Pulse January / February 2018 | Page 30

Solving induStry ProblemS b y l aw r e n c e b i S c o n t i n i , m a lawrence biScontini, not a (Self-)care in the world: MA, is an author and ISPA A Primer for Personal Wellness for Spa Professionals conference & Expo speaker and auctioneer. biscontini also creates group fitness and personal training programming on an inter- national level for clubs and spas, and is a spa consultant and trainer for leading international spas in Europe, Asia, and the USA. As a nutritional counselor, Lawrence has created complete nutri- tional menus for spas from Manhattan to Mykonos. He is a Registered yoga Alliance Teacher, an AFAA certification Specialist and contributing Author to industry magazines like AFAA’s American Fitness, IDEA’s Fitness Journal, and Spa Asia. His affilia- overeating nutritioniStS? deconditioned PerSonal trainerS? Smoking yoga instructors? Disorganized tax accountants? Overweight cardiologists? These examples may be hard to believe, but they exist. Oftentimes, in any industry those who purport to spread any message may fail personally in the very attempt to speak its language. The same can happen in the spa arena: regardless of any hat we wear in our versatile profession, we all strive to improve the overall quality of the lives of those who enter our sanctuaries towards wellness. Years ago, there was hardly any talk about spa professionals engaging in self-care, but now the current trend embraces the concept that, what we cannot embrace ourselves, we cannot possibly pretend to sell to others. For this reason, integrating options for spa staff to use the face and body care brands of its spa, offering special classes like “Yoga for Stress Management” to spa staff, and including more nutritious meals at staff cafeterias is slowly becoming more commonplace in our industry. To be sure, while those at-work options help move all internal spa staff along on the path towards wellness, those steps alone do not satisfy completely all of one’s needs. This primer looks at several practical steps that all spa professionals can implement into their daily lives in an effort to integrate more holistic wellness on a daily basis. Wellness to many of us means having a sound relationship among our Spirit, Psyche and Anatomy, and these three words connote yet another meaningful possible acronym for the meaning of S.P.A. tions have included FG2000, AcE, AFAA, boSU, bender ball, Gliding, and Savvier. He currently serves on the Advisory board for the International council on Active Aging (IcAA) and is Senior vIP consultant for Power Music. Furthermore, Lawrence continues to inspire career wellness devel- opment with several biscontini Scholarships for the fitness and spa community and “yo-Global,” a program to take yoga to the underprivileged. Find Lawrence at findlawrence.com. 28 PULSE ■ January/February 2018 “...the current trend embraces the concept that, what we cannot embrace ourselves, we cannot possibly pretend to sell to others.”