P: Of all the wellness and health issues we are facing today, which one do you think requires the most urgent attention? S: Childhood obesity gives me fits. So many children are doomed to spend their lives feeling miserable from obesitycaused diseases. Suffering, medical tests, drug use, hospitalizations... all can be avoided. It’ s an outrage, especially because it’ s so solvable. We’ re violating our children’ s trust: they trust us to educate and prepare them for the future, and yet when they get there, they’ ll be greeted by syringes and pills. Obesity preys on the poor, especially. It thrives in certain zip codes, while wealthier families make up for any lack of physical education and good food in their schools by paying for their children’ s sports, healthier diets, and so much else that keys a healthy life.
P: Why do you think there’ s a need to hold fast-food companies accountable for today’ s growing obesity problem? S: Why focus on fast-food companies? Because they happen to be one of the main causes of obesity! But they’ re also part of a much larger food chain that relies on expediency. I also blame school boards that have fired their cooks and torn out their schools’ working kitchens and replaced everything with microwaves. When all a child eats is processed food, I believe that the taste buds become accustomed to saltier, fattier foods and forget what freshness really tastes like. The whole system is skewed to make you fat and sick. Even if a poor working mom tries to cook, she may be faced with a“ food desert”— her neighborhood has no real market in which to buy healthy, fresh groceries.
P: How can the spa industry be a vehicle of change, especially on environmental issues such as cancercausing toxins and chemical by-products that are polluting both our bodies and the environment? S: I love this question. Thank you for asking it. Yes, we are in a unique position to be the flag wavers. We know better, and we have to find ways to become activists. We can start inside
our own doors. Going to a spa should be an education. We have an opportunity to educate our clients while they’ re having their massages and facials... we can harangue them in a polite manner!
P: What can the spa community do to promote Slow Food, a Genetically Modified Organism( GMO)-free diet and good nutrition across a broader audience? S: As individual businesses, we can’ t lecture clients about GMOs and the Slow Food movement while you’ re giving a massage or selling lipstick. One approach might be to hold a simple luncheon now and then. When people are eating, they are open and receiving, in this case, to new information and ideas about their overall wellness. Even if you serve nothing more than tea and coffee and healthy appetizers, get them to relax and talk. Bring in a nutritionist to do an informative talk, perhaps. The idea of overall wellness can fit into any spa model.
ISPA has a more powerful bully pulpit: we can take a broader, more forceful stand on what our bodies need to achieve maximum wellness— and that means demanding real unprocessed food, organic food, sustainable agriculture, and a return to what Slow Food advocates: a healthy relationship with food and all its wonderful traditions.
P: I read somewhere that you plan to climb the 3,885- foot high Mount Kuchumaa, the tallest peak near Rancho La Puerta. What else is on your bucket list? S: I have climbed Mt. Kuchumaa many times in the past on my birthday( it’ s more like a long steep walk than a“ climb”), but to be honest, it’ s too far for me now. I hike our lower trails and appreciate the blessing that I can still do this. The old saying will always hold true: it’ s all about the journey and not the destination.
P: How do you live the spa lifestyle? S: I go to Pilates four times a week. I do it religiously and I enjoy it. I really want to stay young. Getting old is boring and I’ m willing to commit myself to exercise. There is so much to do! n
TWEET Pulse. Here’ s your chance to chat with the“ godmother of spa.” Send Pulse your questions for Szekely and follow the conversation on # DeborahSzekely at @ IspaDoYou.
HOW CAN SPAS HELP promote the spirit of volunteerism? Click here to read exclusive digital Pulse Content. Or, visit wellnesswarrior. org to know more about the initiative.
March / April 2013 n PULSE 21