ISPA FOUNDATION
FOUNDATION
COFFEE CHAT
With Dr. Brent Bauer
How to Maintain One’s Well-Being
2016
ISPA FOUNDATION
BOARD OF
DIRECTORS
OFFICERS
CHAIRMAN
Frank Pitsikalis
ResortSuite
VICE CHAIRMAN
Sharilyn Abbajay
Abbajay & Associates, LLC
DIRECTORS
Todd Shaw
ISPA Chairman
Todd Hewitt
ISPA Vice Chairman
Lynne McNees
ISPA President
MEDICAL ADVISOR
Brent Bauer, M.D.
Mayo Clinic
HONORARY BOARD
MEMBERS
Ruth Stricker
The Marsh, A Center for
Balance and Fitness
Deborah Szekely
WELLNESS WARRIOR
The ISPA Foundation
wishes to thank the following
supporters for their generous
contributions:
LUMINARY
Ruth Stricker
BENEFACTOR
Dr. Howard Murad
PATRON
Red Door Spas
ResortSuite
According to the 2016 ISPA U.S. Spa Industry Study, one
in eight spas (12 percent) offer healthy living programs.
To learn how spa professionals can maintain their own
sense of well-being, ISPA Chairman Frank Pitsikalis
spoke with ISPA medical advisor, Dr. Brent Bauer. As
director of the Mayo Clinic Complementary and
Integrative Medicine Program, Dr. Bauer’s research has
led the Mayo Clinic to routinely offer massage
therapy to post-operative patients and provide
meditation training to more than 20,000 patients
each year.
F: Nearly one in three spa visitors say stress
relief is their top reason for visiting a spa.
What recommendations do you have for
someone looking to reduce their stress level?
B: Identify your stress triggers and the aspects of those
triggers that you are able to control. Then, develop a personal
toolkit of stress-management strategies, such as regular massage, meditation, tai chi, and
guided imagery. Try to make time—at least 30 minutes per day for one of these tools as part
of your overall wellness strategy.
F: The ISPA Foundation Consumer Snapshot Initiative shows that 71 percent of
millennial spa-goers feel that technology has a positive impact on their lives. In what
ways can we use technology to improve health and well-being?
B: There is a growing number of biofeedback-assisted meditation programs (e.g. Pacifica,
BellyBio Interactive Breathing and iBiofeedback) that can be run from your computer, tablet or
smartphone. Many people find that “seeing” their stress levels and how they respond to a
simple technique like slow breathing can be a powerful reinforcement for adding such practices
into their daily routine.
F: What is the number one piece of advice you give to your patients that would
surprise us?
B: I tell my patients to grow their telomeres and reduce their senescent cells. It sounds
daunting but the research is straightforward: Eat a whole food, plant-based diet; exercise every
day; practice 30 to 60 minutes of mind-body/stress management each day and maintain a
strong social support group.
December 2016
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