With the quest for better mental wellness growing ever stronger in the wake of the global pandemic, we ask Gharieni CEO Sammy Gharieni how the company’s wellness technologies are helping spas to meet this consumer demand

As a supplier, how is Gharieni addressing the shift towards treatments that better support mental health?
Today’s spa visitors are now looking for both mental and physical benefits. Pampering is no longer the sole objective of the spa experience. The shift is towards a wellness experience, where guests seek multiple benefits from their spend – mental fitness, health optimisation and take-home value. These are all benefits that should extend way beyond their stay, and our mind/body wellness technologies enable spas to provide enhanced and accelerated results.

Can you outline in more detail how your spa models help to improve a client’s mental wellbeing?
All of our Mind/Body Wellness Technology beds are developed to enhance mind and body, and in particular, the following are focused on the support of mental wellness.

Our Welnamis bed is designed to offer deep relaxation for busy minds. Its binaural acoustic and dynamic stimulation comprises a computer-controlled acoustic and vibrational technology that trains the brain to relax and benefit from deep relaxation techniques.

Similar to meditation, specific sounds slow down mental activity and vibrational frequencies act on specific parts of the body.

A Welnamis treatment can provide instant relief, and if repeated as little as once a week for three weeks – for just 22 minutes a week – can create optimal and longer-lasting results.

For clients suffering from low-energy, lack of sleep, anxiety and stress, our RLX Satori Wellness Lounger uses natural vibrational and binaural sounds to fully synchronise body and mind.

This vibro-acoustic treatment has been clinically proven to have positive effects on mood states and support behavioural change in people recovering from anxiety, sleep disorders and addiction states, as well as in people looking to reduce stress in their lives.

RLX Aurasens is our immersive sound and haptic augmented experience that delivers the magic of music and pulsating haptic sensations to transport guests to another dimension.

As a non-visual, multi-sensory experience, it’s designed to help users escape from reality into their imagination, enabling them to re-awaken their senses and create a deeper connection to mind, body and spirit.

Gharieni places great importance on validated scientific research to support the development of its wellness technologies. What are some of the standout study results that link your models to improved mental wellbeing?
There is much evidence to support this and the scientific database is growing day by day.

A study into our MLX i3Dome (combining far infrared technology with plasma and light) showed reduced levels of cortisol (stress hormone), improved immune systems function, lower anxiety and depression score states, elevated wellbeing ratings, improved mood states, reduction in muscle and joint pain and decreased insomnia states.

Results from the first part of a two-part study into the MLX Quartz (integrating sand therapy, aromatherapy, inversion therapy and undulating massage) and the Welnamis have indicated that both these beds improve the regulation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS), responsible for both sympathetic and parasympathetic responses, which is the primary mechanism in control of the body’s fight-or-flight (stress) response.

How do you see the future developing with regard to wellness technologies and mental wellbeing?
Today’s consumers are looking for evidence-based claims to ensure value for their wellness spend – and mental wellness is a key part of this. Brands will need to work even harder to deliver reliable information about the promises they make and to balance scrutiny and authenticity.

We’re also in the middle of a convergence of traditional spa and wellness practices with the integration of medical and wellness practices – Integrative Wellness. This means that the industry must continue to work with the latest science to deliver more targeted and bespoke experiences to educate wellness consumers.

More: www.gharieni.com