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MONDAY January 26, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels January 9, 2004 Downtown Healing in the waters Andrew Scot Bolsinger Tucked away next to rolling hills, along a creek bed is a vision for a community of respite and healing. Though it sounds idyllic, it seems a rather odd location considering it's directly behind a noisy auto sales lot on North Main Street just outside of the city limits. You drive past a typical strip mall as you turn down the road to the spa. But more than the surroundings gives the Lithia Springs Inn its perfect place. At the center, both figuratively and literally, of the development is the natural mineral spring, which like the days of old attracts people for miles around. Now plans to create an expanded lodge, some retail opportunities and a European-style village are under consideration. A new restaurant that serves five-course meals, with homegrown organic ingredients, recently opened. It's the waters More specifically, the waters helped draw Deb Cleland and Deanne Anderson, co-owners of Ashland Body Works, who opened their temporary spa in June. The pair hopes to break ground on a new, expanded spa in the next couple of months. When the new facility is opened, the name will be changed to Waterstone Mineral Springs Spa, a direct reflection of the water's central importance. Both owners are licensed massage therapists who opened this business venture with an eye toward healing. "We share a vision about who we are and what we want to offer in this town," says Cleland. "A lot of people who start spas don't have our healing background." The spa is a small, consistent subset of the larger project, drawn together by the land itself. Anderson says the healing goals of the spa are consistent with the land's role in history. "We're honoring the land," Anderson says. "The Takelma tribe, really several tribes, used to soak in these waters." The natural spring was once called Poison Lake by the native Americans in the area, according to Anderson -poison being a word for healing in that culture. Human Sushi In addition to regular massage treatment, the mineral springs are used for relaxing soaks and other forms of "detoxifying" treatments. A raw sugar and coconut scrub not only makes the body feel renewed, but smells like a tropical drink. Less aromatic, but perhaps more invigorating, is a special treatment called a seaweed body wrap. While more traditional means of unwinding may involve a bar stool and ice clinking in a rocks glass, the body wrap process offers a more healthy approach to relaxation. "It's a very detoxifying treatment," Anderson says. After a hot mineral bath that opens the pores begins the treatment. The actual wrap begins by lying on a heated table in a warm, relaxing room, with soft music playing. Anderson says they scrub the body with a brush, mostly to "sluff off the dead skin." A strong seaweed paste is then massaged all over the skin. "What is really important is the seaweed," Cleland says. "It comes off the Brittany Coast, in deep, clean waters. With so many other products, you don't know what is being put into your body." Finally, you are wrapped in plastic and wool. Kind of like a human sushi. "The body kind of goes into a deep relaxation and perspires and the seaweed gets absorbed into the body," Anderson says. After about 20 minutes, the paste is removed and another cleansing mineral bath washes the powerful seaweed off completely. The whole process takes about 75 minutes, or about the same time as a couple of rounds at happy hour. A quick getaway The entire Lithia Springs plan is designed to offer a break that's just a little bit different, just a little but outside of the city. It's more than a spa, or a resort, or a restaurant, but a community with an ethos all its own. "We want to bring people out away from the city to rest," Anderson says. Even if only for 75 minutes under the sea (weed). Andrew Scot Bolsinger is the editor of the Daily Tidings. You can reach him at 482-3456, ext. 3025, or [email protected] . DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - ODOT Road Cams