UpClose & Personal - Richard Eidson

We were very fortunate to go on a natural spa journey to many of nature's spas where all the natural healing elements combine to produce a profound positive experience. It is these feelings that are so valuable for us to re-create in our spas.

I went with Nancy Ahuna, a very experienced and successful esthetician, who has a spa in Oakland. Nancy and I are engaged. She recently came to Fairfield, Iowa where my company and the Raja, a leading Ayurvedic destination spa, are located. Nancy spent five days at the Raja in an intensive cleansing and balancing program. Once she was finished, we began our wonderful tour of spas.

Nature creates unique, magical spa environments in some very special places. Just going there produces special healing benefits, especially when combined with spa treatments done there. Ultimately, creates ourhuman bodies and the healing process as well as the herbs, seaweeds, and other natural products. These natural healing locations each have elements of water, sun, color, air, plants and trees that combine with 's healing intelligence to create some amazing experiences that are unique to these places.

From Iowa, we went to Colorado to enjoy the beauty of the high mountains and natural hot springs. We first went to Valley View Hot Springs, about four hours south of Denver. There were many natural hot water pools surrounded by beautiful flowers and vegetation where you could bathe in the sunlight or shade. The air was very pure. Quickly we became immersed in the natural healing benefits of both water and environment.Near the pools we could

do massage, a seaweed treatment as well as meditate and do yoga. It was if had created a place with such a powerful healing energy that just being there was enough to incline you to other healing activities.

From there we went to Orvis Hot Springs in Ouray, not far from Telluride. At this hot springs you have a magnificent view of the San Juan Mountains with peaks over 14,000 feet high. The healing energy of the water was very powerful. Once again we combined our stay there with our own massages, seaweed and mud treatments, meditation and yoga. The sunlight, colors, air and the view made this another magical place with

profound healing energy. From there we went to two more hot springs in Colorado and, after a short break, went to the island of Kauai in Hawaii with Nancy's daughter.
For Nancy, who is part Hawaiian, going to Kauai to camp on Pohalie Beach is a yearly ritual. This beach, located at the beginning of the Napli Coast, is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and very few people go there. We spent six days camping, enjoying the beauty of the ocean, mountains and nearby rainforest. Kauai has one of the most profoundly beautiful rain forests in the world.

We both felt such a soft, nurturing healing energy just by being there. We continued our massage, seaweed and mud treatments, meditation and yoga, but this time after each treatment, we had to only walk a few feet to bathe in the clear, warm ocean water with great waves.

And just to make sure we were healed, we spent two days at Orr Hot Springs located three hours north of the Bay Area, between Highway 101 and the coast near Mendocino. Here the healing magic of the waters combines with the powerful calmness of the redwood trees. What a perfect way to end our spa journey in nature. We returned to Nancy's spa in Oakland grateful for our recent opportunities.

We learned so much about the healing elements, intelligence and energies of nature by just spending time in them. And these are the same healing elements that we can enliven in our spas, even if we can't be in nature's special places.

Sunset

innospa@lisco.com