Road to wellness leads home

"It's not stress that kills us, it's our reaction to it." Hans Selye (1907-1982), Canadian endocrinologist.

For a lot of reasons, people are spending more and more time at home. Gas prices, flight delays and general travel hassles have created "staycations," or the idea of taking vacations at home. It's much less stressful.

We can all stay at home and work in the garden, clean out that upstairs closet, finally sort out photographs from your past vacations. More and more of us have a clear vision of staying at home -- and it's having fun and relaxing.

Consequently we are seeing more lavish home theaters and more full-service outdoor entertaining areas. And, now the stay-at-home crowd wants the spa experience at home and I found out recently in the American Society of Interior Designers' Showhouse, you can indeed get it. While this particular room was quite expensive, as you know, there are always less expensive options.

Interior designer Renee Gangeness, owner of J. Renee Designs, chose the wellness room to tackle in the showhouse.

"I chose the wellness area because it is a unique space; not something you see in every home," Gangeness said. "And since I have a particular interest in health and fitness, this just seemed a good fit. I incorporated elements of feng shui with a feel of earthy meets industrial. I also incorporated a piece of state-of-the-art equipment, the massage bed, which was provided by Migun Northwest. No masseuse needed as it works on a thermal basis and is manually controlled by hand. Its benefits are many of those found in Eastern medicine and has been approved by the FDA as a class II medical instrument. Not only can one purchase these beds, but Brenda Haslam of Migun Northwest runs a facility where you can use her beds and she offers a free trial period (www.MigunWorld.com)."

Gangeness' wellness room had the soft touch, and even had some equipment for working out -- if you wanted to exert that much energy.

The term wellness is all encompassing and basically means mind and body well-being. In our spaces at home we tend to concentrate on the body part, and, while home gyms have been incorporated into our lives for a long time, wellness rooms take the idea to the next level. Like Gangeness' room, wellness rooms generally include a massage area, and the space almost always includes music, water and clean air. The wellness room in the showhouse opened onto an outdoor patio, which provided the added benefit of "fresh" air and a wonderful place to cool down or enjoy a healthy drink after a workout.

If you are interested in more information on wellness in general, you can find a lot of information online. There are many products, including ones similar to those in the showhouse, as well as mind and body wellness discussions.

As I've been told many times, the key to a healthy old age is a healthy lifestyle while you're younger. Regardless of our age, it's never too late to help ourselves feel better. If you're lucky enough to have the space and the means, a wellness room is a wonderful beginning. Use your home resources as a path to wellness.

Carolyn Muse Grant is a founder and past president of the Architectural & Decorative Arts Society, as well as an interior design consultant/stylist specializing in home staging. Her Inside Spaces column appears weekly in the Home section of the Review-Journal. Send questions to creativemuse@cox.net.