Healing Vacations in Hawaii
By Susanne Sims
For years people have been coming to Hawaii to experience its healing powers. It has always been effortless to pass aches and pains here, from that first step off the airplane when one is embraced by the soft fragrance of a plumeria, ginger or tuberose lei, to that initial swim in the ocean where salt and sand remove the dead skin, old thoughts, needless worries and anxieties of one's mind.
Today, an infrastructure is developing to take this healing environment and experience to a whole new level. Treatment centers, holistic spas and healers of all kinds are offering their services and The Big Island is emerging as a premiere destination for health and wellness travel. This is due in part to the shifting needs of the traveler and is also a result of the numerous health practitioners who have felt called here to establish their healing practices and centers.
It used to be enough for a vacation to simply deliver that much needed break from the mundane and frenzied pace of daily existence. If we were exposed to another culture, found a bit of romance, if the skies were sunny, shopping good and dinners delicious, we could go home rested and re-charged, almost ready to face another year at the office. But not so today. Research shows that 82 percent of Americans work while on vacation and no matter how great a distance we travel, many of us simply cannot withdraw or even disconnect. E-mail, cell phones, laptops and voice mail have become our constant traveling companions keeping us firmly in touch with the world we want to leave behind. These unceasing demands have had their impact on each of us, leaving millions overwhelmed, exhausted and ill.
In our "24/7" culture, it is far too tempting to turn to an already over-burdened health care system when true responsibility for health lies squarely in our own hands. To pro-actively create health takes learning, practice and dedication, and if we are not already geared toward a focus on wellness, it might even take a "wake-up call" to turn our awareness around.
Health is a form of personal wealth that we can always count on and should never hesitate to invest in. There are more resources available in Hawaii than ever before to help you make healthy choices and changes in your life. The Hawaiian Islands are purified by the world's deepest ocean, cleansed daily by soft trade winds and fresh mountain rain. Now you can feel cleansed and renewed by this natural environment while you experience even deeper healing during your visit here.
Susanne Sims is the author of Healing Vacations in Hawaii : A select guide to healers, retreats and sacred sites on the Big Island . This guide to designing your own healing journey in Hawaii is being published by Watermark Publishing and will be released in Spring, 2004. To obtain a copy dial toll-free 1-866-900-BOOK.
