NATIVE AMERICAN INSPIRED SPAS
By Naomi Serviss
Where better to discover Native American-based wellness treatments than in the great South West? Scores of pueblos (native reservations) sweep the United States and are powerfully represented by the eight Northern Indian Pueblos that lie between Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Colorado.
Here are four fabulous spas inspired by Native American techniques and traditions:
Spa at Encantado
Bishops’s Lodge Ranch Resort & ShaNah Spa
Inn & Spa at Loretto
Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa
Spa at Encantado
An Auberge Resort in Santa Fe (an enclave of healers, artists and impeccably credentialed therapists), The Spa at Encantado is barely a year old but is already infused with the spirit of the land and its Native people.
Wellness services honour New Mexico’s indigenous healing traditions and incorporate eclectic approaches to health and wellness.
From a Native eucalyptus inhalation steam room to a dip in the healing natural geo-thermal hot springs from the relatively nearby Ojo Caliente site, guests will find a plethora of treatments from which to enjoy. A favourite among local guests is the Blue Corn and Honey Renewal, a Native treatment for desert-parched skin.
After or prior to treatment, guests are encouraged to relax by a fireplace in a spacious lounging room with glass walls overlooking the meditation garden. Here, guests are invited to snack on locally dried fruits and sip on sage tea.
Each treatment room incorporates local, original artwork and opens onto a private courtyard with outdoor garden and shower.
This spa, as do many in the Santa Fe region, places priority on bodywork geared toward personal needs as well as a commitment to indigenous authenticity. Just as the town reflects a true melting pot infused with international healing traditions, the Native American experience is but one of many from which to choose.
www.encantadoresort.com 
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Bishops’s Lodge Ranch Resort & ShaNah Spa
The Bishops’ Lodge Ranch Resort & ShaNah Spa offers one of the most authentic Santa Fe experiences. Perched three miles away from the town center, this historic site (a former convent) houses the famed Lamy Chapel, built in 1853 for Bishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy as his personal retreat and private chapel. It offers a welcome change of pace from the sometimes too-bustling Santa Fe touristy high season.
The award-winning ShaNah Spa honors its spiritual predecessors with Native American-influenced treatments and techniques geared to mend whatever aches. “Each treatment is created to invoke the body’s natural healing response, “said Spa Director Antioneta Matter. For everyday stressor-specific maladies, a custom treatment can really make a difference,” she continued.
Housed separately from the guest rooms and main lodge, the spa retains the rustic coziness of this sprawling, full-service, 450-acre resort.
While it derives its name from the Navajo word for “vitality and energy,” the indigenous traditions absorbed by the spa combine many techniques from assorted tribes as well as eastern Indian massage techniques. Native treatments include typical massage, prayer and regional herbs used for blessings and purification rituals.
Inspired by the traditions of indigenous pueblos and complemented by the lush valley in which it sits, this spa offers luxury, harmony and peace, away from the madding crowds.
www.bishopslodge.com
Read more about Bishops Lodge.
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Inn & Spa at Loretto
For nearly four centuries, Santa Fe’s natural healing and restorative powers have attracted visitors from around the world to experience renewal, restoration and tranquility. One delightful smack-in-the-middle of downtown spot to experience same is the incomparable Inn & Spa at Loretto.
Embodying the healing traditions of Native, American spiritual healers, the Spa at Loretto incorporates intuitive lifestyle treatments that interweave age-old remedies, indigenous herbs and essential oils used by Native healers to promote self-healings, inner peace and calm.
Leading the way is master healer and body worker Suzanne Chavez, spa director and inspirationally cheerful spirit. An ordained minister in sync with natural healing power, Chavez has integrated curative holistic and spiritual traditions, respectful of Native healers.
She personally blends the “Spirit of Loretto,” five custom aromatherapy essential oils combining the essence of the elements (earth, fire, water and spirit) that infuse the restorative powers into an indulgent and tension-ridding spa experience.
Some of the treatments that integrate indigenous rituals, culture and custom include: the Native Reflections Ritual (which uses the ancient art of sage smudging to clear negative energy), the Desert Heat Wrap (utilizing self-heating adobe clay rich in copper, zinc, magnesium and iron oxide for skin repair), a Native Desert Sage Massage (incorporating blue corn meal, ground desert sage and sage oil to soften, purify and stimulate the skin) and the Heavenly High Altitude Relief.
This is a busy, busy inn and spa, so book well in advance. www.innatloretto.com
Read more about the Inn at Loretto.
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Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa
Heading north towards Taos you must make a pit stop at Ojo Caliente Mineral Spring Resort & Spa. The name translates to “Hot Eye,” and for good reason. Mineral Springs Resort & Spa most likely offers the most authentic Native American experience you may ever experience.
This circa 1930s retreat has now been renovated, with a new building entrance to those amazing healing waters.
Located in Ojo Caliente, 50 miles north of Santa Fe and 40 miles Southwest of Taos, the Springs consists of 1,100 acres and is adjoined to thousands of national forest and public land.
Deemed sacred by the Native American Tribes of Northern New Mexico, the waters have been a gathering place and healing source for perhaps thousands of years.
Ten pools, each with distinctive minerals infused throughout, teem with varied types of waters including those containing Lithium, Iron and Sodium. Temperatures range from 80 to 109-degrees.
One of the spa’s signature treatments is the Milagro Relaxation Wrap (“milagro” is Spanish for “miracle”). Guests first soak in the geothermal waters to increase their core body temperature, then led to a private treatment room, wrapped first in a light cotton blanket, then a heavier wool blanket, which accelerates the release of toxins from the body. As you lay in this cozy cocoon, Native American flute music is softly played in the background.
The “whisper-only” spa lounge is located in the Historic Bathhouse, newly renovated and comfortably set with infused water and fruit. There you will be greeted by your massage therapist who will whisk you away for a typically Native-based treatment.
The diverse landscape ranges from the rich river valley to breath-taking high desert mesas, replete with hiking and biking trails.
This is a strictly-for-health respite from the frilly resorts (not that there’s anything wrong with that) and offers good old fashioned healing, nature’s way.
The resort, often used discretely by residents of nearby pueblos, is open 365 days of the year, and last year marked the 140th anniversary of when it was first opened as a health spa.
www.ojospa.com
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More on Bishops Lodge…
Bishop Lamy was made famous by author Willa Cather in her acclaimed novel, “Death Comes for the Archbishop,” which fictionalized his 30 years of social service that continues to this day through a hospital and St. Francis Cathedral, in the midst of Santa Fe Plaza.
Inspirational reminders of nearly four centuries of Spanish, Native American and Southwestern cultures meld comfortably in this remarkably green oasis in the desert.
The impressive Las Fuentes Restaurant & Bar serves creative American fare tinged with Southwest-influenced dishes, under the eagle eye of Chef Brian Shannon.
He has also offered the gamut of exotica, from Morita-smoked oyster and leek tartlets with chipotle pepper and nutmeg-infused cream sauce, to simple, delicious grilled chicken and beef.
Using healthy, indigenous fruits and vegetables, along with singular treats incorporating a motley assortment of Spanish/Mexican/New Age fare, you will not go hungry before or after your exceptional spa treatment.
The sprawling ranch, which is favored by the likes of James Taylor among other celebrities, offers privacy as well as sublime spa treatments that draw on indigenous native techniques as well as an eclectic menu reflective of Eastern and Western preferences.
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More on Ojo Caliente…
Located at the heart of the Ojo Caliente springs is an historic pump that has been dispensing lithium since the 19th century. Lithium is believed to produce positive effects in mental balance, aids in depression and digestion.
As Native legend would have it, the giant rock in the Iron Spring guards the place where people of the mesa once received food and water during times of famine. This warm, iron-rich water bubbles up from the natural pebble floor, providing delicious hot spots in a mystical, outdoor cliff-side pool. Iron is considered to be beneficial for the blood and immune system, helps prevent fatigue and promotes skin tone.
And hygienically speaking, these are spic-and-span spas, cleaned three times a week.
A museum is planned that will showcase the grand history of Ojo Caliente, with photos and artifacts (still being unearthed!) throughout the 140 years since it opened as a resort spa. That was when “taking the waters” was typically a doctor-prescribed treatment to treat polio, skin diseases and digestive distress.
Nowadays, we simply call it “Spa,” which, ironically, is an acronym for the Spanish phrase “Salud Por Agua,” meaning “health through water.”
The very essence of those words bespeaks of the site’s purpose and existence. As stewards of this precious commodity, the present caretakers believe in the curative power of these incredible waters. And, accordingly, the owners are committed to honoring the history and spirit of Ojo Caliente as a sacred place of healing.
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Naomi Serviss is a Tucson-based spa/travel writer specializing in health and wellness.
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