[…]
It was during these years that the spa health-day of
today was developed. With only the countryside and a river,
I had to invent ways to fill the guests’ days. We alternately
exercised and danced to music from a hand-cranked phono-
graph, did yoga breathing,
invented or rather adapted Father
Kneipp’s water pack to herbal
wraps to relax overstressed
muscles and, as we found out
later, to accelerate the dispersal
of lactic acid build-up from
unaccustomed exercise. We
experimented. We tried every
form of therapy. Each morning
we hauled sea water and kelp
from the ocean 20 miles away
for the Sumerian baths. We
imported algae and mud from
Central America. We gave
colonics, acidophilus implanta-
tions, we grew our own herbs
for aromatherapy, herbal
inhalations and infusions. We
scoured the health literature
of Europe and tried every form of diet, homeopathy, as well
as megadoses of vitamins and minerals.
Eventually, we discarded them all and focused on what
brought the true and lasting results: a full week in a glorious
garden environment, fresh air, happiness and laughter all
balanced with healthy movement, relaxation therapies, plus
organically grown foods from our own farm.
I used the terms “happiness and laughter”—I must
expand on these. If you were a guest reflecting upon a
recent visit to the Ranch, you would think of what great fun
it was.
[…]
Now that you [the audience] have found a united voice,
I hope you will stress common sense. On the one hand the
official guidelines for health and nutrition recommend
severe reductions in fat, protein and salt, and urge
consumption of five fresh fruits a day, while on the other
hand breakfast for most Americans is a cup of coffee or a
Coke and a sweet roll.
I have a simple health formula: The body is not a motel
where you can check in and check out; it is your one and
only home for life. Think of your body as a pen and the new
day as a blank page upon which you will start to write your
autobiography. Stretch nude in front of a full-length mirror
as a personal pledge of allegiance, and visualize yourself as
one of your early ancestors, climbing out of the cave or up
the ladder each morning. Such visualizations are
the foundation of our under-
standing of Nature. Exercise
isn’t fun, but neither was
plowing the “north forty” a
joyous activity. Youth can be
pictured as ever-increasing
circles of movement, while the
process of aging would be drawn
as consistent contractions—ever-
diminishing motion. Food is fuel,
the quality of the fuel equals the
quality of the energy. Our guests
stand convinced of this simple
logic, and 60 to 70 percent are
returnees. They come for mainte-
nance, a tune-up, not for repair.
If you wish to begin the
planning of your 50th anniversary,
avoid the pitfalls of the latest fads.
Remember always that the greatest
asset is your staff. They are the lure that will bring your
guests back again and again.
If I were to have a message it would be to have faith in
what you are doing, strengthening and educating the
people, cleaning up the environment, for the real struggle
for the good life is only now beginning. Nine years ago I
turned 60. I turned my businesses over to my children and,
in taking on new challenges of working with the poor of
Latin America and the Caribbean, reenergized myself.
From personal experience I can state that aging is when
there is less to do tomorrow than yesterday, and the secret
of the fountain of youth is to know that being is doing.
John Donne, the poet, said no man is an island. Never has
this been more true. I have always maintained that the
word “spa” is an acronym for self-preservation-association.
Be assured that if the Professor and I had not invented the
modern fitness spa, one of you here would have done so,
for the spa fills a real need and it will be you working
together who will make the difference for the people and
our world. n
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