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Hamptons-Based Spa to Offer Kombucha, Cold-Pressed Juice On Tap in Chelsea

By Maya Rajamani | December 4, 2015 1:22pm | Updated on December 7, 2015 9:04am
 A new wellness center opening at 127 W. 26th St. in Chelsea.
A new wellness center opening at 127 W. 26th St. in Chelsea.
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Naturopathica Chelsea Healing Arts Center & Spa

CHELSEA — New Yorkers no longer have to take the Jitney to experience Hamptons-style rest and relaxation.

The Naturopathica Chelsea Healing Arts Center & Spa opening at 127 W. 26th St. will feature six treatment rooms, a sensory and meditation lounge, and a walk-in “vitality bar” that serves cold-pressed juices and kombucha on tap, along with house-made herbal tonics and various teas and elixirs.

“I see our center as a place where people can come and learn about the benefits of natural healing,” said founder and CEO Barbara Close, a "healing arts" practitioner who has run a Naturopathica center in East Hampton for the past 20 years.

Close, a Long Island resident with a master’s degree in therapeutic herbalism, saw Chelsea as an ideal home for the new center, which she says focuses on “21st century wellness.”

“I think Chelsea’s such a dynamic area now, between the High Line and the number of galleries,” said Close, who took the local influx of fitness and yoga studios, as well as stores like Whole Foods, as a sign that residents will welcome a location focused on health and natural healing.

Tonics, elixirs and other offerings, which will be available to both spa clients and walk-in customers, will range in price from $6 to $9, Close said. The center will also sell a range of skin- and body-care products ranging from $20 to $125, depending on the ingredients, as well as gluten-free snacks and probiotic foods.

In addition to massages and holistic facial treatments, the center also features a “remedy bar” serving up teas, herbs and essential oils, as well as a sensory and meditation lounge where clients can rest while taking in images like mountains in Switzerland and tea plantations in the Himalayas, Close explained.

“For nature-deprived New Yorkers, it’s a really wonderful place to rest and recharge,” she said of the lounge.

Close developed her passion for natural therapies as a young adult, traveling to hot springs and herbal apothecaries in the summertime with an aunt she visited in France.

“I’ve always wanted to create a center that was about wellness. We’ve never been a spa that’s strictly about beauty and pampering — not that there’s anything wrong with that,” she said. “I like to say we can all use less stress in our lives.”

The center is already offering some services by appointment, and will officially open to spa clients, kombucha enthusiasts and the general public on Dec. 9, Close noted.

“I think the demographic is really here for people who are interested in living longer and living well,” she said.