LAKEVIEW — Put down that pill bottle.
A new spa planned for 3416 N. Sheffield Ave., called Reflexion Spa, wants to convert customers to alternative healing methods like massage, soaks, herbal therapies and hot/cold therapy.
Owner Jason Spencer spent much of his life abroad in the Army and working, and he said only Americans rely on medications so heavily.
"Nobody else pops a pill when they have a pain or cramp," Spencer said. "They do soaks and hot and cold therapy. They’re very successful. Why aren’t we doing this?"
Spencer and business partner Jade Ruan, a licensed massage therapist, will offer therapies and traditional spa services like manicures, pedicures, waxing and threading with an Asian and Middle Eastern influence — including Tui Na, a specialty Chinese therapeutic massage focused on target pain.
Reflexion will also offer general consultation on alternative therapy methods.
For example, tamarind is a spice that's often used in cooking, but relaxing in a tamarind wrap actually helps detox the body, Spencer said. The physically active veteran has used tamarind wraps to detox before long runs, and others have used it to cure a hangover, he said.
The spa's goal is to be a place where both hardworking women and men can find a way to heal without medication, relax and then "reset" their bodies, he said.
"The perception is that it's kind of hokey," Spencer said. "The reality is that these things actually work."
Spencer, who will continue working a day job as a technology executive, plans to open the spa by early June.
"I’m hoping to change things one customer at a time," he said.
