Guests at The Spa at Cliff House, a luxury resort hotel spa located in Cape Neddick, Maine, are benefitting year-round from an innovative seasonal treatment series — the Salt of the Sea. In sync with the moon’s cycles, the series features pure Himalayan salt stones from Saltability for an authentic, ancient connection to nature at this oceanfront spa.
“This treatment was born from reluctance of providing traditional ‘seasonal’ treatments like pumpkin body wraps and peppermint pedicures, which have their place, but it didn’t fit with the natural connection to nature that we embrace at the spa,” says Dawn Page, spa director at The Spa at Cliff House.
Changing in concert with the seasonal moon cycles, The Spa at Cliff House’s Salt of the Sea series features massage using warm, hand-carved salt stones from Saltability and unique essential oil blends that have been selected to represent each season and move the body’s energetic pathways. The series encompasses five seasonal variations — spring, summer, late summer, autumn and winter.
The Spa at Cliff House team chose Saltability’s salt stones, known for their ethical sourcing and therapeutic benefits, because of the company’s simultaneous bent toward ancient practice and innovation.
“Saltability hot stones provide an innovative treatment using an ancient ingredient,” Page says. “The development of the seasonal series seemed to happen naturally — it was something that just felt right when you put the warm earthly stones into your hands.”
Page says their treatment associates each season with a particular element and then incorporates massage techniques that suit the nature of the element. Winter, for example, identifies with the element of water, and the corresponding treatment remineralizes the body with stone made from ancient sea salt and complementing oils that include marine extracts. The winter version also features sound therapy through Tibetan bowls tuned to the heart (and the corresponding element of water) to promote letting heaviness leave the body and inviting wholeness to enter.
In contrast, the summer treatment, associated with the element of fire, includes vigorous, energy-inducing massage strokes in an upward motion and an uplifting essential oil blend of lemon basil, rosemary and ginseng.
“Effectively, a guest could come to our spa five times in one year, and (the Salt of the Sea experience) would be different each time,” Page adds.
Guests who receive Salt of the Sea treatments at The Spa at Cliff House also receive a beautifully designed card that lists keys for balance, meditations and other therapist recommendations. Each card is a play on the periodic table of elements and lists the day each season officially begins. The take-home recommendations include beneficial foods and drink, exercise and products to complement the treatment the guest has received.
“I love seeing our products used to their fullest potential, and the Salt of the Sea series is such a creative way to help clients better connect with nature, the season and themselves,” says Ann Brown, Saltability founder and CEO. “Not only does the series highlight the versatility of our Himalayan salt stone product, but it also showcases the knowledge and creativity that drive our industry.”
Learn more about the seasonal Salt of the Sea series at The Spa at Cliff House.