Surya Spa
Tucked away in the Pacific Palisades you'll find Martha Soffer's majestic Surya Spa, offering transformative Ayurvedic treatments that will give you balance, clarity, and the ultimate glow. Nourishing. Detoxifying. Balancing. Healing. Restorative. Surya Spa is a true oasis within the gorgeous Santa Monica mountains. Martha Soffer, acclaimed Ayurvedic healer, Ayurvedic chef, Panchakarma specialist and Marma specialist, owns Surya Spa, a clinic out of which she administers her healing treatments. Ranging anywhere from 3 to 21 days, highly-personalized Panchakarma Series are the main focus of this authentic Ayurvedic treatment center. This is an appointment-only service of which Martha takes very individual care with each of her clients.
It starts with your introductory consultation with Martha, where she takes your pulse, looks at your tongue, and talks with you for an hour or two to understand your ailments and concerns. This is where Martha's Ayurvedic expertise comes in. She determines if one has too much vata, pita, or kapha. From here, she customizes herb blends that will balance, restore, and revitalize the entire body, and instructs what foods to avoid and which to incorporate more of. Martha then decides the length of treatment necessary to cure each imbalance, 7 days being the usual diagnosis.
Every time we walk through the doors of Surya Spa we are greeted with the most heavenly and comforting smells of scrumptious Ayurvedic food and healing oils and herbs brewing. Food is a large part of Martha's healing, and organic Ayurvedic meals are prepared daily at Surya. Turmeric spiced Dahl. Savory Basmatic Rice. Beet, kale, carrots, and swiss chard sauteed with coconut oil. Perfectly crisp baked vegetable chips. Gluten-free, grain-free Surya Love Bread with seasonal fruit and nuts (we're absolutely obsessed with this!) Local honey and hand-made raw Amish butter ghee. This food is truly heavenly and makes you feel so incredible. Everything aligns with Ayurvedic principles and doshas as well, so you're literally healing your body as you eat.
Martha hand-makes every individual herb blend, which she cooks overnight with healing oils for the next day's treatments. Each oil blend gets a certain amount of both sunlight and moonlight, only of which Martha knows the recipe. Treatments are administered by Martha and her beautiful goddess-like helpers that perform mirrored movements in unison to infuse the herb-laden oils into your body. Chantings and meditations play during treatment, creating a sacred and calming affect throughout the process. Panchakarma involves oil massages, Shirodara, Crystal Light therapy, enemas, and much more. Surya Spa will leave you completely nourished, restored, balanced, detoxified, rejuvenated, healed, and absolutely glowing.
| Surya Spa Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles CA (by appointment only) // www.suryaspa.com |
Photography by: Emily Knecht