Friday 20 August 2010

Spa matters form home and beyond

The Finnish spas have changed noticeably over the past ten years. I have been following their progress whilst developing UMG-Wellness treatments and products for their customers. Some Spas have reacted to the reducing number of the veterans and developed their approach towards offering wellness services.
Again we are facing a big change as the Spa users become more knowledgeable about what is on offer and grow more demanding on quality. The ability and will to change are the prerequisites for the Spas for staying in the run and for increasing the number of clients.

Wellness and Spa are a rapidly growing service in the world. Following these trends I have noticed over the past two years that all around the world clients are increasingly aware of the professionalism of the staff. Also the flow of the treatment from the first contact with the client to the comfort of the treatment room are under demanding inspection. The pleasing memory and the effect of the treatment and fulfilling the given promise must continue beyond the treatment room all the way home in the form of a self care product.

Another trend in the Spa world is ecology. The changes in the global climate have awakened the clients to choose those Spas and treatments that take into account the different aspects of how it effects the ecological systems of the whole world. This also means that the closer home one finds a favourite Spa the more likely the eco-aware client is to choose it.

The visual change in the Spa architecture and interior design shows how exotic moods and images are borrowed from all corners of the globe to all corners of the globe. Simple beauty from wood, strength form stone, soft shapes and fabrics, flowing water designs and the subtle and inspired use of the colours of the rainbow are the building blocks of the Spa. Esthetics are high in the development of the Spa worlds.

My visit in a Spa in England is a good example of the various aspects of good service. An architecturally peaceful looking building stood in the midst of lush greenery. Inside soft aromas, gentle music and harmonious space awakened my senses and invited forward.

On entering every member of the staff lifted their eyes to give a welcoming smile. Beyond the reception, before the dressing rooms was a beautifully framed text that welcomed into the silent space where every ones privacy is respected. From there on the silence was tangible, only the distant sounds of flowing water kept company. The treatment rooms greeted with flowers, candles and welcomed in with carefully prepared treatment beds. Complete well planned treatment rituals help the client from the first moment into a calm and restful trusting feeling from which you awake when the door closes behind you on leaving. The pleasurable satisfied feeling continues for the rest of the day and resurfaces at home each time when using the product recommended by the therapist and purchased from the spa shop at the end of the treatment.

Friday 6 August 2010

Welcome August

In some languages the names of the months are written with a capital letter. This morning I felt that it should be the case also in Finnish, as each month has it own “personality" and aroma. In the summer months the aromas are easier to recognize than in the autumn and winter. June is full of apple-, rowan- and meadowsweet flowers and the sharp freshness of the nettles. July smells of drying hay and meadow grasses and in August the aromas anticipate the ripening seeds, berries and fruits.

On the week-end before mid-summer we held the phytotherapy course which is a part of the UMG-Wellness therapist training. As is usual on the phytotherapy courses we visited the Pharmacy museum by the river Aura here in Turku. The old tools used by the surgeons, the different distillation equipment and the dried herbs that are so dry and old that they have become unrecognized all awaken the curiosity of the students. This year we could not visit my own herb garden due to the fact that our house was in the middle reparations. In stead we went to visit the herb garden at Turku university botanical gardens in Ruissalo. There we found several aromatic plants that essential oils are distilled from around the world.

We pondered on which herb would be the best for self care for each of the students as homework. Having decided on them we all, including me, wanted to try out the cleansing programme worked out by Leila. We will be comparing the results in the autumn when we meet next.

Try it
- Yarrow tea for general cleansing and stamina.
- Meadowsweet footbath or compress for excess fluid.
- Nettle powder improves immunity.
- Bilberry unsweetened will normalize the intestinal function.

If herbs are not your thing, try the Lady Grace products. You will be getting similar physical benefits plus emotional uplift and wellbeing plus a delightful scent to your body. Energy boost for vitality and Fluid balance to reduce fluid retention.

In the summer time one tends to eat differently and less regularly than normal and the body reacts! You feel bloated and your elimination is sluggish. This in the end will often lead to cellulite. To prevent this use Aromatica’s cellulite gels. They are powerful in reducing centimeters and getting rid of the cellulite and excess fluid as well as activating the elimination of waste. You will feel better fast.

In July we visited the new Vierumäki Resort and Spa. It is a beautiful, stylishly restful and definitely international standard with friendly and professional staff. So far I have trained them in the Stress neck massage treatment method and for later in the autumn we have planned the cellulite treatment training. Near the Spa reception there is a small shop were you can find Aromatica’s Sport- and Lady Grace products among others. You can find the large variety of activities and programmes offered by Vierumäki and Vierumäki Resort & Spa at http://www.vierumaki.fi.

The uncommonly warm summer has nurtured us Finns as it has done to the rest of the Europeans and smiles have been easy. The sun will still be caressing, giving its light and strengthening us for a few weeks yet though the days are drawing shorter. Now the forests and the gardens are full of ripening fruits. We can fill our tanks with their vitamins and flavonoides in store for autumn and winter to keep us feeling well and satisfied by nourishing our senses and bodies and by improving our immune defences.

Wishing you gentle, warmly aromatic summer sensations