Immersive Wellness Strategies

Emerging markets for spas are the best place for immersive wellness practices. Our global expert Marisa dimitriadis lays bare the ground rules and commercial viability of this new-age concept.

Staying up to date with the latest trends in wellness is essential for salons and spas. Immersive experiences have recently become more popular, allowing customers to feel totally absorbed in their surroundings while stimulating all five senses.

By connecting people to nature, we can create a deeply healing experience where they can recharge and refresh mentally as well as physically. But how do you recreate this immersive environment if your salon or spa doesn’t happen to be located within a forest? You may need out-of-the-box thinking but fortunately there are now ways that businesses like yours can make use of existing resources around them while also adding some extra touches here and there – so why not give immersive wellbeing strategies a try!

Firstly, let’s look at three of the many reasons why you should even go down this route of offering immersive wellness to your patrons:

We spoke with experts from the spa and wellness industry in India to understand how they are integrating the concept of immersive wellness into their respective businesses.

1. Post-pandemic consumer yearning: Consumers are yearning to enjoy the freedom of the life they knew before the health crisis. After being cooped up in their homes for months on end, people now seek out ways to heal – both mentally and physically – through immersive wellness experiences.

2. Preventative and transformative experiences: People are increasingly more mindful of how to better care for their well-being and seek preventative practices as a method of protection. Simultaneously, individuals desire transformation – both mental and physical – that will result in the best possible version of themselves.

3. Client retention: Our success relies on keeping clients happy, and providing them with a unique experience they can’t get anywhere else. By offering something that is both what the client needs as well as wants – such as immersive experiences – we are able to increase customer loyalty like never before. We’ve seen it time and again: when customers try out these special services for themselves, they quickly become hooked!

Entering the world of immersive wellness may seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! From quick and easy solutions to more elaborate approaches, there are plenty of ways for salons or spas to take advantage. Let ’s explore some simple strategies that can help you make a seamless transition into this growing trend.

VR TECHNOLOGY

Virtual Reality technology is revolutionising the way we engage with our surroundings. From hospitals to fighter jets, VR environments are being used across a variety of sectors including healthcare, military operations and air transport – offering users an enhanced level of immersion in simulated worlds that have become so life – like they can’t be distinguished from reality!

Some examples where VR technology is being applied:

• In hospitals, it allows patients to experience stimulating activities when unable to leave their beds due to isolation or physical limitations.

• People experience wellness while traveling using VR immersion to overcome the fear of flying

• As the Covid -19 pandemic demonstrated, we need to experience wellness in our homes too. Imagine traveling to a sunny beach and feeling the sound of crashing waves while you are at home!

From the hardware and operating system perspective, we are now entering an era where sophisticated, immersive realities become accessible and affordable to all. By leveraging the power of VR technology, users can take a journey beyond reality - one that lets them escape from pain – physical or emotional – into incredibly detailed virtual worlds complete with sight, sound, smell and even touch capabilities. Empowering individuals around the world to explore new realms without limits!

The immersive experience could be as short as 20 minutes and be still effective.

While technology has been considered something that can get in the way of inner peace and mindfulness, the spa and salon should be embracing it as a means to enhance meditative experiences.

Virtual Reality sessions will help your clients unwind from their stressful and busy lives and the technology will help them achieve a more mindful state by ensuring that they de-stress and disconnect in a more immersive way.

How can you incorporate this easily into your current spa or salon set up?

• Give your pedicure services a tech upgrade with VR! With just the simple addition of a headset, clients can enjoy an immersive experience that’s like rocket fuel for relaxation. Not only will they feel rejuvenated physically through their service but mentally as well after being taken away to another world.

• Combine Pressotherapy (lymphatic drainage massage using a pressure therapy suit delivering mechanical massage) with VR technology for a body and mind makeover. Invite your clients to experience the invigorating power of this revolutionary treatment, designed to promote holistic wellbeing. With no need for a therapist and instant outcome-based results, it’s easy to understand why many clients return time after time – feeling both physically better and mentally restored.

SOUND AND VIBRATIONS

Delivering immersive experiences to your clients doesn’t have to be difficult – start by examining the soundscape of your salon or spa. Ask yourself: are you providing audio that leads towards desired outcomes, or just pleasant background sounds? Think beyond birds and water falls; consider how music can aid relaxation, improve moods and create an atmosphere that encourages positive results with every visit!

There are so many sound options to offer that in fact you need to offer a sound menu with each service or at the very least with massages.

Binaural beats create the same wave pattern that one would experience during meditation and has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, increase concentration and promote creativity. When you hear two tones — one in each ear — that are slightly different in frequency, your brain processes a beat at the difference of the frequencies. This is called a binaural beat.

Brian D’Souza and his team of professionals at Open Ear are revolutionising the way we approach sound wellness. With 20+ years in music curation, psychology, sound design and brand activation under their belts they have developed advanced technology solutions that make it easy to get Sound Wellness into any setting or environment - from productivit y facilitation to stress relief and relaxation! Try out one of their amazing tracks like The Soniferous Forest which was recently used as part of a truly immersive urban forest bathing experience – an unforget table audio journey!

Finding the perfect sound to enhance your treatments is a breeze! You can put together playlists of your own, or enlist outside assistance from Open Ear and curate exclusive sounds tailored just for you. Whether it’s during manicures/pedicures with headsets or throughout any other service like facials; audio amplifies each experience into an immersive journey.

As we get ready to amplify 2023, we have the unique opportunity to create experiences that will revolutionise our industry and shape the future of spa business. It is important to approach this with a sense of urgency - speed of implementation as I always say. Start today and experience first-hand how these strategies can improve your clients’ outcomes. You will be amazed at the positive results that come from incorporating immersive experiences into your treatment offering.

So, take action now and change the trajector y of your business for years to come! PBHJ

About the author: Marisa Dimitriadis started her career in South Africa’s spa industry at the age of 19. With The Spa Consultants, she is answering a need in the market for a turnkey consultancy to drive spa projects from the ground up. She has also formulated her own skin (SIX Skincare) and body (Spalicious) ranges. During the pandemic, she launched an online retail platform -Send me That- for spas and salons. Her latest project Spa Professionals Guild is a global online platform for ongoing business coaching and transformational management courses. She is also a part of the Sustainable Spa Association, a non-profit organisation established to assist the spa operators in becoming an environmentally friendly force for change.