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Epel is known for her research which links stress to cellular ageing / Photo: Elissa Epel
“I’m a firm believer in retreats and spas but without the skills to help people deeply relax, they’re of limited value,” says Elissa Epel, professor in psychiatry and behavioural medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “Despite being physically in paradise while visiting a spa, our mind can still be working overtime panicking about the past, the future and stress we hold in our bodies – even unconsciously.”
Best known in the industry for her pioneering research linking stress to the shortening of telomeres and immune cell ageing, Epel has just written a book – The Stress Prescription – to help people to take control of their stress in just seven days.
“I use the word prescription because we need to view stress management as seriously as we do medical disease,” Epel tells Spa Business. “The vast majority of us are living with too much daily stress and it’s ruining our life.
“We’re living in tough times and need more robust tools and stress management practices for daily life. Stress can feel like a filter that masks the beauty in front of us. But we don’t have to live that way.”
After decades of studying the subject, Epel felt compelled to share her insights on how to reshape our relationship with stress into one that’s healthy and humorous. She’s broken them down into seven steps – “potent easy strategies proven to be effective” – that each requires just a few minutes a day:
• Embrace uncertainty
• Put down the weight of what we can’t control
• Use our stress response to help overcome challenges
• Train our cells to “metabolise stress” better
• Immerse ourselves in nature to recalibrate our nervous system
• Practice deep restoration
• Intersperse our busy schedules with moments of joy
“With some relatively simple new habits, we can train the mind and body to experience the inevitable stresses of life in a positive way that’s actually healthy for the body,” she says.
Epel sees the book being particularly useful to wellness lovers and operators. “Using these techniques, people are better equipped to reap the positive effects of time at spas and benefit from the experience for longer, meaning they may return sooner,” she concludes.
“In fact, studies have shown that people who are more experienced in meditation show more immediate physiological benefits from a retreat.”
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Write to reply: Letters
Zulal's Sandie Johannessen shares her passion for medical wellness and Kloodos' Julie Cichocki says wellness protocols should start with the vagus nerve
Spa People: Leekyung Han
The South Korean-born spa consultant on why her home country should be on the radar of all wellness developers
Sponsored: Art of Cryo: Working well
Spa operators and corporate offices can now offer a comprehensive, six-part wellness journey designed by Art of Cryo to elevate health
Research: Wellness Travel Consumer Survey
A general reboot and nature/outdoor activities are key considerations for wellness tourists according to a new study by WTA. Anne Dimon reports
First person: Doctor’s orders
Can a partnership with an international hospital elevate a wellness retreat? Neena Dhillon visits RAKxa in Bangkok, Thailand to find out
Interview: Justin Musgrove
We talk to the CEO of Core Life, the exclusive lifestyle brand which has ambitions to expand to the world's most affluent cities
Sponsored: Starpool: Zerobody Cryo
The new Zerobody Cryo will deliver comfortable cold therapy for spa, wellness and sports says Starpool CEO, Riccardo Turri
Contrast therapy, based on the alternation of hot and cold rituals, has become one of the
most valued practices in the fields of wellness and recovery. [more...]
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Epel is known for her research which links stress to cellular ageing / Photo: Elissa Epel
“I’m a firm believer in retreats and spas but without the skills to help people deeply relax, they’re of limited value,” says Elissa Epel, professor in psychiatry and behavioural medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. “Despite being physically in paradise while visiting a spa, our mind can still be working overtime panicking about the past, the future and stress we hold in our bodies – even unconsciously.”
Best known in the industry for her pioneering research linking stress to the shortening of telomeres and immune cell ageing, Epel has just written a book – The Stress Prescription – to help people to take control of their stress in just seven days.
“I use the word prescription because we need to view stress management as seriously as we do medical disease,” Epel tells Spa Business. “The vast majority of us are living with too much daily stress and it’s ruining our life.
“We’re living in tough times and need more robust tools and stress management practices for daily life. Stress can feel like a filter that masks the beauty in front of us. But we don’t have to live that way.”
After decades of studying the subject, Epel felt compelled to share her insights on how to reshape our relationship with stress into one that’s healthy and humorous. She’s broken them down into seven steps – “potent easy strategies proven to be effective” – that each requires just a few minutes a day:
• Embrace uncertainty
• Put down the weight of what we can’t control
• Use our stress response to help overcome challenges
• Train our cells to “metabolise stress” better
• Immerse ourselves in nature to recalibrate our nervous system
• Practice deep restoration
• Intersperse our busy schedules with moments of joy
“With some relatively simple new habits, we can train the mind and body to experience the inevitable stresses of life in a positive way that’s actually healthy for the body,” she says.
Epel sees the book being particularly useful to wellness lovers and operators. “Using these techniques, people are better equipped to reap the positive effects of time at spas and benefit from the experience for longer, meaning they may return sooner,” she concludes.
“In fact, studies have shown that people who are more experienced in meditation show more immediate physiological benefits from a retreat.”
Read more from this issue of Spa Business magazine
Write to reply: Letters
Zulal's Sandie Johannessen shares her passion for medical wellness and Kloodos' Julie Cichocki says wellness protocols should start with the vagus nerve
Spa People: Leekyung Han
The South Korean-born spa consultant on why her home country should be on the radar of all wellness developers
Sponsored: Art of Cryo: Working well
Spa operators and corporate offices can now offer a comprehensive, six-part wellness journey designed by Art of Cryo to elevate health
Research: Wellness Travel Consumer Survey
A general reboot and nature/outdoor activities are key considerations for wellness tourists according to a new study by WTA. Anne Dimon reports
First person: Doctor’s orders
Can a partnership with an international hospital elevate a wellness retreat? Neena Dhillon visits RAKxa in Bangkok, Thailand to find out
Interview: Justin Musgrove
We talk to the CEO of Core Life, the exclusive lifestyle brand which has ambitions to expand to the world's most affluent cities
Sponsored: Starpool: Zerobody Cryo
The new Zerobody Cryo will deliver comfortable cold therapy for spa, wellness and sports says Starpool CEO, Riccardo Turri
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Anna Bjurstam has left her role as Wellness Pioneer at Six Senses Hotels and Resorts and
launched a new wellness, longevity and “consciousness consultancy” called Wahayla.
Fairmont Cheshire, The Mere, has opened today (10 July) in the Northwest of England with a
1,715sq m Fairmont Spa that has been designed using a ‘Wellness without Walls’ concept.
Wellness hotels generating less than US$1 million (€932,700, £785,200) – or 10 per cent of
total revenue from wellness and leisure – recorded the strongest RevPAR and TRevPAR growth
in 2025 across categories when compared with 2024, according to the latest Wellness Real
Estate Report by RLA Global, produced in partnership with P and L benchmarking firm HotStats.
Lefay Resorts, the portfolio of two luxury wellness properties in Italy, has added emotional
dance classes and group cold plunge sessions in response to market demand for social
connection.
Aditya Saluja, an industry leader in luxury wellness hospitality, has been
appointed as
commercial director of spa and wellness for the spa management division of
Minor Hotels,
MSpa International.
Preidlhof Luxury DolceVita Resort, a destination resort and spa in Naturno, South Tyrol in Italy,
will reveal a new spa in February 2027, which has been designed by wellness expert and
consultant Patrizia Bortolin.
Contrast therapy, based on the alternation of hot and cold rituals, has become one of the
most valued practices in the fields of wellness and recovery. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
Robosculptor Since its
inception in 2019, roboSculptor has grown
into an advanced, AI-powered platform
that de [more...]
