Epel is known for her research which links stress to cellular ageing / Photo: Elissa Epel
“I’m a firm believer in retreats and spas but without the skills to help people deeply relax, they’re of limited value,” says Elissa Epel, professor in psychiatry and behavioural medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “Despite being physically in paradise while visiting a spa, our mind can still be working overtime panicking about the past, the future and stress we hold in our bodies – even unconsciously.”
Best known in the industry for her pioneering research linking stress to the shortening of telomeres and immune cell ageing, Epel has just written a book – The Stress Prescription – to help people to take control of their stress in just seven days.
“I use the word prescription because we need to view stress management as seriously as we do medical disease,” Epel tells Spa Business. “The vast majority of us are living with too much daily stress and it’s ruining our life.
“We’re living in tough times and need more robust tools and stress management practices for daily life. Stress can feel like a filter that masks the beauty in front of us. But we don’t have to live that way.”
After decades of studying the subject, Epel felt compelled to share her insights on how to reshape our relationship with stress into one that’s healthy and humorous. She’s broken them down into seven steps – “potent easy strategies proven to be effective” – that each requires just a few minutes a day:
• Embrace uncertainty
• Put down the weight of what we can’t control
• Use our stress response to help overcome challenges
• Train our cells to “metabolise stress” better
• Immerse ourselves in nature to recalibrate our nervous system
• Practice deep restoration
• Intersperse our busy schedules with moments of joy
“With some relatively simple new habits, we can train the mind and body to experience the inevitable stresses of life in a positive way that’s actually healthy for the body,” she says.
Epel sees the book being particularly useful to wellness lovers and operators. “Using these techniques, people are better equipped to reap the positive effects of time at spas and benefit from the experience for longer, meaning they may return sooner,” she concludes.
“In fact, studies have shown that people who are more experienced in meditation show more immediate physiological benefits from a retreat.”
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2023 issue 1
Write to reply: Letters
Zulal's Sandie Johannessen shares her passion for medical wellness and Kloodos' Julie Cichocki says wellness protocols should start with the vagus nerve
Spa People: Leekyung Han
The South Korean-born spa consultant on why her home country should be on the radar of all wellness developers
Sponsored: Art of Cryo: Working well
Spa operators and corporate offices can now offer a comprehensive, six-part wellness journey designed by Art of Cryo to elevate health
Research: Wellness Travel Consumer Survey
A general reboot and nature/outdoor activities are key considerations for wellness tourists according to a new study by WTA. Anne Dimon reports
First person: Doctor’s orders
Can a partnership with an international hospital elevate a wellness retreat? Neena Dhillon visits RAKxa in Bangkok, Thailand to find out
Interview: Justin Musgrove
We talk to the CEO of Core Life, the exclusive lifestyle brand which has ambitions to expand to the world's most affluent cities
Sponsored: Starpool: Zerobody Cryo
The new Zerobody Cryo will deliver comfortable cold therapy for spa, wellness and sports says Starpool CEO, Riccardo Turri
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
Epel is known for her research which links stress to cellular ageing / Photo: Elissa Epel
“I’m a firm believer in retreats and spas but without the skills to help people deeply relax, they’re of limited value,” says Elissa Epel, professor in psychiatry and behavioural medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “Despite being physically in paradise while visiting a spa, our mind can still be working overtime panicking about the past, the future and stress we hold in our bodies – even unconsciously.”
Best known in the industry for her pioneering research linking stress to the shortening of telomeres and immune cell ageing, Epel has just written a book – The Stress Prescription – to help people to take control of their stress in just seven days.
“I use the word prescription because we need to view stress management as seriously as we do medical disease,” Epel tells Spa Business. “The vast majority of us are living with too much daily stress and it’s ruining our life.
“We’re living in tough times and need more robust tools and stress management practices for daily life. Stress can feel like a filter that masks the beauty in front of us. But we don’t have to live that way.”
After decades of studying the subject, Epel felt compelled to share her insights on how to reshape our relationship with stress into one that’s healthy and humorous. She’s broken them down into seven steps – “potent easy strategies proven to be effective” – that each requires just a few minutes a day:
• Embrace uncertainty
• Put down the weight of what we can’t control
• Use our stress response to help overcome challenges
• Train our cells to “metabolise stress” better
• Immerse ourselves in nature to recalibrate our nervous system
• Practice deep restoration
• Intersperse our busy schedules with moments of joy
“With some relatively simple new habits, we can train the mind and body to experience the inevitable stresses of life in a positive way that’s actually healthy for the body,” she says.
Epel sees the book being particularly useful to wellness lovers and operators. “Using these techniques, people are better equipped to reap the positive effects of time at spas and benefit from the experience for longer, meaning they may return sooner,” she concludes.
“In fact, studies have shown that people who are more experienced in meditation show more immediate physiological benefits from a retreat.”
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2023 issue 1
Write to reply: Letters
Zulal's Sandie Johannessen shares her passion for medical wellness and Kloodos' Julie Cichocki says wellness protocols should start with the vagus nerve
Spa People: Leekyung Han
The South Korean-born spa consultant on why her home country should be on the radar of all wellness developers
Sponsored: Art of Cryo: Working well
Spa operators and corporate offices can now offer a comprehensive, six-part wellness journey designed by Art of Cryo to elevate health
Research: Wellness Travel Consumer Survey
A general reboot and nature/outdoor activities are key considerations for wellness tourists according to a new study by WTA. Anne Dimon reports
First person: Doctor’s orders
Can a partnership with an international hospital elevate a wellness retreat? Neena Dhillon visits RAKxa in Bangkok, Thailand to find out
Interview: Justin Musgrove
We talk to the CEO of Core Life, the exclusive lifestyle brand which has ambitions to expand to the world's most affluent cities
Sponsored: Starpool: Zerobody Cryo
The new Zerobody Cryo will deliver comfortable cold therapy for spa, wellness and sports says Starpool CEO, Riccardo Turri
The Toverland theme park in the Netherlands has announced a €98m expansion programme
that will add a resort, new attractions and staff facilities as it pursues plans to become a multi-
day destination.
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
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