SANUS PER AQUAM – MODERNITY AND ELEGANCE
Few years ago the unfamiliar for the most of us word started to take root in the everyday Polish, namely: spa. Popular magazines were busy with not only explaining the term but also promoting it as the newest and the most current way of taking care of one’s health. The meaning of spa, which is an acronym of sanus per aquam that is ‘health through water’, has gradually gotten broaden, connoting its philosophy and places where this philosophy may be fulfilled. Spa spaces in Poland have become a developing sector of leisure and medical business, just like they have in the Western countries a little earlier, as well as the symbol of postmodern lifestyle. Furthermore, possibility of using spa facilities has started to be perceived as an indicator of a higher social status.
Places offering spa services are the new quality, which is particularly visible when considered in the context of forms of healthcare once available in Poland. Back in the times of communist regime, the average Pole used to take notice of his or her health when at the doctor’s office or in case of an illness. Some of them were able to go to sanatoriums which were mainly available to the elderly people with serious ailments or for the ‘privileged’ (here the system of connections and corruption was highly developed). In accordance with the egalitarian ideology, so called ‘trips to the water’, known also form the literature of Positivism, were the symbol of unfair social division. Obviously, beauty salons were also present at that time, however, they were not considered as the means of looking after health, since none treated beauty as a part of it. Nevertheless, facial masks, henna or manicure were indeed an egalitarian pleasure that could have been afforded by the majority of Polish ladies. Already in the 1970s the comeback to immaterialistic (post materialistic) values began among the developed societies, as after fulfilling their materialistic needs people started paying more attention to healthy lifestyle and clean environment. In Poland it was firstly popularized in the 1990s. Additionally, the arrival of fitness clubs expanded the healthcare area, and visiting them regularly turned out to be something more than merely taking care of one’s physical shape. Just like in case of the Western Europe’s countries, fitness in Poland emerged as a part of lifestyle led by the middle class, the newly formed group in the society. Attending fitness clubs has enabled people to establish and maintain social contacts as well as to confirm one’s membership to the particular circles. At the same time the segmentation of fitness area has been taking place, while at the one end of this kind of continuum there were local gyms (perfect for pumping iron), again on the other there were modern centres offering gymnastic activities, massages, sauna and even dietetic counselling. Looking at fitness institutions from the gender perspective, one may consider them as a part of emancipation process, as expanding women’s space, especially such women who were either aspiring or actual middle class members. Quite many clubs inform openly that: ”We were created by women and for women. This is a women friendly place offering an unique atmosphere. It is an oasis of peace where your self-esteem thrives, you retrieve your self-confidence and gain positive attitude towards the upcoming days.” (coming from the authentic club’s website).
Still, fitness wasn’t the last link in the chain of changes concerning looking after one’s condition. The structure of Polish society of the 90s and the beginning of the 2000s has undergone further transformations and stratification. The ‘new’ upper class has appeared with its unique needs. At the very beginning this group didn’t have its ‘own’ health area but this gap was soon filled with spas, which perfectly met the upper class’s expectations. The spa phenomenon should also be considered in the wider context, from the perspective of the so called post modernity which, among other things, means merging of global and regional processes, risk and unpredictability as a part of our everyday life and the need to create one’s own identity replacing already existing models. Post modernity researchers point out that the people lost in the globalised reality need not only a good physical shape (going to the gym) or sharing their healthy lifestyle with others (like in case of fitness) but they also want to ‘find themselves’ and ‘regain their psychophysical balance’. Two requirements have reached their culmination in the culture of post modernity: the cult of health, youth and attempts to control the inevitable ageing process on the one hand with the need of introspection and answering the question ‘Who am I?’ on the other.
Spa proposes not only the opportunity of taking care of the physical health but also the holistic human philosophy. Apart from the developed technologies supporting healthcare, it offers something more; the philosophy of wellness which stresses an integrated attitude towards people and the harmony of body and soul. Spa institutions are sophisticated and luxurious; they don’t resemble fitness clubs with their gregarious, democratic style. Wellness is appreciated for its individualization of services and focusing on particular, individual needs. One of the spa firms assures: ’We select our therapies for each customer individually. Everyone choosing our service is going to feel exceptionally, due to the professionalism of our cosmetologists.’
Water treatment (per aquam) constitutes not the only means of serving the beauty, relaxing, mellowing out and improving one’s mood. It also works thanks to organizing the surrounding space in a particular way, for example by describing spa facilities in a specific language. Spa offered in a hotel is not just an additional service, on the contrary, it defines the identity of the whole place. What once used to be a beauty salon has now changed into a spa centre, academy or clinic. Using respected, nearly scientific labels emphasizes the expert level of provided services. At this point, contemporary spas reflect post modernity as far as the expansion of expert systems, a phenomenon discussed by many researchers. Customers entirely trust the experts and they don’t need to understand how thalgomince or carbon dioxide spring work, they only want to experience exclusive treatment.
Nonetheless, spa is the area of paradox. The advertised image persuades us that spa is the place where tradition meet modernity, simplicity joins technology and nature complement scientific achievements. On the one hand, spas provide us with traditional brines, peat and bole, however, on the other, they offer ‘unusual therapy based on high quality XX and XY cosmetics using the newest Hi-Tech devises’ (coming from the website). Although spas don’t resemble ancient Roman bath houses, as far as their level of technological advancement, they also employ tradition and natural medicine. Here Botox treatment accompanies ‘hot stones massage’. Customers may ‘here and now’ experience time and space traveling, which will allow body and soul regeneration (according to the leaflet). The first to come is the therapy described as ‘the amazing journey to the land of beauty and relaxation which will familiarize you with the philosophy of China, Egypt, India and Mediterranean area, while your body will reach the level of complete relaxation (…) The next part of our journey is visiting Egypt, where taking a bath has always been linked with the divine Queen Cleopatra, who used to enjoy revitalizing milk baths’. Spa mustn’t be average; even a swimming pool must be ‘paved with glass mosaic, filled with crystal, ozone water, containing contra current and Scotch Hose’, while regeneration obviously takes place in the ‘capsule of beauty and health’. Contemporary spa provides us not only with hydrotherapy since it employs sinesthesia of benevolent olfactory, tactile and visual sensations. Furthermore, spa spaces also include saunas, steam rooms, separate rooms for aromatherapy and massage as well as hydro massage and in- and outdoors relaxation premises.
All these elements build up a ‘spa microworld’, created in order to enable customers to switch off from the ‘reality microworld’. Terms such as revitalization or regeneration are not used accidentally when talking about spas. ‘Revitalizing’ yourself is a costly luxury but still its added value is the ‘upper class member’ label. Going to the spa may be perceived as an investment, thanks to which social position and capital are co-funded.
However, the spa trademark is being popularized and it is becoming available for the wider group of people. Those who can’t afford a stay at the spa institution with the contra current swimming pool, still have at their disposal some spa substitutes, as right now popular magazines advise on how to create one’s ‘home spa’, where an ordinary bathtub together with scented candles and a facial mask from tube are enough.
Marta Smagacz
Translated by Małgorzata Kwiatkowska
The article comes from the quaterly “Autoportret” issue no. 3 (20) 2007.