Ask people if they know what a health retreat or spa is and most will give an affirmative answer. Attempt to qualify that by enquiring, “Have you actually been to a health retreat?” and not quite so many can say yes. You may have read about health retreats or spas, or know a friend who has been to one, but perhaps you haven’t been to one yourself. With that in mind, the WellBeing team recently conducted some experiential research and is pleased to share its findings with you.

 Ancient origins

The origins of the health spa date back thousands of years, and there are many well-known surviving examples of Roman bath-house culture throughout the world. The town of Bath in England, for example, sits above the active hot springs around which the Romans established one of their bath houses. The town of Spa in Belgium is the likely origin of the word “spa”, as this was a particularly popular Roman health retreat.

However, just about every culture created a place for its people to gather, bathe and relax. Baths were most often (but not always) built above naturally occurring hot springs, and the Romans built vast ovens to heat some of their bath houses when necessary. Turkish baths were famous for the skill and artistry of their attendants, with the experience of visiting the baths encompassing massage, scrubbing, sauna, barbering, shaving and, of course, bathing. Communal bathing has always been important in the Japanese culture, with each village or suburb in Japan having its own bath house. Many of the therapeutic practices we are familiar with today — massage, aromatherapy, fasting and detoxification, thermal therapy and spa therapy — had their beginnings in these places of rest and recuperation.

Considering later sociopolitical attitudes to health spas in Western communities, it seems that we of Anglo-Saxon heritage and the Protestant work ethic lost the thread of connection with these sanctuaries of delight hundreds of years ago. The early Christian Church considered them places of heathen practice that promoted sinful preoccupation with the body; its doctrine did not allow for such comforts of the flesh.

This attitude later evolved into the reality that health spas were places only for the wealthy and powerful, who, of course, were seen by the masses as inherently evil anyway. So the health spa became a rare treat for the rich and famous (and today, something we read about in the Sunday papers in relation to “recovering” celebrities!).