May 8, 2020 – Continuing Zoran Pejovic’s stimulating series looking at travel in the post-corona era, Melany Martinez of Paradox Hospitality turns her attention to the subjects of health and safety – how will spas look after the corona crisis?
Are high-tech therapy-providing machines and massage beds the future in our Spas, rather than human spa therapists? Are we losing our “healing-hands-touch-for-health” approach? Can machines really substitute the healing power of touch?
These kinds of questions come to mind after participating in various international forums where the wellness industry discusses how the spa world will look after the corona crisis.
Allow me to start from the beginning. My introduction to the world of wellness dates back to 1994 when I was 14 years old. I had just lost one of the most important people in my life to cancer, my grandfather. One day, a while after he passed, while I was looking through his library trying to choose a book to keep with me, I came across the famous book of Barbara Ann Brehnan, the Hands of Light.
When I saw the well-known image of the open hands holding a ball of light between them, I knew I was up to something. It was there and then that my life took a turn and from that moment on, I dedicated my life to learning various massage techniques and traditions. I was amazed by the emotional and physical effects after a massage, reiki, and other forms of complementary therapies. But this was already 25 years ago.
Fast forward to this century, and neuroscience has confirmed not only the vital importance of loving touch, but also its healing powers. Science has shown us the important role the sense of touch has in the psychological and cognitive development of the human brain. After all, our sense of touch is developed in our mother’s womb very early on, around the 7-8th week of pregnancy; by the 11th week, we are already feeling and exploring our environment and body.
In his book Touch: The Science of the Hand, Heart and Mind, bestseller, author, and researcher Dr. David Linden painfully remarks how a study conducted on a group of children wholly deprived of loving touch in the 80s and 90s in orphanages in Romania, developed not only psychological and intellectual difficulties but it was also found that their immune system was deeply underdeveloped.
Scientists agree that the immune system is stimulated and nurtured by touch. This does not change with age. In fact, according to lead Neurologist Dr. Hakan Olausson, author of Affective Touch and the Neurophysiology of CT afferents, the pleasantness of touch can be enhanced with age.
In other words, as we age, we appreciate the human (or animal) touch much more. Unfortunately, we tend to give and receive a less loving touch from our fellow humans as we get older. Let’s remember that our sense of touch is designed to recollect information around us, allowing us to bond and connect with each other. Social conventions are filled with gentle, confiding touch. Whether it is with your family, colleagues or friends, social conventions include touching as part of the interactions for a good reason: touch and trust are linked. Whether it is a professional shake of hands, a brief hug, or a deep embrace, when we touch (with the correct intention), we trust, and more often than not, we heal.
Technology and science have allowed us to study the sense of touch but not substitute it. In fact, technology and AI industries are working hard to incorporate the ability to sense textures and objects in their virtual reality platforms. However, even if we achieve this, there is an agreement in the neuroscience community, human contact is vital for our health, wellness and happiness.
So, as I mentioned earlier, science and technology have helped us understand why a hug feels so amazing, why after a good massage we feel so great, so light and relaxed.
However, can science and technology replace the actual human touch?
For me, the answer is no.
Before COVID-19, there was already a trend, even a push on the luxury hospitality sector, to introduce this type of equipment into Spa centers. Initially, the idea was to save costs. Spa operating costs are very high, many times, heated pools and wet areas take a good chunk of the costs, and as opposed to F&B outlets, human resources are limited to one-on-one service per hour! One therapist, one massage, one hour.
It seems hard to argue with the ability to cut costs when you compare a Spa that operates with 1 receptionist that takes care of 3 guests per hour, undergoing automated treatments, against a Spa that operates with 1 receptionist and 3 therapists providing 3 treatments per hour. How could you compete against that?
Well, first of all, looking at the spa services only from this perspective is missing out on all the other dimensions that compose a wellness experience: the intuitive touch of the therapists, the proficiency of their therapeutic technique, the empathic intention of the touch, and the healing environment.
So, if you are a small or medium day spa or hotel and you are worried about having to re-do your whole business plan, including buying fancy and expensive machines…take a deep breath and relax.
A machine cannot replace the intuitive knowledge, the fine-tuning of the therapist’s hands, the connection between the body and the therapist, where they seem to know exactly where to press, what stroke to give, when to combine this and that technique.
A machine cannot decide mid-way that the massage “protocol” needs to be adapted to me.
Knowing that massage reduces anxiety and enhances the immune system we, the therapists, managers, trainers and developers in the wellness and Spa industry, have a unique opportunity to contribute to the overall wellbeing of our communities by doing what we do best: caring, and caressing through our professional healing touch, providing and creating spaces of healing and transformation, helping our communities mentally and emotionally rebalance and reconnect.
Let’s continue nurturing our Spas and teams; let’s create and maintain spaces of transformation where our guests and clients can come and be embraced by the power of therapeutic touch.
We are all going to need a lot of tender-loving-care after these times. I strongly believe spas and wellness centers will thrive as we, humans, will always come back to the basics of our nature when in need of rebalancing and connecting: the loving touch.
When ready, open your doors, follow the recommendations of the experts, and spread your healing touch.
Enough with the fear, let’s start healing.
You can read more on this subject of post-coronavirus travel from Zoran here:
Tourism in the Corona Era: To Open or Not to Open, the Question is Now!
Travel Industry: Keep Communicating and Visibility
Build Scenarios! Be Present! Take Time to Think!
Post-Coronavirus Travel and Tourism: Some Predictions
Croatian Tourism 2020 and Coronavirus: Let’s Postpone the Season
Post-Corona Tourism Planning: Hope is Not a Good Business Strategy
