P : How can spas do a better job of focusing on that mental aspect of improving sleep ? R : I ’ ve been going to spas for a very long time , and I remember going when I was in the throes of having young children . You get home and , so quickly , all of that is gone — you don ’ t even feel like you ’ ve been away , right ? So , how do you bring that [ spa experience ] home with you ? It would be such an added benefit and added value for the client to hear more and learn more about [ sleep ] because now there ’ s such a focus on this particular part of wellness . I want to end this sleep deprivation epidemic by helping everybody solve their sleep , and there is a solution for it . Spas are a great place to preach and teach those solutions . I mean , it ’ s a perfect partnership . It fits perfectly together because spas have all the other adjunct stuff that is important and helps — the nutrition , the mindfulness , the aromatherapy , the massages .
That ’ s all important , it ’ s just not going to solve the problem . You ’ re not going to have a massage therapist who comes to your house every single night before bed , so you have to have things that the clients will actually be able to continue doing when they get home to see improvements in sleep , and then they will equate a spa experience with significant improvements in their overall wellness .
P : What kinds of other programming or offerings can spas provide to guests to achieve that goal ? R : The most scientifically proven way to help get better sleep is by working on your thoughts and working on your behavior . I ’ m trained as a cognitive behavioral psychologist , and a lot of my work with sleep has to do with that component . I ’ m also trained in something called CBT-I . which is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia . Having spas get more involved with sleep experts who truly know how to make long-lasting effects on sleep [ is key ]. Besides doing workshops to convince [ guests ] why sleep is so important and teach them how to get better sleep , there ’ s also the possibility of offering private consultations because everybody has their own issues with sleep and different reasons that they ’ re not sleeping .
So many couples have problems sleeping as a couple , and when couples are not sleeping well , that affects every single thing in their life and their marriage . A good marketing focus could be offering private consultations for couples like they do for massages . Like I said , the population that had the most sleep issues were millennials , so you ’ re having a lot of parents coming to spas , leaving their kids at home for a weekend or maybe the day — but we ’ re not just talking about their sleep , we ’ re talking about family sleep . College-age students are also suffering immensely with their sleep and mental health . Another huge segment of the population is perimenopausal and menopausal women — when women enter menopause , sleep can be a problem — so whatever population that a spa is focused on , a sleep expert can really offer specific advice and help to improve sleep no matter who your customer is .
Another way of going about it is teaching the spa leaders and spa professionals about improving their own sleep , and then once they get better sleep , they ' re so happy to share that information with guests . n
“ I want to end this sleep deprivation epidemic by helping everybody solve their sleep , and there is a solution for it . Spas are a great place to preach and teach those solutions .”
DR . WHITNEY ROBAN is a sleep expert , author and founder of Solve Our Sleep . Her mission is to provide the sleep education and support families , students , teachers , athletes and employees need to not only survive , but to thrive . Dr . Roban ’ s training and experience as a clinical psychologist paved the way to her success as a leading sleep expert . She can be reached at whitney @ solveoursleep . com .
AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2022 n PULSE 47