Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SPA VACATIONS
pump your heart at an adventure spa
THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES
Fitness—If it came in a bottle, everybody would have a great body.
—Cher
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Thirty years ago, the only ones who went to spas were people like Marilyn Monroe and
Joan Crawford, the famous and rich who needed to drop pounds or rejuvenate their complex-
ions before their moviegoing public spotted them in, well, public. And the only exercise these
exclusive spas offered was moving the robe-swaddled bodies of the wealthy from one treat-
ment table to the next.
Now, of course, you can find spas everywhere that dole out manicures and massages, and
exercise, as much as some of us hate to admit it, is accepted as being vital to the whole spa
equation. Instead of working up a sweat in a spinning or kickboxing class in a stuffy gym that,
if you're lucky, is playing an old Jimmy Stewart movie, why not fulfill the “exercise” compon-
ent of your spa stay by hiking or snorkeling or horseback riding—something outdoors, prefer-
ably where the scenery contributes to making your heart pump faster? In the spa industry, these
resorts are called “adventure spas.” Here are a few of the best:
Miraval Life in Balance.
Tucked into a valley north of Tucson, just west of the Santa Catalina
Mountains, this 445-acre Sonoran Desert resort has always been known for its challenge ses-
sions where guests push themselves to try new things, all the while being mindful of what it
brings up. Perhaps best known is the resort's Equine Experience, where guests are taken to a
horse ranch, given a demo on how to groom a horse, and then charged with doing it them-
selves. As Wyatt Webb, the psychotherapist who serves as Miraval's equine experience man-
ager, says, “It's not about the horse.” Rather, you find out all sorts of patterns of learned be-
haviors—how you solve problems, how willing you are to ask for help, and so on. Of course,
Miraval also offers the requisite spa treatments, golf and tennis facilities, a famous doctor
(Andrew Weil, who serves as the resort's director of integrative health and healing), and 106
