ECLIPSED

SBC | News Drip | The W Word

UPDATE:
The spa club originally teased for this Friday is now MONDAY August 17th. See you at DESCANSO GARDEN SPA for coworking, soaking, and more. RSVP by text, email, or DM so I can bring goodies accordingly :) 5pm til late, I might go for the whole day and WFS (work from spa) $33 all day entry & I’ve heard the on site cafe is great

Chugging Gerolsteiner sparkling from inside my blue bathtub. My skin is rich with salt and memories of being suspended in water. The Kosta Boda candle is ripening the air with a white floral & marine fresh scent. Heading to see my facial queen Reilley. Summer spa meets are lining up & I’m in the thing testing lab with washes, oils, scrubs, lotions, and potions. Cherries crisping on ice {ciliegie su ghiaccio} & eating chicken caesar wraps on the beach. These are the good ole days. I’ve submitted to high summer & reaping the rewards.

How has your life changed from the last Leo x Aquarius axis solar eclipse in 2017? What are your dreams worth remembering? What dreams are worth forgetting? Where are you aligned? Where are you blocked? Sending wet wishes 💦💦💦

NEWS DRiP

• Hamam magazine is avail for purchase stateside!!! A rare opportunity to get your hands on the magazine of letting go

• The team from GWI made a BATHHOUSE OPERATOR benchmarking survey LINK designed to gather meaningful information about how bathhouse, communal thermal wellness and sauna businesses of all sizes (including prelaunch) operate and evolve. It takes approximately 10 minutes, responses are confidential and the deadline is August 21

• Marriott x Therme partnership announcement ??? Let’s see how this application of Big Wellness goes…

• Flamingo Estate x Practical Magic 2 seasonal box includes a deck of oracle cards by spa club OG artist and astrologer Goth Shakira <3

• Retreats (sauna, strength, nature, women, bathing, combating burnout)

  • Liz Baker Plosser cohosting with Dr. Mariza Snyder in Topanga, CA August 28-30 for Women's Strength

  • Badii Talk: Thermal Bathing and Sauna Culture cohosting True Nature retreat October 15-18 Cambridge, NY. Spa readers can use SPA100 for a discount off the deposit

  • Howl at the Moon ICELAND adventure November 2-8. This country is at the top of my list still. Spa reader discount - email Alisa alisa@howlatthemoonsaunaco.com

  • Someone should send me to the GWI conference in Thailand November 10-13

DRiP

THING TESTING LAB

• Salt & Stone newest Lily & Yuzu: I’ve been wracking my brain to pin down the scent and it finally came to me, DG LIGHT BLUE!!

• My water counter is looking spiffy lately. Rorra and Clearly Filtered are being pushed to their limits on who will win the best SPA home water filtration system

• comfort zone tranquility oil: smells incredible and I’ve been using it as a bath oil & post shower skin hydration on beach days

• Funner hair care: where are my brand marketing girlies at? can you please have a look at this website and tell me what you think? I don’t think professional hair care is a desirable segment of the market anymore - we’ve moved on to holistic and regenerative. Inconclusive data so far on the results

• Necessaire eucalyptus spray that I honestly wish I had earlier this summer for heatwaves. A delightful post beach mist - thanks for the tip Emily Sundberg

• Rosisu sauna gear: is in prelaunch mode but I met the founder in Finland. I like the bright colors in a world of minimalist grey and white

• Norse sauna wear: another budding entrepreneur in the sauna scene. Jimmy came and met up with me at The Altar in NYC. So far, I’m loving the cut and how quick this set dries. The bamboo is next on my sauna gear map

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Debunking the W word

The W word ~wellness~ so overused it barely means anything to anyone anymore. In a constant barrage of op-eds, viral template slop, and the increased speed of the trend cycle, KOLs are jockeying to “win” best in wellness. At this point, that’s a prize with no value. Setting the stage for future works, I’ve left the task of defining wellness to some trusty spa’dettes:

I think wellness, in an industrial sense, is annoying and corny. Wellness, to me, is the way we live our lives, the way we take care of ourselves, and the active pursuit of feeling good. I subscribe to the theory of Epicureanism, which basically posits a hedonistic approach to life is best, but that doesn’t necessarily mean more stuff. In fact, pleasure is defined as a peaceful absence of pain and anxiety, and therefore feelings of contentment should primarily come from the basics—community, home, food.
Katie Stone

Sliding scale with a clear threshold: what feels good and is also not entirely detrimental to my health - physically, mentally, or spiritually. Doesn’t have to be complicated if you don’t want it to be, and it doesn’t have to have any more reasoning beyond “it feels good”.
Logan, Wave Pool Builder & Surf Hunk

To me, true wellness is strengthening the connection to our bodies, minds and communities. It's not about optimization. It's about creating the conditions for restoration, belonging, presence and a life that feels meaningfully lived. Sierra Blake, MPS, LADC

What wellness “means” to me is what wellness feels like to me. This feeling of wellness is something no one can measure or quantify, and no one else can actually know. It’s the way I feel—the way each of us feel—on the inside. It’s also how that feeling ripples outward, impacting every single person and thing we interface with, whether directly or indirectly, in ways known or unknown. Dr. Dana Leigh Lyons, DTCM

Wellness for me means freedom (agency) in how I spend my time, pursuing what moves me (physically/materially + spiritually), and allowing myself to be primarily driven by pleasure in both work and play.
Ivana Esther Martínez

Wellness for me is whatever I can do to equip myself with the flexibility to respond to life’s chaos with ease. Ease is so underrated!
So sometimes that’s classics like: routine, getting in a body of water (any size), meditation, appointments, and sometimes it’s more fun things like a trip, a glass of crispy white, a big haha reel scroll, a cute meal, etc. wellness has become whatever helps me move through life unbothered.
It’s not so serious !!
- Lucy Johnson

Wellness to me is the word for an industry based around health extras: superfoods, tonics, tinctures, and the like—which are great, and make people feel better, but which don’t solve problems or make people self sufficient. I much prefer severe health, which is what wellness tacitly promises, but is based around root causes, and, of course, can still be a lot of fun. - Sami Reiss

Prioritizing the practice and pursuit of wholeness, whatever makes you feel vital––but also a kind of no thoughts flow state that doesn’t require you notice the effort required to exist in a body. That thing about how the second you’re sick or have a sore throat you’d give anything to go back to having a throat that wasn’t sore––something you didn’t even think about before. An awareness of ease and gratitude for how good you have it! - Meagan Wilson

Wellness to me means inner harmony and peace within your nervous system. It looks however you need it to. - Allegra Samsen

Lots of mind>body>spirit connection less product>tech>optimize connection. Let us know what your definition is in the comments :)

xoxo,

coco

P.S. Who wants to go to Turkey with me? Vera when is the best season for a bathing trip?