Philosophy
Mens sana in corpore sano
(harmony of mind and body)
Wellness & Health
The spa provides the guest with the experience of feeling healthy and well. When this experience is combined with information, instruction and practice on diet, exercise and relaxation techniques, one has the tools and the motivation for lifestyle change.
Adopting healthy lifestyle practices will prolong our enjoyment of good health, and allow us achieve more of our goals – personal and economic. It will postpone the onset of ill health and costly medical care. It will help in coping and recovering from illness and adversity. It will empower us to get more from life.
A spa will not claim to offer diagnosis or cure for grave medical conditions, but we can offer training in those elements of our healthcare for which we ourselves can take responsibility.
Measurable Benefits
The spa practices have measurable physiological benefits, by inducing the Relaxation Response, a measurable change in hormonal balance that reverses the effects of stress on the internal chemistry of the body.
Inducing Homeostasis , an optimal balance in body chemistry that is favourable to health and vitality.
Restoring a more regular pattern of Heart Rate Variability, a pattern with which many of the physiological processes that maintain our health are aligned.
At a more subtle level, spa practices have the potential to restore Felt Connections with oneself, with society, and with a sense of meaning and purpose. All of these felt connections are acknowledged as contributing to greater physical health and mental wellbeing.
Most of the benefits of a spa stay or visit are gained just by taking part. Longer term benefits can be gained from deeper understanding and a more conscious approach.
REPORT FROM CORNELL UNIVERSITY
“Compared to non-destination spa vacationers,
after a Destination Spa vacation, spa goers felt they:
'Led business affairs with more insight, energy and creativity'
'Returned to work significantly more energetic and alert'
'Found their decision making was enhanced and ability to handle challenges markedly improved'
'Felt significantly more focussed'
(Canyon Ranch News)
Heart Health
Happiness makes a heart beat longer. The latest medical research vindicates popular sentiment. Happiness, or profound contentment that we feel and know in our heart, has been proven to be the most accurate predictor of physical health, and of longevity.
While we all know that our hearts beat a particular number of times each minute, as measured by our pulse, what may come as a surprise to learn is that the interval between heartbeats is not fixed. The heart quickens and slows. Some heartbeats follow more closely together, some are further apart.
It is this ability of the heart to quicken and slow that allows the body to respond to a changing environment. When we are resting the heart slows more, when demanding physical activity is required the heart quickens more. If the heart beat at fixed intervals only, then it would not be able to respond to the varying situations we find ourselves in.
A healthy heart quickens and slows in a regular pattern. The “Heart Rate Variability” ( HRV) of a healthy heart is described as “coherent”. When the heart rate varies in a coherent pattern, it has been shown to have a positive influence on mental and physiological activity in the body. In other words, the body is healthy and our thinking is clear. We perform at our best. Our thoughts and actions are consistent with our feelings and intuition. It is a state of being that we can appreciate intuitively, but may only experience in rare moments.
In contrast a stressed - or distressed - heart does not show the same regular pattern of heart rate variability. The heart quickens and slows in an irregular pattern described as lacking coherence, or chaotic. The body's physiology and mental clarity suffer. We lack focus. Our thoughts and feelings are confused. We become prone to chronic ill health, shortening and diminishing the quality of our lives.
Popular sentiment has always placed emphasis on the role of the heart in our emotional wellbeing – as expressed in words such as warm-hearted, soft-hearted, cold-hearted, hard-hearted, light-hearted, heavy heart, wholeheartedly, heartbreak, etc. Now, improved understanding of the body's physiology reaffirms the role of the heart in our physiological and mental health.
Happiness, or profound contentment that we feel and know in our heart, has been shown to be the most accurate predictor of physical health. We can strengthen our hearts and enjoy better health by paying more attention to the quality of our emotional lives, in combination with physical activity, good nutrition and rest.
We can learn to feel the presence of the heart physically in our bodies and to nurture its good health, not necessarily 100% of the time but sufficiently to gain a benefit.
A computer programme is available to monitor heart rate variability and demonstrate coherence. With practice, users learn to induce a coherent heart rhythm for themselves, in the process exerting a positive influence on their own heart and overall health.
Yoga
The programmes at Temple are intended to integrate physical and mental wellbeing.
While on the surface, the spa appears to be all about pampering, there is a deeper vein of activity that draws guests back again and again.
One avenue to health is the practice of yoga. Yoga is an ancient physical practice that has the goal of a balanced physiology. The stretches stimulate the circulation and release tension, they have a balancing effect on the hormonal glands and on the nervous system. They promote suppleness and flexibility.
Yoga is practiced with sensitivity. Sensitivity to physical limitations, and not straining beyond them. Sensitivity to the effects of the postures, that we feel as we practice. Sensitivity to the effects of the practice as a whole and of resting afterwards.
Yoga is practiced with the intention of nurturing the body. Participants develop a somatic, or physical sensitivity, that encourages them to eat, drink and rest wisely. They develop an emotional sensitivity that encourages them to appreciate the gifts of the moment, and to acknowledge and be open to joy and pain. |
