Ritual Baths & Sea Salts
January 2, 2009 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
The Roman Baths in Bath, England
As many of you know, I am a big proponent of taking a little time for yourself to decompress and to heal. As a spa owner, I frequent my own spa to attain much needed escape from my daily routine. One thing that I do for myself at home is take a bath with hydrotherapy jets at least once a week if not more frequently. I have some sea salts that I bought but ideally I try to sneak into my spa and mix Epsom salts with Dead Sea salts along with various other Chinese herbs to help my skin, muscles, and nervous system.
For time immemorial, hot baths and springs have served as a vehicle for healing and renewal. I remember fondly the time that I spent in the natural onsen (Japanese hot springs) outside of Tokyo. German studies have shown that high magnesium content found in the Dead Sea can help enhance one’s skin barrier and also reduce skin inflammation. Other studies have shown improvement in psoriasis as well as helping deepen one’s sleep. Minerals are absorbed during bathing that can lead to increased blood circulation to aid in minimizing different types of arthritic conditions. Skin aging can be improved with some studies showing a 40% reduction in wrinking. Certain acne conditions can be ameliorated as well. Bromides and magnesium can serve to control allergies and detoxify and cleanse the skin. Epsom salts, which have been widely studied, have been shown to heal a damaged muscular and nervous system. I always try to mix some Epsom salts in with my Dead Sea salts after a hard day or after a massage session. Bath salts can also minimize the pruning effect otherwise typically observed following prolonged water immersion because it maintains a better osmotic pressure gradient across the skin. Phosphates can help to soften calloused skin and to aid in exfoliation. These salts can also act to enhance the effect of soaps to clean one’s skin.
All in all, even if these touted benefits do not hold 100% true, the ritualistic bath can serve as a much needed time to heal one’s mind and soul as well as one’s body. I use it as a time not to think of anything or at times to enter a quiet time of deep reflection. I truly enjoy my bath time even without the rubber duckie.
Our Brazilian Christmas!
December 22, 2008 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
For fans of the television comedy show (a Brit export or adaption should I say) the Office, you may recall a couple of weeks ago they had a Moroccan-themed Christmas party. Along those lines, LFP combined our holiday festivities with the Spa at Willow Bend to have a Brazilian-themed party. Fortunately, no one caught on fire unlike the TV show. That would have probably made it more interesting. Fortunately, we had Donna’s husband Mike, a fireman, present to control the festivities.
We all really had such a fun time, and the experience that my extended extended family shared was deeply enriching. I would also like to thank Waleska, from my spa, who is Brazilian for connecting us with Mario, a real-life gaucho. Interestingly, he is Japanese, as there is a huge Japanese community in Brazil. He cooked a wonderful assortment of meats including picanha (which is really the best piece of meat for all you churrascaria-rodizio fans out there), sirloin with garlic, beef ribs, bacon-wrapped chicken, whole chicken, and chicken hearts. (Make sure you offer a wish before you have the latter. They actually are delicious). I would like to say muito obrigado (Portuguese = thanks so much!) and gochiso-sama (Japanese = thank you for the great food) to Mario and his teammate Max. Waleska also created the famed Brazilian cocktail caipirinha for us. That was a real treat.
By combining the spa and LFP into one holiday event, I think we really all shared how much WBW is a single extended family. I get a tremendous kick seeing everyone in my building every day, and I am really happy we could have such a massive party together. Unfortunately, the cold breeze outside made it impossible to light the fire pit, but we all stayed warm inside. I hope all of you are having a fun time at your holiday events for the office or with your family and friends this season. I hope you enjoy our little video and photos of our holiday event!
NEW 360-Degree Spa Experience
October 24, 2008 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
Our spa event last night was tremendously well attended (with over 200 people) and was truly a success. Watch the video of the event. In order to enhance your experience with our spa, I have spent the past 2 weeks tirelessly expanding and creating an improved website for my spa (www.spawb.com). I put together 21 Quicktime Virtual 360 tours that I think you will enjoy perusing. I also put together a single 18 minute video tour of the spa that I segmented into 11 shorter clips that highlight each of our wonderful services. I expanded and updated our team section so that you can get to know our wonderful team, and I took the promotional photographs for our spa as well (since the photographer we hired did not live up to the expectations I had). I also just started putting together a new section entitled, “Spa Video Demos/Tutorials” in which the members and my team discuss with you our unique services (including one video of my taking a hydrotherapy bath!) I hope you can come to our premier spa and enjoy a non-virtual experience. We look forward to serving you.
Embracing the Orient
October 8, 2008 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
Reflexology Foot Chart
As a western trained physician who is very methodical in his scientific thinking, I have always been skeptical of “Oriental medicine”. Now that I have opened a spa that focuses on marrying the best from the East and the West, I have gradually loosened my narrow grip on my perceived reality. I have tried in the past to view my wellness concept to be broader than what we know in the West. However, naturopathic doctors and holistic doctors shun coming anywhere near an Occidental physician and vice versa. Fortunately, I was able to find the best of both worlds by having western-trained M.D.s who embrace naturopathic components in my anti-aging and vitality center.
As part of my weekly spa ritual, I really have been exploring the best of what the East has to offer. The thing that I really love now is reflexology. The idea of reflexology for the uninitiate is using pressure points on the foot to relieve bodily ailments that corresponds to nerves that are across the foot. Whenever I get a certain area touched that hurts on my foot, I start to realize how accurate the correlation is to the body part that aches for me. If anything, I get a great foot massage in the process! Even when I was in a hurry at the airport, I got a reflexology treatment over my standard shoulder and hand massage (which is part of reflexology too since the hands and ears can represent part of the body as well.)
I think it could be dangerous to substitute reflexology for treating serious medical conditions but I think it is a great stress reliever and I do believe that it is helping me balance out parts of my body that are not in alignment. I also tried a Shirodhara treatment which is part of Ayurvedic therapy in my spa, which involves dripping oil in different patterns across your forehead to open your “third eye”. Although I don’t know if the touted medicinal values can be of certain benefit to you, I do enjoy the treatment as a relaxing part of a spa experience. Okay, so I don’t believe everything just yet.
One Size Does Not Fit All
August 25, 2008 by dr. lam · Leave a Comment
As you know, I have dedicated tremendous time in educating my prospective patients about my services. I really have a passion to do so. Obviously, this website only provides guidelines for what you might benefit from. That is what a personalized consultation process affords, a personalized and customized treatment plan. I spent part of yesterday adding descriptions to all of my primary (non-corrective) facial fat transfer before and after images in my new flash-based gallery to match those in the corrective section. I think if you spend some time to look at my descriptions, you will see how customized the treatment plan was for each particular individual and how I created the right mix of treatments for that person but also how I fashioned an artistic strategy based on that individual’s facial shape and desires. I think any of you coming to my office will feel the sense of how “special” you are and how not like a number you are by the way my staff treats you. That is part of our customized approach.
The idea of “functional medicine” which is practiced upstairs in my anti-aging center describes how an individual is completely unique and how a treatment protocol is completely designed based on that individual’s unique attributes. Traditional medicine says here are the parameters of “normal”. Let’s see if you fit those parameters. That is why I love how my building completely focuses on the individual rather than treating you like a statistic or a number.
Now, here comes the core of this blog that I have been leading up to. As you guys know, I have written all the blogs last week for my spa site, www.spawb.com, until my staff now is taking over that assignment. In the spirit of still having something more to say about my new spa, I want to get to how the spa services offered truly focus on and celebrate the individual differences for each customer. Let me explain by telling you about my Friday’s services. Waleska, the body wellness expert at the Spa at Willow Bend, started by asking me what symptoms I was having and what types of aromatherapy I would like to experience. I told her that it had been a long week and that I also just loved the smell of peppermint (I guess that’s the kid in me.) So she created a special treatment plan for me (as she does for every client there), which is then programmed into our computer system and remembered.
I started with a relaxing 10 minutes in our sauna. The great thing is our sauna starts at about 80 degrees F, then the attendant comes in with a specially mixed Japanese aromatherapy basin that is customized for you. As the aromatherapy bath is applied to the hot rocks, the sauna temperature gradually ascends to a sweltering 110 degrees all the while you can smell the wonderful aromatherapy that you requested or needed. I think I had a combination of Tea Tree and Peppermint. Then I received a small wooden bowl with ice in it containing two perfectly wrapped towels. I was asked to put a towel on my forehead and lie back. The towel was filled with peppermint which smelled great right next to my nose but also started to soak into my forehead creating a nice refreshingly tingling sensation. After a few minutes when the towel warmed up, I received the second towel. The combination of hot steam and a cold towel was incredible. I then went in for my body treatment that was also lovingly prepared with all the aromatherapy scents that I had requested. It was the most amazing experience that I have ever had. I showered and changed in the lounge. When I came out, I was greeted by a tray containing refreshing sorbet, spears of frozen grapes, and infused water. Boy, I was ready for my weekend!