A Beverly spa offers special treatments to soldiers returning from war. By Felicity Long
Bodiscience, a holistic spa in Beverly specializing in treatments drawn from Ayurvedic and ancient Chinese philosophies, is making the most of the holiday season by reaching out to an often-overlooked segment of the spa-going population: soldiers and their families.
A new program called “Welcome Warriors” offers complimentary Chromatherapy and other services designed to help military families deal with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) brought about by wartime.
“We opened our center in 1991, and since then, we have seen increasing cases of PTSD crop up in our business,” says BodiScience owner Dawn Tardif, who helped conceive the Welcome Warriors Project with Robert and Melanie Sachs, owners of Diamond Way Ayurveda in California. Tardif and her colleagues noticed a spike in PTSD after 9/11 and saw that sufferers were self-medicating in unhealthy ways.
“We’ve had soldiers coming to us who are being deployed as often as four times, and this is taking a toll on the whole family,” Tardif says. “Psychotherapy can have an impact, but physical touch, done intentionally to release emotional traumas, can take them through the healing process more quickly.”
The project has the support of Brig. Gen. James Cook, creator of a non-profit community-based initiative called the Warrior Water Center Project that offers help to returning soldiers and their families. Cook is lobbying for funds to subsidize the wellness treatments, but for now, BodiScience is picking up the costs. To help defray the expense, Tardif and her partners are asking other practitioners to join the project with free or discounted treatments or memberships.
“When a soldier or family member enters our office, the first thing we do is say, ‘Thank you for doing what you do for us.’ Some of us don’t agree with the war, but we put that aside and we don’t judge. They have already gone through trauma, and someone has to help them through it. That’s why we’re here.” 100 Cummings Center, Suite 150F, Beverly, 978-927-9909, bodiscience.com.