This month’s Spa of the Month:

The Heart of the Dominican Republic

Cygalle Healing Spa, La Romana, Dominican Republic

by Cygalle Dias

Nestled in a lush Caribbean setting in La Romana, Dominican Republic, the Cygalle Healing Spa is a sanctuary of wellness, where the wisdom of ancient remedies meets modern methodologies. The spa includes a grand entrance with modern décor, a full retail area, a 2,800-square foot outdoor ritual labyrinth made of stone, 3,100 square feet of Zen gardens, an indoor/outdoor Water Ritual Suite and seven spacious spa treatment rooms. A full menu of services includes holistic facials, healing body treatments, massages, wraps and scrubs.
The spa is committed to the principles of wholeness and purity, with a mission to create the possibility of living in a holistic environment that is earth friendly and non-toxic, and to help nurture and support people that are seeking to improve their inner health and outer beauty. The private and exclusive escape elicits a life transforming journey. The services are designed to advance this commitment and promote health, beauty and longevity.
These deep-rooted principles are expressed through the quality of the spa’s offerings. For example, the products are organic and many of the treatments are prepared from indigenous plants in the spa pharmacy. These “ive” products deliver the highest potency and freshness, maintaining the integrity of the natural ingredients and maximizing their healing properties.
The spa menu is based on a blend of Eastern and Western philosophies. It includes massage, reflexology, healing body treatments, elemental quests and hot and cold hydrotherapy. Holistic treatments and rituals aid the journey by cleansing the body and stimulating energy.

Treatment rooms

Guests receive their treatments in one of seven spacious, warmly lit rooms with relaxing music playing softly in the background. Minimalist in design, each room features a bamboo encased outdoor garden of stone and foliage, which allows natural light to permeate the space.
Within each treatment room are two additional rooms, including a private changing area with modern bath features and signature spa products and the spa pharmacy’s product preparation area. Everything that is made in the pharmacy is 100 percent certified natural and organic. Each product is mixed just before application, resulting in a freshness and potency that cannot be accomplished for bulk-produced, off-the-shelf goods.

Water Ritual Suite

One of the Cygalle Healing Spa’s most unique services is a detoxifying regimen called the Water Ritual Suite. The ancient ritual strengthens the body’s immune system, increases circulation and stimulates the guests’ senses in preparation for their next holistic treatment. The suite itself features a steam room, a sauna, a hot plunge pool set at 105 degrees, a cold plunge pool set at 65 degrees, indoor and outdoor showers and a private Zen garden. In almost every culture throughout history, water therapy has been an important custom for purification of the mind, body and energy.

Zen gardens and the labyrinth

In a welcoming ceremony, guests traverse a stone labyrinth based on the archetypal form that symbolizes a path to self-introspection in a number of cultures throughout the world. This short symbolic journey is intended to be relaxing for guests, and replace negative emotions with positive ones. It concludes in the spa’s tranquil Zen gardens. (More information on labyrinths can be found on page 56 in Julie Starr’s article, “Finding Peace and Harmony on the Labyrinth”)
Just outside the reception area and beyond the treatment rooms, the serene outdoor Zen and aloe gardens are shaded by native island palms. The space provides for quiet meditation areas, while an expansive lawn of lush, carpet-like grass creates a natural outdoor studio for a yoga lesson or Pilates class on the labyrinth.

A labyrinth is an ancient meditation tool that is used as an individual guide to help people discover their inner path.
Walking along the labyrinth induces clarity. It can be a time to still the mind and meditate, balance the chakras and create inner peace. For more information regarding the labyrinths, read Julie Starr’s article on page 56.

Embracing nature

At Cygalle Healing Spa, the goal was to offer guests something more unique than any existing product line. Because the setting is so special, the signature skin care line was developed to embrace the spa’s fundamental philosophy. It was officially launched on Earth Day of 2009. The proprietary line of natural facial products for men and women includes cleansers, toners, serums, masques, moisturizers and shaving crème, all of which are formulated to create a sensory journey. The products contain certified organic ingredients such as peppermint leaf, marshmallow root extract, lavender oil, green tea, sweet orange oil, grapefruit oil, rose oil and safflower oil. In addition, each product is made upon order, ensuring optimal freshness and efficacy of treatments. Client feedback has been very positive.
The product packaging is made from eco-friendly PET material. Once recycled, the bottles are used for raw materials for a range of products that would otherwise be made of polyester, which is harmful to the environment.
The spa pharmacy is the inspiration behind the products. Here, fresh coconut oil is distilled and mixed into body masks, local coffee beans are ground into the gently exfoliating Espresso Polish and fresh honey and organic milk are blended for the Land of Milk and Honey body treatment. Products in the new line are formulated from the most natural ingredients, giving them an integrity that is not easy to find among mass-produced health and beauty formulas.

Spa management

The key to the Cygalle Healing Spa’s success has been its consistent commitment to a holistic luxury lifestyle. Countless measures are taken to ensure the highest quality of eco-friendly service, all the way down to the staff treatments. While many of the spa’s management procedures may seem obvious, it is essential to preserve even the most basic standards to maintain quality. For example, management must continually make sure that the protocol manual is being observed by all staff members.
A top-tier manager or assistant manager must be on duty at all times to ensure that the spa is never left alone with the front desk concierge.
All staff must share the same vision for the spa in order for the company to expand and be innovative. Once such unity is achieved internally, the tropical spa oasis can become a destination location for guests to escape to and be rejuvenated. The management team must be made up of experienced leaders and gifted healers from the top of the professional pool. The unique luxury lifestyle is created from a combination of treatments, products, rituals and services for guests.
Additionally, the spa’s products and treatments must be individual in style and periodically reinvented. By independently tailoring spa programs with treatments and products, guests’ spirit and energy is rejuvenated and transformed to their true potential in a way that they have never before experienced. Diet and nutrition expertise, as well as spiritual coaching, yoga, chakra balance and energy treatments complete the circle to fully embrace the mind, body and energy.
Ultimately, it is the combination of team unity, clarity of purpose and holistic integrity that creates the pampering and healing experience that converts so many guests into regular clients.

A top-tier manager or assistant manager must be on duty at all times to ensure that the spa is never left alone with the front desk concierge.

Signature treatment

The Mermaid Mint Sea Wrap is a signature treatment at Cygalle Healing Spa that exemplifies the spa’s well-balanced and unique approach to services.
The Mermaid Mint Sea Wrap utilizes the richness of sea plants, stimulating effects of peppermint and clarifying properties of clay to both detoxify and re-mineralize the skin and body. First, the body is painted with a warm vibrant green sea clay and wrapped in a nurturing cocoon. While wrapped, the client receives a neck, face and scalp massage to catalyze relaxation, which is followed by a gentle loofah exfoliation. An additional hydrating mini-massage with refreshing peppermint oil concludes the treatment. The service is helpful in reducing water retention and the appearance of cellulite.

Products needed: Mermaid Sea Wrap (MSW) product, loofah and peppermint massage oil.
Table set-up:
2 massage sheets
1 blanket
1 space (thermal) blanket
1 sheet
1 bath towel
1 top sheet
Make sure the room is warm for the treatment. Warm product in your hands before applying to the client’s skin. Instruct them to lie face down on the table and cover them with the top sheet and bath towel.

Treatment:
1. Perform loofah exfoliation, starting at the left side of the body, moving from foot to hand. When done, re-cover client to keep them warm.
2. Repeat above step on the right side of the body.
3. Warm MSW product in hands and apply it to the back of the body. Start on the left side of the body, re-cover and repeat process on the right side of the body. *Steps 1-3 should take approximately 20 minutes.
4. Have the client turn over and set up neck support for them, check knee support and cover eyes. Hold the sheet, pull out the bath towel and place the clean side down on top of the sheet.
5. Exfoliate with a loofah on the left leg and arm. Re-cover.
6. Repeat step 5 on the right leg and arm. Re-cover.
7. Ask the client if they would like to have their stomach done. If so, cover their breasts, placing a hand towel over a sheet, and then hold the towel while slowly pulling the sheet down to the bottom of the torso and gently performing loofah exfoliation on the stomach and upper chest.
8. Apply product to the front of the body, starting with the stomach so that you can re-cover it and remove the hand towel draping the chest. Apply product to left leg and arm, and wrap that side of the body when done. Repeat the process on the right leg and arm. Verify that the client is comfortable in the wrap. *Steps 4-8 should take approximately 20 minutes.
9. Massage the neck and scalp for 10 minutes.
10. Remove hot towels and unwrap the client’s feet. Wrap feet with hot towels and leave on for one minute while performing compression to both feet simultaneously. Remove hot towel from the left foot and clean and massage foot. Repeat this step with the right foot. (15 minutes)
11. Turn on shower and adjust it to a temperature that is comfortable to the client. Gently loosen the wrap. Hold the top bath towel in place while pulling out the sheet, and hold the sheet up to allow the client privacy while they go to the shower, wearing the bath towel as a wrap. Ask the client to rinse the product off and lay face down on the table under the top sheet when they are done. Clean treatment area and reset table before the client returns. (5-10 minutes)
12. Apply warm oil and give a hydrating massage on both the front and back of the body. (25-30 minutes)
13. When the treatment concludes, help the client to their feet and hand them a bathrobe. Escort them to the changing area and wait for them to get dressed before escorting them back to spa reception area.
After a visit to this magical island, it is obvious that this spa truly is the heart of the Dominican Republic. The Cygalle Healing Spa succeeds in its goal to inspire their guests to take the best possible care of their body so that they can return to the mainland feeling happy, healthy and rejuvenated!

Cygalle Dias is the founder of the Cygalle Healing Spa, an eco-friendly sanctuary offering organic treatments and training for a holistic lifestyle. She has planned events in the Hamptons, at Fashion Weeks in New York and London, as well as the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals.