Santa Fe Health & Beauty
Establishment
neighborhood
Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado
198 State Rd. 592, Northeast
The treatment rooms, as well as all of the massages and facials, are inspired by the sacred kiva rooms used by Pueblos for religious rituals. Start your experience with smudging, chakra balancing, or a mindful meditation while you look out over the serene desert. If your skin is having trouble adapting to the desert climate, try the Moisture Drench Facial which gives skin a bouncy, youthful glow.
Ten Thousand Waves
21 Ten Thousand Waves Way, Northeast
Set in the foothills of Santa Fe, this Japanese bathhouse/spa/restaurant/guesthouse is one of the most beautiful, relaxing places on earth. The outdoor baths—an enormous communal one and many private individual tubs—are surrounded by pinyon pines and overlook stunning sunsets and moonrises. All of the facials incorporate a firm Japanese face massage aimed at encouraging circulation and contouring the face muscles. The Japanese Organic Massage facial uses fast, light strokes to remove impurities and encourage lymphatic drainage.
Spa at Loretto
211 Old Santa Fe Trail, Plaza
The spa at the Loretto Inn (next door to the Loretto chapel) has a homespun vibe—starting with the massage oils, which the spa director makes herself. All the standard treatments are on offer, from facials and milk baths to couples' massage, plus a room outfitted with a Vichy shower for water therapy. If you only have time for one treatment, get a pedicure in one of their profoundly comfortable (if not a little strange-looking) zero-gravity chairs.
Sacred Kundalini
1300 Luisa St., The Railyard
Kundalini is a school of yoga with an intense focus on awareness and energy medians, which is a big part of why it's taken off in Santa Fe. It seems like everyone in town practices at Sacred Kundalini, which has a great roster of instructors, many of whom have formal healing practices like ayurveda or massage off the mat. For a more immersive experience, look up their workshops in white tantric yoga and meditation.
Ten Thousand Waves
21 Ten Thousand Waves Way, Northeast
Perched on top of a hillside just ten minutes from downtown Santa Fe, this spa is one of the best places in the area to unwind. This tranquil oasis was opened in 1981 to introduce Japanese-style bathing to the city; today, a variety of massage, skin care, and spa treatments are on offer. The real draw here is the outdoor hot tubs, which capitalize on the simple, healing power of sitting in hot water while surrounded by nature. You could book an enclosed private tub with views of the mountains—and adjacent private cold plunge and sauna—but we recommend the communal baths.
Thrive Santa Fe
947 W. Alameda St., Southwest
There are plenty of alternative and niche yoga schools to try in Santa Fe, but when we're longing for a more familiar, Bikram-style class, we head to Thrive (which doubles as a spin studio), where you're all but guaranteed to meet friendly locals happy to share recommendations on the area's many health and wellness resources.
Hoshindo Healing Arts Institute
404 Brunn School Rd., Southwest
Voyce Durling-Jones Sensei was the first foreigner to pass national HoShin examinations and become certified to practice bee venom therapy in Japan, where the practice originated. She was also the first to bring the art, which uses bee venom to stimulate the immune system around areas of stress and illness, to the United States. Combining HoShin with her training as a reiki master, she takes on everything from tough cases of hard-to-treat conditions like Lyme to post-op inflammation treatment. If you can't get an appointment with Voyce Sensei herself, she has several qualified and highly trained practitioners on staff, all of whom have been through her rigorous apprenticeship program.
Christa J. Obuchowski
[email protected]
Christa distils the most beautifully aromatic essential oils from materials she finds locally in Santa Fe (her piñon oil is a local favorite), making her the herbalist of choice for the area's best naturopaths. She also finds great uses for hydrosols, the less potent cast-off of the distillation process.
Eden Kark, D.O.M.
1500 5th St., Southwest
The old aphorism goes that Santa Fe has more acupuncturists per capita than any other city in the world, so to say that Eden Kark stands out from the pack isn't for nothing. He's a practitioner of many forms of Chinese medicine and a Ph.D. candidate in Integral and Transpersonal Psychology, which brings an entirely different perspective to his treatment methods.
The Light Harmonics Institute
7608 Old Santa Fe Trail, Southeast
Santa Fe is a hotbed for alternative medicine, and one of the most important doctors in that movement is Dr. Linda Lancaster, a homeopath and naturopath who looks at health holistically, focusing on lifestyle, energies, and other factors in her practice—she's also the founder of the Global Foundation for Integrative Medicine, with an amazing network of alternative medicine practitioners. Patients rave about her raw milk cleanse, which is said to rid the body of toxic parasites and help with heavy metal loads. For aspiring healers, her health center, Light Harmonics Institute (which also has an office in New York), offers classes and seminars on radionics, electromagnetics, and other healing arts. Her son, Dr. John Sherdon, shares her practice and is a talented acupuncturist.