us.” When Canyon Ranch first offered
meditation 40 years ago, Cooper says
that such sessions were often “push-
ing the envelope” and beyond the
comfort zone of the typical attendee.
Now, it’s more unusual for a spa-goer
not to be interested in meditation serv-
ices. Cooper also noted that younger
guests, in particular, are interested in
meditation and mindfulness.
Accessibility is another driver of
meditation’s increasing popularity.
There’s no equipment that is necessary
to meditate, nor is there a particular
kind of product, space or duration of
service. Meditations as short as 10 mi-
nutes can be beneficial and can take
place in an empty room. Unlike other
mind-body practices—such as yoga—
nothing is physically required of the
spa-goer, either. Says Stirewalt, “Med-
itative offerings do not require any spe-
cific physical requirements, so there are
no specific barriers to entry other than
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an open mind and time.” This makes
meditation easy for any spa-goer to
practice—and just as easy for any spa
to offer.
Meditation in Your Spa
If your spa doesn’t already offer guided
meditation as a service, it might be a
menu addition worth considering—
and you don’t have to be a resort or
destination spa to do it.
When fleshing out your spa’s med-
itation offerings, you’ll first need some-
one to lead the sessions. Both Mohonk
Mountain House and Four Seasons Re-
sort Lanai have yoga instructors lead
meditations rather than utilizing ded-
icated meditation-only experts. Jessica
Candy’s staff utilizes Yomassage tech-
niques, and she recommends Yomas-
sage as “a nice training program to
introduce your current staff”—includ-
ing massage therapists—”to guided
meditation.” Stirewalt offers this piece
of advice to spa operators: “Recognize
the gifts of your team and offer the op-
portunity to develop a program from
within. You may very well have talent
to do this already in your midst.”
The easiest way to add elements of
meditation to your spa is to begin or
end other services with ‘meditative mo-
ments.’ Cooper at Canyon Ranch notes
that “offering a few moments of guided
meditation or breathwork at the begin-
ning of a treatment can dramatically
enhance the experience and lead the
guest down a path that they may want
to explore further.” Candy suggests add-
ing a 10-minute meditation to the be-
ginning or end of existing yoga classes.
Once you have staff who are inter-
ested and trained in meditation, it’s
time to begin offering dedicated med-
itation services. Candy recommends
leveraging yoga’s popularity to increase
interest in meditation: “launch a thirty-
minute class after your most popular