The 'True Essence' of Wellness ? Buzz Bus Tour

Ithaca, New York was not on The Buzz Bus?s initial radar, but when the women of Rasa Spa reached out to us and made us aware of their innovative wellness concept, the roadies knew they had to make the trip! And they are sure glad they did!

Rasa Spa was opened in 2006 by Rachel Hogancamp & Cayuga Medical Center to offer the residents of Ithaca a holistic spa experience. As one of the few spas in the country to work with a health care facility, Rasa provides a truly unique place for all to heal.

?We have returned to the idea of the spa as it was originally: a place where all in the community can find a space for healing and better overall being.?

Meaning ?true essence? in Sanskrit, Rasa seeks to provide a healing environment with traditional and alternative therapies. When building the Island Health Complex in 2004, Cayuga Medical Center (CMC) knew they had to include a spa in order to meet their wellness goals. After much research was done, Rachel and CMC decided a partnership venture was the best option. Working with the hospital to offer patients complementary treatments for recuperation and pain management.

?As an LMT interested in injury recovery and medical massage, it was the opportunity I didn?t know I was looking for. It was the real chance to highlight bodywork and holistic healthcare as part of an overall, whole person healthcare.?

To create a family near and far, Rasa Spa offers private or group yoga classes, guided meditation sessions, classes, workshops, and events. Accessibility and approachability is at the heart of Rasa as it seeks to intertwine Eastern and Western medicine therapies. By hosting guest speakers Rasa educates its community and fosters an environment that welcomes all individuals.

?This is a spa that accommodates and loves all persons and works hard to enable positive experiences for individuals to seek self-connection. At Rasa, we believe you have to give to the community in order to be a part of the community. We know that this community gives to us and we work hard to give back to the community that keeps us going.?

By incorporating soft, warm tones and lush fabrics throughout the facility, Rasa Spa transports you from the medical center into a tranquil environment. The relaxation area overlooking the river, serves as the focal point of the spa and multiuse area for mediation or yoga classes. The staff at Rasa Spa created relaxing and moving experiences for the Roadies, through energy practices, meditation, and their remarkable generosity. Kristi began her experience with Rasa?s signature Ananda ?Bliss? treatment that is based on Ayurvedic practices, using oils to cleanse, stimulate and moisturize the scalp. The Wholeness Healing energy treatment Jasmine received left her feeling relaxed and cleansed from the inside. This treatment is commonly used for hospital patients to restore the patients? energy balance. Jim, a Reiki master, guided Kate through the waves of energy that came over her as rebalanced her bodies Chakras.

The meditation class offered every Tuesday and Sunday nights, for a small donation, was a soothing way to conclude our wellness day. Beginning with a guided meditation while laying down, it was followed by reading the ?dedication merit? and silent prayers for the names placed in the prayer jar throughout the week, during the five-minute meditation. The session ended with a book reading that (fittingly) happened to be on generosity. As much of the Buzz travels have been blessed by the generosity of others, Buzz Roadie Kate commented that she can now honestly say she knows more generous people than non-generous people. The Buzz Roadies were feeling the effects for weeks, helping them to calmly power through their last month on the road for 2011!

Rasa Spa is a holistic experience for the wellness-savy and the wellness-hungry! The innovative partnership with Cayuga Medical Center allows Rasa to help bridge the gap between health care and lifestyle. As a truly unique experience, Rasa Spa should definitely be one of your next spa-ventures! Make sure to tell ?em the Buzz Girls sent you

The Buzz Roadies interviewed Spa Director and Co-Founder, Rachel Hogancamp and Outreach Director, Kristen Crouse. Their answers are seen throughout our blog and full answers to some of our questions can be viewed below. Rachel is a woman of many talents, who expresses her beauty through her passion for the spa industry and words of wisdom. Thank you, Kristen for reaching out to us and making this amazing experience possible.

Rachel, how did you find the spa industry??After practicing as an LMT and teaching at the Finger Lakes School of Massage (FLSM) for over 6 years, I looked into opening up a spa with an FLSM colleague in 2001. Our plans were rather extravagant and we realized that we were in over our heads, but that experience opened up the doors to the possibility of someday participating in developing or owning a spa. I knew I wanted to be a part of something larger than the small practice I had at the time and was really intrigued at the idea of combining eastern and western ideas of healthcare. I love the spa industry because it is always growing and learning from international perspectives and scientific evidence about how ?the spa? can be something truly beneficial.

What do you believe is the biggest benefit of being partnered with Cayuga Medical Center??I believe it helps to elevate our work in the minds of the individuals in the community. It?s still new to think that a ?spa? isn?t just about luxury or pampering, but truly about healthcare. We know the research and we see the real benefits of our work, but our connection and collaboration to CMC really allows us the opportunity to collaborate with other health care professionals in an effort to give the best care we can for our clients. It allows us to continually educate ourselves as well; to give reason for our collaboration. Working with guests who are dealing with chronic pain and recovery, we need to know what we can offer them and how we can act as a dual therapy with more traditional medicine.

How do you feel this enhances public views of wellness??I think it continues to expand the definition of wellness as our clients experience different modalities and services that give them positive results. We?re lucky to live in a community that is open to a wonderfully wide range of healthcare options, which means that Rasa is positioned to help bridge any gaps that still exist in people?s minds. I imagine our connection to CMC and also Island Health & Fitness creates more trust in the work we do. I also think it encourages the notion that there are ways therapies can work together. You expect to hear a gym boast healthy eating, to suggest that healthy eating and fitness will lead to health goals. Why not also think that healthy living ? massage, skin care, meditation, and wellness routines ? can co-exist and support fitness and health in general?

How does Rasa Spa reach out to the community??Our community outreach takes many forms. We work closely with Cancer Resource Center to educate people about oncology massage and to offer lower cost care for patients going through the unique experience of having cancer. We are really working to develop and acknowledge the financial stress of cancer care and the researched and dedicated work of oncology massage, oncology skin care, and the role quiet spaces can play in improving quality of life. Those connections are meaningful to us. Working with Planned Parenthood and the Advocacy Center, we also acknowledge GLBTQ individuals, post-traumatic stress experiences, and the necessity to always be learning ? no matter who you are ? how to live in your body and love and accept your body. Rasa is everywhere in the community; we?ve been sponsoring the AIDS Ride since our beginning, investing in local arts through art shows at the spa and financial donations and flourishing partnerships with the Hangar Theater, and helping non profits in any way we can.

Can you tell us more about the oncology massage work? After a hiatus from having a specialized LMT in oncology, we?ve recently brought this work back to Rasa. It?s our intention to continue to grow this part of our spa services and reach out to offer care to patients at CMC. For years many people chose to avoid working with people in cancer treatment and, as the years and research has continued, offering massage to that population has become more prevalent. When someone is undergoing cancer treatment, his/her body undergoes a great deal of stress and invasive procedures. The positive results of massage, energy work, and touch therapy are wide reaching and can often provide a client with a sense of peace and nurturing. During cancer therapies, we want to offer a touch that is compassionate, that is about reuniting the whole person, and that welcomes the experiences of change the cancer patient is enduring. It?s important work, but it?s the same as working with any guest: the human experience is one that undergoes many trials and the experience of positive, affirming touch is always valuable to Rasa.

Kristen, what does wellness mean to you? Man that is always a hard one! I think it varies so much from person to person. I see wellness as a view of the whole person and our well-being. I think it encompasses how our multi-layered sense of our health including our physical, mental and emotional selves. Wellness has a lot to do with how we choose to care for ourselves and how we choose to understand ourselves as having many layers and being, always, something new that needs care.

Wellness Tip: ?pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional?

Source: http://buzzbustour.com/the-true-essence-of-wellness/

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