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YOUR WELLNESS SPA One of many healing spaces at Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts By Human Design Indoors and out, a spa must be a healing space. 38 DAYSPA | DECEMBER 2013 It's generally understood that spas need to function as respites from the everyday world and, more and more, we're beginning to understand that treatments alone cannot achieve that objective. A spa's interior and exterior design play a key role. Even outside the spa arena, today's architects and interior designers are discussing new ways to create spaces that are compatible with the needs of the human psyche. Last year, at a conference of the American Society of Landscape Architects, San Francisco-based architect and feng shui practitioner Barbara Stewart enumerated some points about creating "mind, body and spirit" design (spa owners, take note!): • Replicate the outdoor environment indoors by making the ground the darkest color, using neutrals for eye-level areas and the lightest color for the ceiling. • Hardwood floors are popular because they remind us of the forest floor. • It's instinctual to want a window view, especially if that view is of nature. • Videos and even some artwork depicting the natural world can relieve stress, especially if they are long-distance views that include sun and sky. • Monochromatic rooms and walls tend to be stress-inducing, especially in older people who aren't able to see contrast as easily. • Make sure doorways and interior paths are easy to discern, so people can feel that they know where they're going.