Author: SpaSaturdayStyle

Synergi (synergy) is when a combined effect of multiple concepts is greater than the sum of the individual elements. Collaboration, focus, support and entrepreneurial spirit are some examples of items, when combined, supersede their individual contributions.I had heard about this business through my parish’s Google group and I couldn’t wait to only try it out, but help promote it, too.

This theme is the perfect close to my three-part series “the beauty of focus” and also the perfect introduction to the review of Synergi Wellness Spa (@SynergiWellnesSpa). Owner Kaleigh Schutt, a graduate of the AVEDA Institute and licensed massage therapist (LMT), is fulfilling her dream to owning her own business and applying a unique approach to traditional concepts.

In Dilworth, her boutique is nestled among other wellness providers at 401 East Boulevard, Suite 110. The busy street is quickly forgotten as you walk to the side entrance. A shared, peaceful waiting area with muted hues allows you to collect your thoughts. Water, coffee and tea are available while you complete paperwork.

Side Entrance

Waiting area

The beauty of focus Kaleigh brings to the art of wellness is the combined benefit of meditation techniques during massage.  She poses a series of questions with quiet direction, imagery, breathing techniques and plenty of silence to just be.  At the end, warm towels were wrapped around my feet and I found I was more relaxed. The meditation approach exceeds any prior sessions I’ve experienced at either an exclusive spa or at the larger chain providers. In those instances, to quiet my brain from building its ongoing to-do list, I would focus on the music or chat with the technician.

Photo Credit: Synergi Wellness Spa

The treatment room is cozy and the windows give an airy feel with the curtains. The decor is a calming mix of sea-inspired decor and accented by Kaleigh’s hand-made pottery. Other menu items include modalities such as swedish, deep tissue, hot stone, chakra and oncology massage. Please contact Synergi Wellness Spa at 407.590.8496 to book your session, today!

We continue our discussion about the beauty of focus. Have you thought about how we all might benefit from props, real and imaginary?  Restorative yoga enables you to maximize the poses by using props to allow limbs to rest, held from five to twenty minutes. Maybe our brains need some helpful props to be creative, like moments of quiet or beautiful memories.

Getting the blocks and bolsters just right during practice takes some fidgeting, so expect your brain to fuss as well. Imagery helps with the beauty of focus. Try to remember the prettiest sunset you’ve seen, how the waves lap the shore of your favorite beach, what do the geese sound like overhead in the fall, what do your favorite flowers smell like?

Chakras may seem like civilization’s first Rubik’s Cube. When all are aligned, you are feeling your best self. If one or all are off, the world can seem unsolvable like the cube. Visualization during breathing exercises helps mitigate pain. Imagine the chakras like seven pinwheels that need to be spun with your breath. What color are the pinwheels? Do they match the colors of the chakras? Are they metallic with glinting patches of sun? Are they located in a field or on the beach?

Imagine your breath flowing around, filling and gently turning one blade at a time. Every inhalation and exhalation should focus on turning the pinwheels until they are spinning. Once the bottom “chakra pinwheel” is turning, move to the next and so on. Personally, a respiratory lightness follows when tight muscles finally loosen.

If you’re like me, breathing helps to an extent. Muscles can be stubborn. One way to help the physical stress is to get a massage. A pull-through benefit is the ability to disconnect mentally and unwind tight knots.There are so many options these days for massage, from day spas to larger chains conveniently in a neighborhood plaza near you.

As a local business who is just starting in the tough world of corporate brands, it is important to differentiate your services.  And I found a new method offered in the heart of Dilworth. I’m so excited to share my review with you!!

Until tomorrow…be well friends!

Want to learn more? Read Restorative Yoga for Life by Gail Boorstein Grossman.

The privilege of focus should be called the beauty of focus. This post is the first in a three-part series, leading up to a review of a newly minted entrepreneur having the beauty of focus to strike it out on her own. I consider beauty of focus to be a form of meditation.

Wheels up at 5:00AM and a full day of work, I was determined to arrive at yoga in 45 minutes with proper toes. Obviously, the lack of sleep produced a completely unrealistic goal for the evening: hyperbole at its best. Equidistant between two nail salons, I felt logistics were in my favor and there was no line at the second location.

A cool blue screams spring, sandals and all things warm. Ironically, I selected “Gelato on my Mind” by OPI. As I sat patiently, I noticed the bottles of polish being arranged by color and how much time that must take to maintain. The jets softly bubbled and the refreshing smell of the salts lifted my spirits.

Pausing, I realized that this outlandish goal of arriving at restorative yoga in a half-hour was futile and laughing at myself because it is held in a dimly lit room. No toes to be seen. I was nodding off sitting upright and probably would have been out cold during shavasana, anyway. Lack of sleep does inhibits beauty of focus.

Being present for all things allows us to fully bloom where we are planted at the time. I view meditation as giving your mind something beautiful to think about. Displace yoga and pedi for x or y activities in your daily routine. Do we pile a lot of things on ourselves? Does our mind get a break? Do we truly enjoy what we have before us?

The times of natural pauses in our lives (stop lights, grocery store lines, etc.) have been filled by electronics. Try to give your mind a break by noticing everyday beauty. The next post will discuss meditation a little bit more and how it can help us find a brief respite for renewal. Can’t find time? How about when you brush your teeth? Try it.

Until then…Be well, friends.

How do you notice spring?  If you are stuck in the daily grind and can’t escape to the trail, nature will come to you. All you need is to be quiet and listen.

Morning:
Songbirds puff out feathered bellies joyfully announcing spring. There’s a few perched on the drainspout despite the snow. The North American Song Sparrow is the most prominent. Don’t know what they sound like? Give a listen: http://bit.ly/2mA8u3n

Evening:
Endless stoplights provide an opportunity to put down your phone AND the windows. Turn off the music. See if you can hear the peepers. Known as chorus frogs, these little green guys are wooing mates for all to hear.

At your desk and forgot to listen? Try this exercise:
Remember how happy you are when you can walk outside barefoot “without catching a cold.” Imagine what it feels like to walk across warm concrete to tend the grill, on freshly mowed grass to check the garden or over soft sand as the waves retreat.

Anticipate summer and get ready for all the good that is to come!

“It always seems impossible until it’s done.” is one of Nelson Mandela’s famous quotes. Another friend with a blog certainly isn’t novel.   Facebook has been a greenhouse for my content and I’m excited to put down roots in a formal WordPress blog. The object of the blog is to provide a quiet respite for those who can’t make it to the spa daily. Why not create your own place of solitude to escape and rejuvenate?

Ideas require mental cultivation first, then plans and actions.  What you feed the ideas over time will help them flourish. Do you build with pragmatism? Do you feed them positivity? Do you help them grow by building a trellis of plans?

Just like the randomness of the harvest, I can’t promise daily posts or even weekly posts, but I do plan on constant attention.  If you had to sit down and ponder where you’d like to while away some time and reflect, would it look like the picture? This is from an outdoor meditation garden dedicated to the Blessed Mother: The Grotto, in Portland, OR. Can you feel the calm?