BALANCING THE BODY BY THE SEASONS
Seasonal balance is living in harmony with the seasonal changes that occur physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Living in Melbourne can challenge all of us with its rich seasonal changes that have the potential to be uplifting if we plan for the changes or unbalance the mind and body if we neglect to acknowledge the need for change with seasonal transitions.

Cast your mind back to the depth of colour in the falling autumn leaves, the stillness of winter, the hot balmy summer evenings and the growth in the air of spring. When you acknowledge the changes and subtly adapt to predominant seasonal elements you can start to live in their individual beauty.

By keeping your approach simple and eating foods that are in season you can start the process of seasonal balance. As modern convenience stores increase and farming techniques improve it becomes more and more difficult for everyday consumers to make educated food choices based on what is in season. With little knowledge as to what fruits and veggies are in or out of season we’re often left in a state of feeling unwell or what I like to call “out of season”. The addition of air conditioning and heating in our modern day environments can also be reflective of the shift to cover the seasonal change. The masking of seasonal elements has given us the ability to work around the clock but at what cost to your natural rhythms?

Keeping your body in balance with seasonal change need not be a difficult task. With seasonal changes, like the one from winter to spring, take a little time to monitor how your body responds and acknowledge the natural cravings you have for the senses. In spring, for example, you may want to include lighter foods like asparagus (see spa café recipe) and green beans in your diet alongside a treatment plan to exfoliate, buff and polish the body. Long lasting change does not have to be radical as the key to a successful transition is to integrate changes slowly into your life. Create your own seasonal balance this spring with a plan that makes you feel good on both the outside and the inside.

DO IT YOURSELF SPRING STRETCHING
A balanced posture is vital to good health and maintaining flow of the body’s life force – chi.

Active stretching enables us to maintain good posture and has the ability to reduce muscle soreness, improve firmness, increase flexibility and reduce the risk of injury.

There are many different ways you can include active stretching in your weekly routine with options ranging from a yoga/stretching or pilates class to a combination of your own routine. Whatever your choice, it’s important to maintain a consistency with what you do to ensure you achieve the best results over a minimum period of time.

Some simple tips:
Posture:
Keep your abdomen pulled in to straighten your back whenever you sit, stand, walk or run.
Pull your shoulders back as though you were trying to get the shoulder blades to meet.
Draw your chin backwards to straighten your neck.

Basic stretching:
Hold your stretches for at least 15-30 seconds to get any real benefit.
Be consistent with your stretching – try once a week to do at least 15 minutes of stretching.
Start with the major muscle groups e.g: legs, back, shoulders, neck (these are common areas that hold muscle congestion and tightness).
Consider reputable resources like Jessie Chapman’s book “Yoga, postures for the body, mind and soul”, that can give you visual postures to start a safe and effective “at home” stretching or yoga program.

Private classes:
If you want maximum results in the minimum amount of time, book a private class with a yoga instructor, pilates instructor or personal trainer for your own customized stretch routine.

With your initial home program in place we suggest you maintain the consistency of the same program for a 3 month period. Once you have completed the home program for 3 months then you should consider an update to your program to ensure you continue on with the results you should be getting by that time. Private classes should always be considered as the next step once you’re on the road to stretch junky heaven. A private instructor can customize a program for you that takes into consideration any injuries or reoccurring strains you experience when stretching. It is always a good idea to establish yourself with a professional who you can check in with from time to time when you need to review your program. Happy stretching.

CHOOSE YOUR SPA TREATMENT BY THE CALENDAR!
Spring sets the stage for summer and is a season to clear our minds and exercise our bodies. It is a season of irresistible rising energy and is associated with energy that governs the growth of plants, animals, and humans. Movement and activity are essential to encourage the spring chi. Bathing rituals in particular help in this cleansing and awakening process along with the spring air that helps to cleanse and detoxify our lungs of the winter residue. Spring’s transformation also affects your skin, so it’s a perfect time to source purifying skin treatments that encourage cell renewal.

To help bring you into balance with the season of beginnings we have listed the ways we work with this change at Aurora. There are many tools available to help you create more balance. We have chosen a few that work particularly well for our clients in spring.

For spring, our bliss range of treatments help to balance this spring chi, calm the mind and body and assist as a nerve tonic, helping to create harmony within, hydrating the skin and assisting in relieving insomnia.

Out of the 4 predominant elements – earth, air, fire and water, the air element is at its strongest in spring. This element encourages stimulation, creativity, flexibility, personal growth and change. Have a think about how you can allow this elemental change to integrate into your life.

The throat chakra is the one to focus on for balance in spring and is blue in color. Blue is the symbol for communication and emotionally, it reminds us of the sky, the seas and lakes, infinity, peace, inspiration, rest, truth, hope, dreams and imagination. Physically, blue is the colour used to relax the body, reducing blood pressure and calming both our breathing and heart rates. It is an anti-inflammatory color fighting both physical and mental tension and is used to assist in relaxation. To help balance this chakra you may choose to visualize this colour, wear some blue in your clothing or include the Lapis Lazuli crystal in your accessories for the day.

The Lapis Lazuli stone has amazing properties for this season and can be a visually beautiful addition to your office desk or home. We have included the Lapis Lazuli stones in our time-out lounge this spring to pass on the physical and emotional benefits they have - we hope you enjoy them. Lapis Lazuli energizes the throat chakra promoting strength, vitality, mental clarity, illumination and creative expression. In traditional therapies the stone has been used for protection, sheltering the wearer/carrier from physical danger and psychic attacks. Lapis Lazuli is a “stone of total awareness”.

Embrace the change this spring and we’ll promise to update you on the Season of expansion – Summer, next edition.

SPA CAFÉ
Getting pleasure and enjoyment from the new season’s produce is a great way to stay in tune with nature and the real life cycles of our food. At Aurora we encourage you to purchase organic fruit and veggies as they not only taste better but are free of chemicals and better for us. Healthy plants and healthy soil produce healthy foods. Research has consistently shown that organic food is likely to be significantly higher in nutrients than conventionally grown produce.

Spring is the time to revel in juicy, fresh Asparagus. High in B vitamins, it’s perfect on its own, as an accompaniment or as a feature in a dish. Sensational any way you eat it!

Here’s a great Asparagus recipe for you.

Asparagus with healthy hollandaise dressing
Ingredients:
1 bunch asparagus
1 quantity healthy hollandaise dressing

Healthy hollandaise dressing ingredients:
100 g natural yoghurt, low fat
1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon or grainy mustard
1 teaspoon malt or white wine vinegar
cracked black pepper, to taste.

Method: Place all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until smooth and well combined. Arrange the warm, cooked asparagus on a serving plate and drizzle with healthy hollandaise dressing.

Good source of: folate
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves: 4

Spring is the best time for green and broad beans – wonderful for their flavour, Vitamin B and iron content. Spring also heralds the beginning of the Mango season, one of the world’s most popular fruits. This luscious, sweet, juicy fruit, heaven on earth, is best enjoyed as nature made it! Enjoy juicy Valencia Oranges and for a short time the spectacular Blood Oranges along with several varieties of Grapefruit.

SPA NEWS
Spa Rituals
Rituals are defined as a formalised, predetermined set of symbolic actions generally performed in a particular environment at a regular, recurring interval. The general purpose of rituals is to express some fundamental truth or meaning and evoke spiritual or emotional responses from participants.

With the launch of our new Spa menu in spring we’ve included 3 new Aurora rituals across the entire treatment range. To ensure you don’t miss out you will need to arrive at least 15 minutes before your treatment to unwind and experience the amazing new Aurora Tea Ceremony. The tea blend, active during your treatment, is picked to match your treatment for the day and is served in our time-out lounge. We would recommend starting with the bliss tea to match your bliss treatments for spring, but we will also have available our Aurora detox, balance and vitality herbal tea blends should your body be craving other therapeutic benefits or treatments on that day.

The Aurora Balancing Ritual will signify the commencement of your treatment. Warmed basalt stones are placed on the solar plexus chakra and the hara to balance your energy as your therapist guides you through a centering visualization using the corresponding colour to the season. This Balancing Ritual is done to encourage you to ‘surrender’ and has already had a number of our regulars in a state of sensory bliss. The stones assist in balancing your energy whilst the visualization enhances restorative breathing to soothe and calm the nervous system. The colour has a healing quality that embraces and harmonizes your energy with the season and helps you to connect with your inner stillness.

Our Aurora Awakening ritual follows the philosophy of leaving the best until last. In this ritual the corresponding spritz of the season is gently sprayed over your face bringing your awareness back to the present moment. A corresponding herbal tea is then served after every treatment.

We love our new additions, we hope you do too.

SPA EVENTS
Christmas
With plans already in place for Christmas, we encourage you to take a sneak preview of what is on offer this Christmas at Aurora. Our new on-line catalogue is available on our website at www.aurorasparetreat.com with the ability to purchase on-line at your fingertips.

Merry Christmas!

Nike’s You’re the Run that I Want
Following in the footsteps of Nike’s hugely successful Run London, Run Toronto and Run LA events, YOU’RE THE RUN THAT I WANT will hit Australia and New Zealand this October. The event will be held in four major cities:
Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Auckland with every city boasting a 10km course never before experienced in a major event.

In a unique twist, the event doesn’t begin when the starter’s gun goes off. From now until race day, Nike is hosting free training runs five times a week in each event city. Catering for beginners as well as experienced runners, the training runs give everyone involved the chance to shape up for the big event and Nike will even buy you a drink afterwards.

Only 10,000 places are available in each city so get in quick. Visit www.nikerunning.com.au to register or find out training details.

YOU’RE THE RUN THAT I WANT

EVENT DAY
Brisbane – October 10
Melbourne – October 24
Sydney – October 31

SPA TREATMENT REVIEW
Aurora’s new Signature Treatment – So good you want to eat it!
The Guku Cocoon Steam Treatment
If you’ve ever experienced our signature treatment the ‘Kitya Karnu’ and voted it one of the best treatments you’ve ever had in the world, like Wallpaper Magazine in February this year, you’ll be cancelling your Friday afternoon appointments and putting the kids, or partner, into an extra day at créche to experience our new signature treatment, The Guku Cocoon steam treatment.

The Guku, or honey treatment, is performed in the privacy of your own individual steam room to open the pores of the skin for maximum product absorption. Warm loofahs are used to exfoliate the body with an aromatic body cleanser before an application of bliss oil and seasonal sea salt is massaged over the body.

Once the salt is rinsed off the skin, a delicate application of warm Eucalypt honey is left to absorb and deliver a vitamin and mineral boost to the skin. Covered in warm towels like a beautiful butterfly in a cocoon, a mask is brushed over the face before the completion of the mystical journey. A cool river stones massage on the meridians of the body and spray of seasonal spritz over the face completes an experience you’ll never forget.

One of the purest natural substances that you can use as a therapeutic remedy is honey. Because bees die when they are contaminated by toxins, such as chemicals and air pollutants, they act as a biological filter for the honey that they manufacture in their hives.

Of course, we all know that honey is one of nature’s most delicious treats, but did you know that there are many topical uses for honey as well? Because honey contains vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, it is a fantastic skin treatment that nourishes the skin and the hair. Honey acts as an antibacterial and anti-fungal agent and helps disinfect and speed the healing process in wounds, scrapes and burns.

Weight for weight, honey contains about the same amount of antioxidants as spinach and a similar range to that of apples, bananas, oranges and strawberries.

You can use honey instead of alpha hydroxy masks because of its high content of the acid.

Honey promotes a hydrated healing environment to nourish the skin. It has an anti-inflammatory action resulting in reduced oedema and improved blood flow and has also been used to calm sensitive skin. Shed your winter skin with this thorough exfoliation and replenishing treatment with the benefit of nature’s nectar – honey!

COMPETITION
Spring is the season for new beginnings so we’re interested in finding out more about what you do to kick start the transition to spring. We’re interested in knowing what it is that signifies spring for you. Is it the first sight of that bulb that begins to bloom, or packing those winter woolies and saying hello to the backless, strapless little black dress? (not that I’ll be dragging that one out this year!).

Let us know in no more than 100 words what signifies spring for you. Email us at: info@aurorasparetreat.com before 1st October and go into the draw to win our new Guku Cocoon Signature Treatment.

SPA TRAVEL
We are excited to announce the new edition of our Spa Travel section in our regular updates. In each edition we promise to review 1 international spa that we have tried and tested. Every spa reviewed will be given a score based on its facilities, philosophy & authenticity, appearance, treatments and service. Here is the first, let us know what you think.

Overview:
Therme Vals, Switzerland

When I recently visited Therme Vals my expectations were high with the result far exceeding my expectations. Therme Vals is set in the most divine alpine village called Vals in Switzerland. The night I arrived coincided with a night bathing session which is only available two nights of the week.

As I entered the spa, the spa attendant explained that it was a silent experience and that there is no right or wrong way to experience Therme Vals – it was my journey. What a journey! The myriad of bathing pools, time-out lounges and steam rooms are designed to take you into a deep contemplative state. The silent bathing, for me, was like one sacred space especially designed for a moving meditation.

So inspired by this spa I went back the next day. To experience the spa in the daytime was completely different but just as impressive. As I was bathing in the outdoor pool at 36 degrees, the crisp white snow flakes were falling on my face while the sheep were grazing in the distance. The experience was extraordinary.

The spa has been built from a stone that was quarried in Vals for hundreds of years and the hot thermal water is pumped out of the mountains that surround the spa. The spa prides itself on a quality experience – don’t go expecting a huge array of the latest greatest whiz-bang equipment – that’s not what Therme Vals is about.

Environment:
The Therme is built of stone slabs, layer upon layer. The slabs are not mere facings; the massive walls are supporting elements. The slabs were cut to size in the quarry, precisely according to Peter Zumthor's instructions, and set up on the building site according to his plans. The slabs are precision made and the production tolerance was in the 1/10 mm range. All in all 60,000 slabs were used. The full range of finishing possibilities for Valser quartzite have been used in the Therme: split, milled, sawn, ground, stacked, polished, broken but always worked with absolute precision.

Facilities:
The only thermal spring in Graubünden which contains calcium, sulphate, hydrogen, carbonate and iron.

Indoor pool 32º C
Outdoor pool winter 36º C
Outdoor pool summer 30º C
Fire pool 42º C
Ice pool 14º C
Spring water drinking stone: spring warm with iron 29.8º C
Flower pool 33º C
Grotto pool 35º C
Rock steam bath: air humidity 85-100%
Musical rock: composition Fritz Hauser
Massage rooms
Rest rooms

Improvements and Drawbacks:
What I found to be a drawback could be an adventure for others. I was on a tight travel schedule that only allowed me 1 night at Vals with a full day of driving to get there. If you wanted to experience this extraordinary place you would need to hire a car, as there is no other form of access available to this small alpine village. I would also encourage you to do all of your driving during the day. In parts, the drive was icy and steep with lots of wildlife. I was driving into the night and found it particularly slow and required a lot of concentration to avoid any drop offs!

I would encourage you to stay for at least a week to truly unwind and experience as much bathing as possible. Parts of the adjoining hotel are currently being refurbished ­ don’t expect anything decadent in the hotel – just simple, functional rooms. There is a surcharge for staying 1 night (they encourage you to stay for at least 2 nights which I completely recommend).

Our Score:
9.5 (10 being exceptional)

Website address:
www.therme-vals.ch

PRODUCT REVIEW
Vitality Oil
Essential oils are one of the greatest untapped resources of the world. Here we have a system of natural help that can assist to alleviate symptoms and work on preventing illness. These extremely complex precious liquids are extracted from very specific species of plant life in harmony with people and the planet alike. I encourage you all to incorporate essential oils into your life. These oils will provide chemical free protection to your family, home and environment.

Aurora Vitality Oil
Vitality Oil – 200 mls – Lime, White Grapefruit, Sweet Basil, Rose. $39.90

This uplifting blend of essential oils combines lime, white grapefruit, sweet basil and rose and has the therapeutic benefits of its individual essential oils. The lime has antibiotic and antiseptic properties and is great for toning, assisting with depression, alleviating anxiety and helping with headaches. The white grapefruit and sweet basil both assist with cellulite and whilst the grapefruit helps kidney/liver problems, the sweet basil relieves aches, pains, fatigue and colds. The rose in this blend also has antiseptic properties.

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Aurora Spa Retreat
2 Acland Street
St Kilda VIC 3182
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