Spas & Wellness
Outdoor massage (Albert Normandin photo)
Clean, green, scenic and relaxed, Gabriola Island is a tonic for body and soul.
It's also a naturally inviting setting for physical, mental and spiritual therapies including massage, aromatherapy, reflexology, yoga, Chinese medicine, acupuncture, acupressure and alternate therapies. Also, ask around and Gabriolans will provide directions to the island's unofficial nudie beach, which is, of course, utterly healthy.
Haven Resort & Institute
At the top of the list is the Haven Resort & Institute. In spite of an idyllic location among old-growth cedars, it's far from a traditional resort.
For more than 25 years, it has specialized in personal and professional development through a variety of retreat programs in communications, relationships, self-discovery, sexuality and others strategic areas of life.
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Haven Bodywork Treatments
The Haven offers a full slate of bodywork treatments including massage therapy, cranio-sacral therapy, hot-rock massage, reflexology, Jin Shin Do acupressure, Reiki and Hawaiian bodywork.
Stay at the Haven
The Haven is also available to the travelling public as an accommodation with perks including indoor and outdoor swimming pools, sauna, gym and highly regarded buffet meals.
Japanese-Style Therapy
The Calgary and Gabriola-based Constructive Living Learning Centre focuses on work and everyday life. It offers workshops, training and coaching to bridge "the gap between philosophical and practical approaches to living well." The bases for its programs are two Japanese therapies, morita or psychology of action and naikan, psychology of reflection.
Island of Peace Yoga
Island of Peace Yoga offers programs for all levels of practitioners. Yoga for Healthy Backs, Yoga for Women and Yoga Philosophy are on the slate and daily meditations are free. Private yoga and biofeedback sessions are also available.
Massage
Sometimes it seems massage therapists actually outnumber the population here. The Gabriola Professional Centre houses a massage therapist, naturopath, practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine and an acupuncturist.
B&B Spa Menus
At the Hummingbird Lodge B&B and Arbutus Bluff B&B, massage and reflexology are available by appointment. The Stones-Throw Cottage B&B offers aromatherapy and hot rock massage. Yoga Garden is an organic, vegetarian B&B whose unconventional services include Reiki and chakra balancing, massage herbal body wrap, complete herbal facial, holistic nutrition consultation and vegetarian cooking classes.
Mobile Services
Sacred Healing offers Reiki, Burmese massage, chakra balancing and vibrational sound healing. Spa La Vie goes steps further with mobile massage in homes, B&Bs and yes, on the beach. Bliss is never far off.
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