ALL ABOUT SPAS Indulging in spas began thousands of years ago when people started soaking themselves in hot springs. The relaxing element of water hasn't changed and it is still one of the most relaxing treatments to experience. A spa originating from the Latin 'Salus Per Aqua' which means 'health through water', is a place where you are indulged, be pampered and receive spa treatments such as massages, facials and body treatments. Spas are devoted to enhancing overall well-being. But there are many different types of spas: - Day Spa. It offers spa treatments on a day-use basis. Many also offer salon services. - Destination Spa. Its sole purpose is to help lead a healthier lifestyle through spa treatments, exercise, and educational programming. Stay is at least two nights. Some have minimum stays of three or seven nights. Spa cuisine is served exclusively. - Resort/Hotel Spa. Is located within a resort or hotel, offering spa services, fitness classes and spa cuisine alongside less healthy choices like steaks and burgers. - Medical Spa. Offers treatments requiring a doctor's supervision, such as laser resurfacing and Botox injections. It also offers spa treatments. - Mineral Springs Spa. Has natural mineral, thermal or seawater that is used in hydrotherapy treatments. - Club Spa. A day spa located in a fitness facility or health club. - Cruise Ship Spa. Aboard a cruise ship that provides spa treatments, fitness and wellness components and spa cuisine menu choices. - Airport Spa. Is located in an airport and specialises in shorter treatments, such as the 15-minute chair massage and oxygen therapy. Some also offer longer treatments. HISTORY OF THE SPA The word 'Spa' has become associated with the old European spa towns where natural springs, hot or cold, saline or sulphuric, produce endless quantities of natural water. Britons of the Victorian era were famous for travelling widely to ‘take the waters’ of spa towns throughout Europe, including over 100 in the UK, which were believed to have medicinal or healing powers. Many of the famous European spa towns were actually put on the map over two thousand years ago during the Roman invasion when they took their already advanced bathing culture to where they were settled at the time. An example being the Emperor Caracalla, who believed the hot springs of Baden Baden in Germany cured his arthritis and where he consequently built one of the finest bathing houses outside Rome. The whole culture of spa bathing was not the original idea of the Romans. Indeed, they built bathing houses or spas in great style, but the treatments offered in the modern spa have much wider and indeed older origins. The practice of travelling to hot or cold springs in hopes of effecting a cure of some ailment dates to prehistoric times. Archaeological investigations near hot springs in France and Czechoslovakia revealed Bronze Age weapons and offerings. In Great Britain, ancient legend credited early Celtic kings with the discovery of the hot springs at Bath, England. The Middle East provided the origins for the increasingly popular mud bathing, with the mineral rich silt of the Dead Sea having been used for treating skin conditions for many thousands of years. Similarly the Ancient Egyptians valued the healing powers of the mud of the Nile delta, having brought minerals and deposits from the high mountain ranges of Ethiopia. First documentary evidence that a bathing culture existed was in Ancient Egypt. Walls adorned with hieroglyphics depicted bathing scenes. Cleopatra was of course famed for her love of bathing in ass’s milk to preserve her legendary beauty. Many people around the world believed that bathing in a particular spring, well, or river resulted in physical and spiritual purification. Forms of ritual purification existed among the native Americans, Persians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. Today, ritual purification through water can be found in the religious ceremonies of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Buddhist and Hindus. These ceremonies reflect the ancient belief in the healing and purifying properties of water. Complex bathing rituals were also practiced in ancient Egypt, in prehistoric cities of the Indus Valley and in Aegean civilizations. Bathing in Greece (800 BC -146 BC) Some of the earliest descriptions of western bathing practices came from Greece. The Greeks began bathing regimens that formed the foundation for modern spa procedures. These Aegean people utilized small bathtubs, washbasins, and foot baths for personal cleanliness. They established public baths and showers within their gymnasium complexes for relaxation and personal hygiene. Greek mythology specified that certain natural springs or tidal pools were blessed by the gods to cure disease. Around these sacred pools, Greeks established bathing facilities for those desiring healing. Supplicants left offerings to the gods for healing at these sites and bathed themselves in hopes of a cure. The Spartans developed a primitive vapor bath. At Serangeum, an early Greek balneum (bathhouse, loosely translated), bathing chambers were cut into the hillside from which the hot springs issued. A series of niches cut into the rock above the chambers held bathers' clothing. One of the bathing chambers had a decorative mosaic floor depicting a driver and chariot pulled by four horses, a woman followed by two dogs, and a dolphin below. Thus, the early Greeks used the natural features, but expanded them and added their own amenities, such as decorations and shelves. During later Greek civilization, bathhouses were often built in conjunction with athletic fields. Ancient Roman bathing (27 BC - 476 AD) The Romans emulated many of the Greek bathing practices. Romans surpassed the Greeks in the size and complexity of their baths. As in Greece, the Roman bath became a focal centre for social and recreational activity. As the Roman Empire expanded, the idea of the public bath spread to all parts of the Mediterranean and into regions of Europe and North Africa. With the construction of the aqueducts, the Romans had enough water not only for domestic, agricultural and industrial uses, but also for their leisurely pursuits. The aqueducts provided water that was later heated for use in the baths. Today, the extent of the Roman bath is revealed at ruins and in archaeological excavations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The Romans also developed baths in their colonies, taking advantage of the natural hot springs occurring in Europe to construct baths at Aix and Vichy in France, Bath and Buxton in England, Aachen and Wiesbaden in Germany, Baden, Austria, and Aquincum in Hungary and other locations. These baths became centres for recreational and social activities in Roman communities. Libraries, lecture halls, gymnasiums and formal gardens became part of some bath complexes. In addition, the Romans used the hot thermal waters to relieve their suffering from rheumatism, arthritis and overindulgence in food and drink. The decline of the Roman Empire resulted in Roman legions abandoning their outlying provinces and leaving the baths to be taken over by the local population or destroyed. The Romans elevated bathing to a fine art. Their bathhouses physically reflected these advancements. The Roman bath, for instance, included a far more complex ritual than a simple immersion or sweating procedure. The various parts of the bathing ritual — undressing, bathing, sweating, receiving a massage and resting — required separated rooms which the Romans built to accommodate those functions. The segregation of the sexes and the additions of diversions not directly related to bathing also had direct impacts on the shape and form of bathhouses. The elaborate Roman bathing ritual and its resultant architecture served as precedents for later European and American bathing facilities. Formal garden spaces and opulent architectural arrangement equal to those of the Romans reappeared in Europe by the end of the eighteenth century. Bathing in Medieval times With the decline of the Roman Empire, the public baths often became places of licentious behavior and such use was responsible for the spread rather than the cure of diseases. A general belief developed among the European populace was that frequent bathing promoted disease and sickness. Medieval church authorities encouraged this belief and made every effort to close down public baths. Ecclesiastical officials believed that public bathing created an environment open to immorality and disease. Roman Catholic Church officials even banned public bathing in an unsuccessful effort to halt syphilis epidemics from sweeping Europe. Overall, this period represented a time of decline for public bathing. People continued to seek out a few select hot and cold springs, believed to be holy wells, to cure various ailments. In an age of religious fervor, the benefits of the water were attributed to God or one of the saints. In 1326 Collin le Loup, an ironmaster from Liefe, Belgium, discovered the chalybeate springs of Spa, Belgium. Around these springs, a famous health resort eventually grew and the term "spa" came to refer to any health resort located near natural springs. During this time, individual springs became associated with the specific ailment that they could allegedly benefit. Bathing procedures during this period varied greatly. By the 16th century, physicians at Karlsbad, Bohemia, prescribed that the mineral water be taken internally as well as externally. Patients periodically bathed in warm water for up to 10 or 11 hours while drinking glasses of mineral water. Bathing in the 18th century In the 17th century most upper-class Europeans washed their clothes with water often and washed only their faces (with linen), - bathing the entire body was considered a lower-class activity. The upper-class slowly began changing their attitudes toward bathing as a way to restore health later in that century. The wealthy flocked to health resorts to drink and bathe in the waters. During the 18th century a revival in the medical uses of spring water took place among some Italian, German and English physicians. Dr. David Beecher in 1777 recommended that patients came to the fountainhead for the water and that each patient should first do some prescribed exercises. This innovation increased the medicinal benefits obtained and gradually physical activity became part of the European bathing regimen. Bathing in the 19th and 20th centuries Bathing became a more accepted practice as physicians realised some of the benefits that cleanliness could provide. In 1842 Liverpool, a cholera epidemic resulted in a sanitation renaissance — more people bathed and washed their clothes. In England, hot showers were installed in barracks and schools by the 1880s. The taboos against bathing disappeared with advancements in medical science; the worldwide medical community was even promoting the benefits of bathing. In addition, the Victorian taste for the exotic lent itself perfectly to seeking out the curative powers of thermal water. By the mid-19th century the situation had changed dramatically. Visitors to the European spas began to stress bathing in addition to drinking the waters. Besides fountains, pavilions and Trinkhallen, bathhouses on the scale of the Roman baths were revived. The buildings were usually separated by function - with the Trinkhalle, the bathhouse, the inhalatorium (for inhaling the vapors) and the Kurhaus or Conversationhaus that was the centre of social activity. Baden-Baden featured golf courses and tennis courts. By the beginning of the 19th century the European bathing regimen consisted of numerous accumulated traditions. The bathing routine included soaking in hot water, drinking the water, steaming in a vapor room, and relaxing in a cooling room. In addition doctors ordered that patients be douched with hot or cold water and given a select diet to promote a cure. Authors began writing guidebooks to the health resorts of Europe explaining the medical benefits and social amenities of each. Rich Europeans and Americans travelled to these resorts to take in cultural activities and the baths. At the beginning of the 20th century, European spas combined a strict diet and exercise regimen with a complex bathing procedure to achieve benefits for the patients. The Sauna The need to cleanse the body and hence to beautify is the timeless message of the spa, with relaxation being a by-product. The origins of the Sauna lie in the need to cleanse the body, although the health benefits now known to be associated with this form of bathing have come to be realised only in the past 40 years. Finland is credited with the birth place of the sauna, although the whole of the frozen north of Europe is now known to have had similar forms of bathing, for example the Russian Banya, which is almost identical in design and purpose to the Finnish Sauna. The sauna started life as a timber clad pit in the ground, where logs were burned to heat large stones. As the logs burned out the stones retained their heat and once the smoke from the burnt logs disappeared, the users would sit in the cabin and sweat. As the occupant became hotter they would leave the cabin, sweating profusely and use the snow outside to wipe off the sweat and dirt form the skin. Repeating the process a number of times as the need to be clean dictated. Hence the renowned practice of ‘rolling in snow’ after bathing in the sauna. Of course, the origins have more practical roots, as water was in short supply in the frozen winters of the north! The Ottoman empire gave birth to the Hamam, or Turkish Bath as it is known by many. Once again using sweating as a form of cleansing, the traditional Hamam has religious origins with a visit preceding a visit to the Mosque. The old Hamams of Istanbul have beautiful interiors with fantastic examples of traditional Muslim ceramic and mosaic art with inscriptions from the Koran often being present on the walls. However, fine examples of Hamams also exist in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. The heat source and form of bathing owes something to the Romans, as the Hamam became a meeting place where a large chamber was vaguely subdivided with different areas at different temperatures, offering the ability to sweat or just relax and talk. However, the chamber was dominated by the hot 'bellystone', an octagonal, raised, heated platform, where the famous soap massage was performed. Masseurs worked in the Hamam offering their services to the occupants in return for tips. The modern spa can offer all these treatments and many more based on massage and meditation with origins in India and the Far East where the culture has given birth to a more 'hands on' range of treatments which can be performed in suitably tranquil and spacious treatment rooms which form an essential part of the spa. Glossary Sauna - essentially a timber cabin with a heat source radiating warmth from the panelled walls via heated stones. Operating at between 80 and 105degrees Celsius. Many versions available, but the most authentic are the Kelo log house saunas replicating the early origins of this form of bathing. Sanarium - a revolutionary product derived from the sauna cabin by Klafs of Germany, this cabin is built using traditional sauna techniques, but is operated at lower temperatures of 55 to 70 degrees Celsius and with the introduction of aromatic humidity at up to 50%, bathers can stay longer in the cabin. Medical research has proven regular use of a Sanarium twice a week can reduce hypertension (high blood pressure) on a permanent basis without the use of any drugs. Steam Bath - often given a name from the Roman bathing times such as Laconium or Sudatorium, the steam bath should be exactly this, a room of between 42 and 48 degrees Celsius with 100% humidity provided by hot steam. The steam is normally injected with aromatic extracts of essential oils. Whilst acrylic 'pods' are available. Caldarium - again from the Roman times, this is a warm ceramic room, with a temperature of 40 - 50 degrees Celsius in which bathers can relax for long periods of time in comfortable ergonomically designed benches or individual, heated loungers. The walls, floors and benches are heated to enable deep penetration of the warmth to the body promoting a feeling of wellbeing and relaxation. Aromas can be introduced via a humidifier to enhance this beneficial treatment. Hamam - more often than not, constructed with traditional domed cupola in the roof with perforations or lights to replicate the originals of the Ottoman Empire, the modern spa Hamam will normally be of similar size to a steam bath but with the traditional 'hot stone', located in an adjacent room enabling individual clients to receive the soap massage in private. Heated walls, benches and floor with possibly 40% humidity from a steam source give an authentic atmosphere to this room finished in traditional Turkish tiles. The inclusion of a Hamam within a spa offers an income stream from massage. The Mud Bath - rasul is the name for a mud bath as manufactured by the German company Haslauer but they are also known as Serails and Cleopatra baths. This treatment is fast becoming an essential experience for every spa. Bathers are presented with a bowl containing three types of mud for different parts of the body, one for the face, torso and then arms and legs. Impregnated with various grades of salt crystals the application of the mud also provides mild exfoliation. As the bathers apply the mud (or have it applied by a therapist), so the room heats up and becomes steamy as it is essential the mud stays wet on the skin for maximum benefit. The treatment ends when an automatic shower of tropical rain is operated above each seat to enable the mud to be washed from the bathers. The Foot Spa - is traditionally an area where warm ceramic or mosaic benches offer a place to relax and be comfortable, whilst bathing the feet in warm (never hot) water. For those who have spent any time in colder climates it will be a familiar feeling of the numbness of your feet associated with a cold morning. This is because the small amount of flesh and fat on the feet, but with large number of blood vessels, allow them to get cold faster than any other part of the body as heat from the blood is lost almost immediately. By the same action, the blood can absorb heat through the feet more quickly than anywhere else, so after heating the body in, for example, the sauna, then cooling it in the ice igloo or plunge pool, guests can then slowly equalise the body temperature by bathing the feet in warm water. Specialised products are now on the market offering a complete reflexology based massage using whirlpool and air jet technology. Fun Showers - it is essential that showers should be in abundance in the spa, not only are they now present in most treatment rooms, they should be available wherever a heat experience is offered as it is vital that clients should be able to cool down after using one of the hot rooms. Plunge Pools - only for the brave, these traditional pools again stem from the Romans, when it was realised the surge of blood, caused by contracting blood vessels, which had previously expanded in the hot rooms, was indeed a particularly invigorating experience. This practice is now accepted as a beneficial way of increasing blood flow and by regular practice helps to naturally reduce cholesterol levels in arteries and relieving hypertension. Purists would have it that a plunge pool should be barely above freezing point but in reality temperatures of 12 - 20°C are perfectly effective. Ice Caves and Igloos – For the faint hearted who cannot face the plunge pool, the gentler experience of the cool air associated with the northern extremes can be created by a tiled, domed roof ‘Igloo’ or a ‘cave’ formed in replica rock and maintained at 4-5°C. With an ice fountain inside these rooms, crushed ice can be applied to the limbs gently and selectively to cool the body. The cool air in the rooms allows the lungs and hence the blood to be cooled from within. Snow Caverns - using modern techniques to create real snow, there can be nothing more realistic than stepping from a traditional log sauna into a rock faced landscape in which there has been a fresh fall of real snow with which to cool the body. Operating at -15°C, these rooms are becoming features of the modern spa. To understand and organize this overwhelming variety of spa offerings, the International Spa Association (ISPA) has defined the "ten domains of SPA" or segments of the industry as: 1. "The Waters" 2. Food, Nourishment, Diet and Nutrition 3. Movement, Exercise and Fitness 4. Touch, Massage, and Bodywork 5. Mind/Body/Spirit 6. Aesthetics, Skin Care, Natural Beauty Agents 7. Physical Space, Climatology, Global Ecology 8. Social/Cultural Arts and Values, Spa Culture 9. Management, Marketing, and Operations 10. Time, Rhythm, and Cycles Choosing a Spa There are quite a few spas throughout the UK and overseas. Choosing one can be a difficult choice. mychoicebeauty.com is having the luxury of visiting as many as we can and will report back on our findings.  Our latest visit was to Ragdale Hall, Health Hydro & Thermal Spa, based in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.  It is a fantastic place and has regular special offers.  Ragdale Hall has received Health Spa of the Year awards each year for the last ten years, since 1999 and is the only UK health spa to achieve this.   They have won “Best Destination Spa” in the Professional Beauty Awards six times in the last nine years, and in 2007 Ragdale were voted Best Destination Spa in Europe.  Ragdale Hall is definitely worth a visit. If you would like to recommend a spa that mychoicebeauty.com should feature, then please contact us. SpaFinder mychoicebeauty.com have teamed up with SpaFinder, a hugely successful online and offline marketing company. SpaFinder has 5000+ spa partners worldwide and 300+ in the UK that accept SpaFinder gift vouchers. Founded in 1986, SpaFinder has offices in the United States, Europe and Japan. The company has a substantial online presence - its award winning website is in the top 3% of global websites and attracts over 4.5 million spa enthusiasts every year. SpaFinder also operates an international spa gift voucher and gift card programme, driving significant levels of new business to its spa partners. The company also publishes Luxury SpaFinder Magazine Interactive, the trusted authority on luxury spas and associated lifestyles; as well as its annual SpaFinder Worldwide Directory, "the ultimate spa-goers' resource". "The Gift of Spa" couldn’t be easier! With a SpaFinder Gift Voucher you or your loved ones can choose from facials, massages, manicures, pedicures, body treatments ... and a lot more! The vouchers can be used at hundreds of spas across the UK and thousands of spas around the world. SpaFinder Gift Vouchers make ideal presents for Valentine's Day, Easter, Father's Day, Mother's Day, Christmas, Birthdays, Anniversaries and other special occasions. They are easy-to-buy, easy-to-send and give an inspiring wellness, health and happiness 'loving you' message. And they're a perfect personal gift too - go on, you know you’ve earned it!  Just click on any of the pictures to order.   Lisa Lisa Claber MCIPR