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CENTRE’S MANDATE IS TO REVIVE JADED URBANITES

TRAVEL

29 - Sunday, March 4,

1990 - North Shore News

Sweat troubles away at Salt Spring retreat

BACK IN ancient Athens,
they knew how to do things
right.

If you were feeling stressed out,
you would hitch tiie first chariot to
an asclepium, where your body,
mind and spirit wou!Jd be cared for
by experienced healers. A few days
later, having pampered your body
and pondered upon your existence
under the auspices of Asclepius,
the god of heating, you would
check out and return to city life,
whole and refreshed.

There are very few current-day

great
escapes

Peggy Trendell-Whittaker

vacation spots that cater to a
human being’s needs in such an
all-encompassing manner. But
there is one — the Salt Spring
Centre — and we on the North
Shore are fortunate to be in prox-
imity to it.

I recently participated in one of
the centre’s popular Women’s
Weekends, which are offered every
three weeks or so, and I can almost
guarantee you that you've never
experienced a more relaxing milieu
in which to be cared for and
catered to.

The weekend begins with Fri-
day’s 12:45 p.m ferry to Salt Spr-
ing Island from Tsawwassen, a
beautiful voyage that we jaded
West Coasters often fail to appre-
ciate. You'll be picked up at the
island ferry terminal, so there's no
need to bring your car on board —
just pay the $4 fare and walk on
with a bag of comfy clothes and a
good book.

Tea will be waiting when you ar-
rive at the centre, a huge, restored
wooden farmhouse that sits on
acres of field and forest. Sunshine
streams in the windows as you sit
in the homey dining room and
listen to your hostess describe the
pleasures that await you over the
course of the weekend.

Not only will you be dining on
sumptuous vegetarian cuisine (you
can already hear dinner prepara-
tions under way in the kitchen),
you will be indulging in a whole
range of health-enhancing treat-
Ments and activities: included in
the cost of the weekend are a
reflexology session, a natural
facial, and an amazing and
unusual Swedon body massage.
And you are also welcome to join
in the daily meditation and yoga
classes, the evening sessions in the
wood-burning sauna, the Saturday
exercise session and evening art
program, and the Sunday nature
walk or garden tour.

Every moment of the weekend,
you can revel in the luxury of do-
ing exactly as you please. Guests
are encouraged to sleep in until
after lunch or join the yoga in-
structor for a class at 8 a.m.,
whichever they prefer. Some
women have been known to stay in
their housecoat for the entire
weekend; others leap into their
track suits and enthusiastically
take to the wooded trails surroun-

ding the centre. Something
weekend organizers have noticed,
however, is that a fot of sleeping
and napping goes on — it’s as if
your body finally recognizes the
chance to catch up on its rest after
months of hustle and bustle.

What sets this haven apart from
other, more glitzy spa facilities is
the fact that it is run solely by vol-
unteers who belong to the Dharma
Sara Satsang Society, a yoga socie-
ty with headquarters in Vancouver,
on Salt Spring Island and in San
Francisco. Initially, I thought I
would feel guilty being catered to
by people who weren't being paid,
but 1 quickly realized that the
members of the yoga society seem
much happier at their work than
paid professionals whose primary
motivation may sometimes be a
paycheque.

One resident at the centre ex-
plained it to me, saying that part
of their philosophy is to offer ser-
vice to others. People who live at
the centre not only pay rent but
donate 35 or 40 hours per week of
their time to the upkeep of the
centre and its programs.

.Don't get the idea, though, that
you're being hosted by a group of
somber mystics who are in-
timidatingly other-worldly.
Members of the society and the
centre's health collective are a
mixed bag of old and young
women and men with a vaziety of
outlooks on life but a common
commitment to creating a peace-
ful, relaxing environment at the
centre for society members and
guests.

Having set the scene, I°ll now
whet your appetite with a descrip-
tion of one of the most pleasurable
features of the weekend...

As I said above, the Swedon
treatment, a $,000-year-old form
of Ayurvedic medicine, is indeed
amazing and unusual. Currently,
there are only two known Swedon
steam boxes in North America,
and it’s worth the trip to Salt Spr-
ing just ta sign up for a session.

Lying on a comfortable, white-
sheeted treatment table, you first

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receive a head-to-toe body massage
during which you are coated with
sesame oil. After that relaxing ex-
perience, you are asked to lie in the
wooden sweatbox, the floor of
which is lined with fragrant balsam
boughs. As you steam in the box,
you are constantly attended to by
your practitioner, who bathes your
face with water (your head is stick-
ing out of the box) and ensures
that you're not feeling over-
heated.

Although I had reservations
about the sweatbox — the interior
temperature reaches up to 120
degrees F — | quite enjoyed it.
You are encouraged to stay in only
as long as you are still feeling
comfortable, and not allowed to
stay in longer than 12 minutes. The
toxins you sweat out, said my
practitioner Bhavani Chlopan,
equal the cleansing your body
would get from a three or four-day
fast.

After that, it's back on to the
table where you are dusted off
with barley flour to remove the
toxins from your skin. The flour is
brushed off your body with a stiff,
invigorating bristle brush, then you
are wrapped in a housecoat and
can bundle yourself off to savor
memories of your experience over
a cup of tea.

The weekend ends on Sunday
afternoon, and it is a common
observance that the group of peo-
ple leaving the centre look vastly
different than the group that came
in.

The cost of the weekend is a
well-worth-it $235, and $250 after
April. Upcoming Women's
Weekends will be held on March
9-11, April 6-8, May 4-6, May 18-
21 ($375 for three days, or $250
for two) and July 19-22.

Fortunately, the experiences of-
fered by the centre are available to
men as well as women. People of
both sexes can take part in upcom-
ing weekends such as the March
30-April | workshop on Develop-
ing Loving Relationships, with
Linda and Richard Stern ($190 ea.,
$370 per couple) and the April

The

next time
you think of
parking
here,

YOUR COMMUNITY

NEWSPAPER
SINCE 1969

27-29 or May 25-27 Rejuvenation
Retreats with naturopathic doctor
Peter Bennett ($185).

These weekends inciude meals
and accommodations, and partici-
pants can pay separately for health
or beauty treatments if they
choose. It’s a good idea to book
well in advance, as many of the
weekends fill up early.

If you’re just visiting Salt Spr-
ing, you might consider phoning

ahead to the centre and booking a
Swedon or other health session as
a special treat. Swedons ure $45,
bodywork ranges from $30 to $35,
reflexology is $20 and a facial is
$25. What better way to make
your island vacation complete?

For more information, call the
Salt Spring Centre at 537-2326 or
write P.O Box 1133, Ganges, B.C.
VON 1E0.

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