Try a health spa: take the water

Saunas, hot rooms, solariums, foot spas, swimming, plunge pools, mud baths: there is plenty to keep you busy at a health spa, and leave you feeling like you've never felt before. Fancy a health makeover? A weekend away toning and re-tuning your body? Why not try a health spa? The term spa comes from the Latin ‘Salus Per Aqua’, meaning ‘health through water’. However, the term has come to be associated with towns with natural springs have produced health-giving waters: Spa towns. Victorian Britons are very keen on travelling long distances for the time to ‘take the waters’ in Britain (there were more than a hundred spa towns), or further afield across Europe. The idea of water as giving health, of course, goes back much further than that, as, for example the Romans built a complete town around the springs at the eponymously named Bath. However, modern spas offer treatments that have even older origins. For example, the Middle East originated the now increasingly popular mud bathing, and Dead Sea provided rich mineral silts used for treating skin conditions for thousands of years. The Ancient Egyptians also regarded the mud of the Nile delta as having healing powers, as deposits in the mud came down from the high mountain ranges of Ethiopia. These days modern health spas bring treatments closer to home, although much of the fun of visiting a health spa is … to get away from it all! Your more than likely to find the health spa will exclude children, bringing a relaxed atmosphere to the surroundings. On the same theme, there are often relaxation classes, and always plenty of activities on a day to day basis, including talks and demonstrations on the subjects of health, beauty and fitness. Other spas do welcome children, but there will be careful restrictions on where they can go. Food will be healthy – but not just a lettuce leaf and water! There is not usually a bar, but wine is usually allowed with evening meals. Saunas, hot rooms, solariums, foot spas, swimming, plunge pools, mud baths: there are a whole host of activities to keep you busy, and leave you feeling as healthy as you’ve ever been!