STRESS MANAGEMENT

Today's world is a fast-paced superhighway that increases our external demands. Our communication network including television, commercial messages, Internet, e-mails, Blackberry's and voicemails ties us to our global community...not to mention our personal connection with work, family, children, households and our own local community. These increasing demands drive our stress levels to the point of compromising our health. The No. 1 reason people go to the spa is to reduce/relieve stress and relax.  According to the World Health Organization, by 2020 the top five diseases will all have the underlying contributing factor of stress.  It's time to take a time-out at the spa to re-charge your batteries. 

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that people who went for a single deep-tissue massage showed an average 7-point reduction in their systolic and diastolic blood pressures. Over time, these lower blood pressure numbers could add as many as 6 years to a person's life!  Visiting a spa can aid in stress reduction, offering a chance to relax, rejuvenate and refresh with any number of spa experiences.  Massage alone is proven to not only reduce stress, but decrease anxiety, enhance sleep quality and improve concentration, as well as aiding in injury prevention and recovery.  Other treatments like acupuncture, meditation and guided imagery can help cut down your anxiety. ISPA's Medical Advisor, Dr. Brent Bauer, the director of the Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. discusses how stress can affect us and ways we can prevent it in a Q&A article for LiveSpa magazine.  Dr. Bauer says adhering to these three pillars of wellness can change your lifestyle for the better: nutrition, exercise and stress management.

Spa treatments may relieve existing symptoms but they also provide the tools for long term prevention of the elements that create stress in your life.  The spa experience can assist you in living a life of greater health, energy, happiness and well-being.  The psychological benefits of the spa, often referred to as well-being, are immense.  Spas enhance well-being through a holistic approach, explained thoroughly in Jeremy McCarthy's, director of Global Spa Development & Operations at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide article Consumer, Heal Thyself: Spas and the Psychology of Well-being.

Think about it - Wouldn't you rather invest in your health and well-being now then end up in a doctor's office for stress-related illness down the road? When you are able to pause and allow all the chatter we are inundated with daily to stop, you may once again find your balance.
 
The members of the International SPA Association are here to help you achieve your greatest potential and to help you keep connected to your true essence.