow breathing and meditation. This is a great class to try if you are a beginner.

Iyengar

Developed in India by B.K.S. Iyengar, this type of yoga focuses on body alignment. Poses are held for a longer period of time to concentrate on proper placement.

Vinyasa

Literally translated this form of yoga means breath-synchronized movement. Your movements are matched to your breathing patterns. This is a more intense class, so seasoned yogis will want to check it out.

If you want to learn more about different spa treatments visit ISPA’s spa glossary at experienceispa.com.

Shelby Jones is based in Lexington, KY at the ISPA headquarters, Spa Week’s exclusive trade partner. She has worked as ISPA’s Public Relations Manager for five years where she connects with top media outlets to promote ISPA members and the spa lifestyle. To get in touch with Shelby please email her or follow @ISPADoYou on Twitter. If you’re in the spa industry, we encourage you to become a member of ISPA; weekly e-mails with pointers like these are just one small part of the package to help you succeed!

By Shelby Jones, Public Relations Manager, ISPA

Happy belated birthday, America! Even though you turned 235 this year you don’t look a day over 200, which can probably be attributed to all of the spa treatments you’ve been getting over the last couple of centuries. You have an incredible wellness history, but let’s focus on the present for a minute.

The ISPA Global Consumer Study gives us a look into how, when and why American spa-goers take a time out for themselves. U.S. citizens that go to the spa average five visits a year to get their relaxation fix. You’ll most likely find them at a day spa, but sometimes they like to get away at a resort/hotel spa. They know that maintaining the benefits of a spa treatment at home is important, and on average they spend $80 on spa retail products in a year.

The top five treatments in the USA ranked in order are:

1. Massage (it’s actually the No. 1 treatment for both men and women worldwide)
2. Manicure/Pedicure
3. Facial
4. Body Scrub or Wrap
5. Aromatherapy

Americans can all agree on one thing – stress. The No. 1 reason they go to the spa is to relax and relieve/reduce stress (just like the rest of the world).

If you want to learn more about different spa treatments visit ISPA’s spa glossary at experienceispa.com.

Shelby Jones is based in Lexington, KY at the ISPA headquarters, Spa Week’s exclusive trade partner. She has worked as ISPA’s Public Relations Manager for five years where she connects with top media outlets to promote ISPA members and the spa lifestyle. To get in touch with Shelby please visit experienceispa.com, email her or follow @ISPADoYou on Twitter.

Column by: Shelby Jones, Public Relations Manager, ISPA

Ayurveda is not the eco-friendly product company we all know and love; it’s an ancient system of traditional folk medicine from India. Ayurvedic treatments employ a large variety of techniques to restore your body, mind and spirit to perfect balance. These techniques incorporate nutrition, herbal medicine, aromatherapy, massage and meditation.

Tibetan and Chinese medicine have roots in Ayurveda. The word actually translates from Sanskrit to mean the science of life (ayur = life, veda = science). It’s not just a few treatments you get during a vacation; it’s a practice that provides guidelines on daily and seasonal routines. It’s actually more popular than you might imagine, according to the ISPA 2010 U.S. Spa Industry Study, a little over one in four spas offer complementary or alternative treatments, of those 22 percent offer an ayurvedic treatment.

If you take a closer look at ayurvedic principles you’ll hear a lot about doshas. These bioenergies are comprised of three elements known in Sanskrit as vatta (wind), pitta (fire) and kapha (earth). The doshas are considered important for health and well-being, and when they are balanced your body will function to its fullest. To find out which dosha you most identify with take the dosha quiz from The Chopra Center.

Massage is an important part of Ayurvedic therapy and utilizes Marma points to open up energy channels that can cause imbalance. Marma points include adhipati – the top of the forehead, sthapani – the third eye and apanga – the side of the eyebrow.

If you want to learn more about different spa treatments visit ISPA’s spa glossary at experienceispa.com.

Shelby Jones is based in Lexington, KY at the ISPA headquarters, Spa Week’s exclusive trade partner. She has worked as ISPA’s Public Relations Manager for five years where she connects with top media outlets to promote ISPA members and the spa lifestyle. To get in touch with Shelby please visit experienceispa.com, email her or follow @ISPADoYou on Twitter.

Guest Contributor: Shelby Jones, Public Relations Manager, ISPA

Eat your vegetables, listen to your elders and sit up straight are all bits of motherly advice that you’ve heard countless times. Even if you didn’t take mom’s advice there’s still time to make amends. You can turn to your local spa for a treatment many of us aren’t very familiar with.

Rolfing is a massage technique that was developed by Dr. Ida P. Rolf in the 1920’s that can help improve your posture and alleviate back pain. It basically reorganizes the fascia or connective tissues of the body.  The treatment uses deep muscular manipulation and massage for the relief of rigid muscles, bones and joints. It is designed to improve energy flow and relieve stress that is most often related to emotional trauma.

A complete Rolfing treatment consists of a series of ten sessions which progress from superficial to deeper layers of tissue, and from localized areas of constriction to an overall reorganization of larger body segments.

You should be prepared because like deep tissue massage this treatment can be intense and sometimes even painful.

Dr. Oz tried it out on the Oprah show (R.I.P.) and explained what the treatment is all about. “Rolfing literally releases the joints,” Dr. Oz says. “When you talk to folks about the impact it has on them, a lot of them just stand taller. A lot is just freeing you up to live the way you’re supposed to live.”

For information and to search for certified Rolfers, go to www.rolf.org.

If you want to learn more about different spa treatments visit ISPA’s spa glossary.

Shelby Jones is based in Lexington, KY at the ISPA headquarters, Spa Week’s exclusive trade partner. She has worked as ISPA’s Public Relations Manager for five years where she connects with top media outlets to promote ISPA members and the spa lifestyle. To get in touch with Shelby please visit experienceispa.com, email her at Shelby.Jones@ispastaff.com or follow @ISPADoYou on Twitter.

Guest contributor: Shelby Jones, Public Relations Manager, ISPA

The word “spa” translates from the Latin phrase Salude Per Aqua and means “healing through water.” Since ancient times water treatments, or hydrotherapy, has been common place in Europe but never really caught on in the United States. The ISPA Global Consumer Study reveals that in France, Italy and Spain hydrotherapy treatments are the second most popular type of treatment. In the United States, hydrotherapy treatments aren’t even listed among the top five.

So what gives? Perhaps it’s that we Americans don’t really know what hydrotherapy is. The basic definition of hydrotherapy is any treatment that incorporates water for therapeutic purposes. Treatments like underwater massage, mineral baths, hot and cold plunge pools and vichy showers are all categorized as hydrotherapy. Here are a few other hydrotherapy treatments that you might not be familiar with:

Balneotherapy –  The use of hot springs, mineral, or sea waters to restore and revitalize the body, improving circulation, fortifying the immune system, as acting as a pain reliever and anti-stress treatment.

Iodine-Grine Therapy – Mineral baths, naturally rich in salt and iodine, used mostly in Europe for recuperation and convalescence.

Kneipp Treatments – Combining hydrotherapy, herbology, and a diet of natural foods. Includes the use of herbal bath oils, eucalyptus, lavender, rosemary, meadow blossom, spruce, pine, juniper, chamomile, and hops to comfort body and mind.

Swiss Shower – Standing body massage delivered with high-pressure hoses. This invigorating shower tones circulation by contracting, then dilating capillaries as water from 16 needle-spray shower heads and two high-pressure hoses fluctuates from hot to cold to hot for several seconds at a time, aiding in circulation and helping relieve the pain of arthritis and rheumatism.

Thalassotherapy – Using the therapeutic benefits of the sea, and seawater products for their vitamins and minerals, which can heal and reinvigorate skin and hair. Treatments include: Individual baths of fresh seawater equipped with powerful underwater jets for deep massage; or a therapist applying manual massage to the body with water pipes. A body wrap is sometimes incorporated using seaweed or sea algae paste to eliminate toxins, restore minerals and skin elasticity.

If you want to learn more about different spa treatments visit ISPA’s spa glossary at experienceispa.com. If you’re in the spa industry, we encourage you to become a member of our partner ISPA, the International Spa Assocation; weekly emails with pointers like these are just one small part of the package to help you succeed!