Is it coincidental that the surge in the popularity of spas correlates to the aging baby-boomers and the perennial thirtysomethings who are now really fortysomethings seeking the fountain of youth? Or could there also be a growing awareness of the connection between our bodies, minds, emotions and spirits that are drawing folks to spas?

Phuket is no slouch when it comes to being competitive in the global tourism market. Although it has lagged behind its sister island of Samui in following the lead of the famous Chiva Som spa in Hua Hin, it's now rapidly catching up. Spas are blossoming all over Phuket like brilliant water lilies. From the simple concrete square block out back of the bungalows to luxurious enticements of the high-end resorts, spas are here to stay.

But, hold on a minute. Just what is a spa, and what do spas have to do with beauty?

The word "spa", according to the Cambridge International English Dictionary refers to a place, "usually fashionable, where water comes out of the ground and people come to drink or lie in it because they think it will improve their health." Well, Phuket is definitely a fashionable place with plenty of water around to lie in or drink, but our concept of a spa has evolved from the days when Baden-Baden in Germany and Bath in England were once on the top of Europe's "spas to be seen at" list.

Today's spas offer more than odorous mineral water in which to lie about, and herbal teas make a preferred libation. Spas today — e.g. the Jasmina Spa, at the Amari Coral Beach Resort, or the Angsana Spas at Laguna Resorts — are probably closer to Cleopatra's purported beauty regimen of milk baths and scented oil massages. Yet all of these incarnations of what we now broadly refer to as a spa have a common thread: the improvement of one's health and, subsequently, one's appearance.

Defining beauty is as difficult as it is to say what a spa really is. Beauty is subjective. It's a cultural attitude firmly fixed in the eye of the beholder. Once again consulting the dictionary, beauty is defined as "the quality of being pleasing, especially to look at, or someone or something that gives great pleasure, especially by being looked at." The advertising industry likes to dictate our concepts of beauty, while the scientific community thinks they've arrived at what exactly humans perceive as attractive. Yet the reality is that beauty is more than skin deep. It comes from within, from having a healthy mind and spirit as well as a healthy body.

For hundreds of years, mainstream Western medical science has been based on Descartes' mechanistic theory of the separation of mind and body. That theory has finally, thankfully, been discarded in favour of exploring how our thoughts and feelings influence our bodies and our health. It turns out that when we think a certain way, or experience certain emotions, we release or suppress the chemicals and hormones that run our bodies. These actions in turn affect our immune system, our mental state and our state of health.

Mother Nature equipped us with an efficient defense system we call "fight or flight", a metabolic response with a hair trigger. It's designed to elicit specific physical responses to a specific danger for just long enough to escape or to kill the unlucky attacker. Today we can't run away from the dangers in our lives — the stress imposed by our kids, our boss, or our financial debts — no matter how appealing the idea may be at the moment. Instead, we sit stewing in an acidic/hormonal internal bath of our own making. The physical result is less than beautiful. We can't return to our primitive roots and readjust things just so our body's metabolism feels at home. But we can develop different strategies for coping with stress. And spas can help show the way.

So what does this all have to do with beauty? Well, think of the people you consider beautiful. Do they all possess perfect features in a perfectly symmetrical face, perfectly proportioned and toned bodies, perfect flawless skin and glistening hair? Probably not. There's something else, isn't there? Khun Sirima Eamtako, of Angsana Spas, suggests this: "It is the well-being of the body, mind and spirit that create the glow of one's emotional and physical beauty." To achieve this goal, Angsana spa retreats (sisters to the Banyan Tree Spas) are designed as sanctuaries for the inner self, refreshing and rejuvenating one's spirit as well as one's physical well being as, from time to time, the self needs solitude, space and peace to recharge its batteries.

The Angsana therapy rooms at the Allamanda Laguna Resort enclose you in soothing comfort. Diffuse green light reflected from the surrounding foliage enters the room through softly draped windows while shutting out the outside world, bringing an immediate sense of tranquility. The air is redolent of incense, flowers soothe the eyes, gentle music sets the tone and you are free to drift away for the next few hours. As the therapist works to bring your physical body back into balance, the surrounds help you balance the inner bodies. Emerging from the treatment, you feel inwardly calm yet physically ready to take on the world.

Jasmina Spa, another high-end spa retreat, is terraced along a hillside at the southwest end of Patong Beach. The pavilions are open-air, offering a view of Patong Bay stretching north in a great arc while cruise ships and longtails share the waters below. Khun Sangngoen Thampradit, Spa Manager, believes their clientele has changed over the years: "Most people who come today are interested in being healthy."

Jasmina offers a four-step whole-body programme. It begins with a steam bath or Jacuzzi, which opens the pores and allows toxins to be drawn to the surface. This is followed by an exfoliant treatment to scrub off those toxins along with dead cells and general roughage from daily wear and tear. Tamarind is a common ingredient in exfoliants, and has been traditionally used by Thai women for hundreds of years in beauty treatments (and we all know how beautiful Thai women are). A deep-tissue massage follows using essential oils. The therapists choose an oil that's based on your skin type and your preference. A deep-cleansing facial treatment helps keep your public image looking good. For a deeper health experience, the Jasmina Spa also offers a massage that targets the lymph system, effectively our body's garbage dump.

"Personally," says the Evason Resort's Anna Keen, area spa manager, Southeast Asia, for Six Senses Spa, "I no longer feel that beauty can be defined as only physical. There is a definite connection with energy, in particular happiness and love, and with beauty. I believe attitude and perception is everything, as this can make the difference how you view your life and the energy that people feel when they are around you. What spas basically offer their clientele is a combination of pampering, healing and rejuvenating treatments with healthy cuisine and exercise. At Six Senses, we believe in providing the tools and support to create a better lifestyle for all."

The mind-body holistic concept currently embraced by up-scale spa resorts may have begun elsewhere in the world, but it correlates with traditional Thai medicine, which holds that the body is composed of four elements: wind, fire, water and earth. These elements must be in balance or the body will fall ill. Modern physiologists refer to this state of balance as homeostasis, and our bodies strive to maintain this every second of our lives. In Thai medicine, if we were to become imbalanced or ill, leaves, fruit, bark, roots and seeds from the surrounding foliage would be ground, steamed, brewed into a tea or applied as a poultice. Once balance was restored, health returned. This same practice and philosophy continues today.

Today's spas embrace this same philosophy. Anna puts it this way: "Negative emotions will clearly affect your health and, therefore, the way you look and feel. It is usually all about establishing a balance in our lives, and 'balance' is really the key. This means on a basic level taking time out for ourselves, eating and sleeping well. In a spa environment, it means being pampered with treatments, learning how to relax with yoga and breathing exercises, and experiencing healing treatments such as reiki and kinesiology."

The path to beauty doesn't have to run through the manicured gardens of an upscale spa, for Thais have continued to turn to their traditional health and beauty routines for both maintaining and restoring balance. Perhaps the path may wander through one of the many local saunas found on the island where you will find herbal steam to cleanse your body of toxins, Thai and other therapeutic massages to de-stress, and reflexology to help correct imbalances. Many of these saunas are found off the main roads, down a smaller soi or nestled in a overgrown jungle of green and most are open-air pavilions, adding to a sense of being at peace with the world around you.

As the modern world rediscovers the natural, holistic approach to health and beauty, interest in Asian traditional herbal therapies intensifies. Many of the up-scale spas have developed their own cleansing and detoxifying creams and lotions, along with essential oils made from indigenous herbs for both aromatherapy and massage. After experiencing the benefits of these products, you can often buy some to take home so you continue your own personal health and beauty routine.

Whatever path you decide to take — expensive pampering, or local no-frills — in the end, the final result will be a more beautiful you. A body in balance, your skin cleansed and glowing, eyes sparkling, hair glistening, and a general air of energetic lightness and expectancy. This is true beauty, and this is what a spa can do for you.

Alternative Therapies

Alternative Therapies


Many spas today, acknowledging the vital part played by the mind-body-spirit connection in health and beauty, incorporate elements of alternative therapies in their treatments. Often they also offer classes you may attend while here on holiday. Below are brief descriptions of some of the more common additions to the spa menu.

Thai Massage
The techniques used in Thai massage have been applied for more than 2000 years in both preventing illnesses and healing the body. It's been described as a type of “passive” yoga since, like yoga, every muscle group is stretched and every joint loosened, only a practitioner does it to you using their hands, elbows, feet, knees and legs, instead of you doing it yourself. There are countless local saunas, spas and massage businesses on the island.

Yoga
Dating back more than 5000 years, yoga is one of the oldest forms of physical and spiritual healing. Little has changed in those years in the poses or the breathing techniques. In fact, the breathing techniques of hatha yoga are frequently employed by deep-sea divers to expand their lung capacity. There are a number of different forms of yoga but the most commonly practiced ones are hatha, which concentrates on postures and breath control; raja, which focuses on meditation; and ashtanga yoga, which combines hatha, and raja. Yoga teachers and classes are frequently found at upscale resorts as well as at one of the few healing or movement centres on the island.

Reiki
Reiki is a prime example of what is meant by the "laying on of hands". Reiki is a Japanese word meaning "universal life energy", and incorporates the belief that all beings share the same energy with the universe. The practitioner will use their own hands as a transmitter of this universal healing energy, focusing their hands over your body at about a space of an inch or two. This is a subtle healing technique, which works more on shifting our awareness, helping us heal ourselves.

Ayurveda
Ayurveda is another ancient healing system originating in India where it has been practized for thousands of years. In Sanskrit, ayurveda means the "science of life" and generally means the knowledge of daily living. It is based on the belief that any imbalance between our bodies, minds and our environment will begin the process of disease or illness. Ayurveda works to correct this imbalance or to prevent it in the first place.

Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is said to be over 6,000 years old. The essential oils from a plant's flowers, leaves, branches, bark, rind or roots are produced through steam distillation or cold pressing which are then blended with “carrier” oil such as grapeseed or almond and absorbed into the body via the skin, through massage, the lungs and inhalation. Aromatherapy is widely used to reduce stress, as well as to rejuvenate and detoxify the body. Caution: Never take aromatherapy oils internally, as they are extremely potent and some can be poisonous and, if you have high blood pressure or epilepsy, never treat yourself.