Good Karma: Inspiritas Spa Provides Comfort to Cancer Patients & Caregivers

Our pick for this month’s Good Karma spotlight takes us to San Antonio, Texas, where Inspiritas Spa and its devotion to providing comfort for cancer patients and their caregivers truly inspires us. Located in the START Center for Cancer Care, Inspiritas first caught our attention in 2010, when we included it in our SpaFinder 2011 Spa Trend Report™ as part of “The Science of Spa” trend.

The brainchild of oncologist Dr. Amy Lang, this spa for integrative wellness takes a three-pronged approach to help patients, survivors, caregivers, families, and all interested in health achieve wellbeing on a physical, mental, and emotional level—in a stunning space reminiscent of any luxury spa, no less. A menu incorporates traditional eastern wellness rituals with innovative western medicine, with services designed to relieve the pain and stress that comes with cancer and cancer treatments. All treatment modalities—from massage and acupuncture to spiritual counseling and guided imagery—are “evidence-based, meaning that they have been shown to be effective for reducing patient side-effects, reducing stress, and also increasing the patients’ sense of wellbeing,” Inspiritas says.

Wellness elements include:

• Healing-oriented medicine and integrative health services, like reiki, acupuncture, guided imagery, meditation, and spiritual direction. Sessions with a registered dietician can also be requested.

• Spa offerings carefully created with the oncology patient in mind, including facials, body treatments, and massage modalities—including hot stone; back, shoulder, and neck; myofascial; deep tissue; and acupressure techniques.

• Many free or low-fee wellness classes, such as Look Good, Feel Better, Nutrition during Cancer Care, Lymphedema—an Overview, and the eight-week Inspiritas Relaxation series; meditation sessions and informational lectures are also given in the movement therapy studio.

“These are very well-researched, government-approved therapies,” says Dr. Lang, START Center oncologist. “We want to focus on treatment modalities for which there is good evidence of benefit for cancer patients. Everyone knows that cancer patients feel terrible a lot of the time, but people that can access complementary treatments, such as massage therapy and acupuncture, can greatly enhance their quality of life.”

To complement Inspiritas’ lineup of wellness treatments, the spa also features a relaxation lounge; outdoor Zen garden; and retail area with paraben-free, fragrance-free, and organic skin and body products, all-natural vitamins, nutritional supplements, and organic tea bar. A beauty consultation center comes stocked with wigs and prosthetics, and patients are welcome for free consultations with the center’s licensed fitters.

Inspiring, indeed.

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Images courtesy of Inspiritas