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Ecuador » General Information »
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| Thermals & SPAs |
The
use of water for therapeutic means dates back to antique tribes
that lived in caverns. They observed how animals, when sick
or injured, go to hot or mineral water springs to heal. If
we date to the Greeks, Ulysses mentioned the pleasures of
thermal waters. Heracles’ power of healing through water
made his Roman equal, Hercules, be named with a synonym of
"balnea", place of thermal healing. During this
time, thermal water centers were called asclepiads, which
comes from "Asclepio", god of medicine. They were
considered blessed sites…healing was based on faith.
 We find vestiges of extraordinary constructions of public
thermal baths in most large cities of the Roman Empire. As
the empire itself, the thermal culture extended through Europe,
up to Galicia, where the Romans found a thermal paradise.
During the Middle Ages, hydrotherapy lost importance as the
cult to the body was considered a sin. But later in the XV
and XVI centuries, when people had access to reading, the
first book on hydrotherapy appeared in 1498… "De
Balneis et Thermis" by Juan Miguel Savonarola.
In the following centuries, hydrotherapy gained more adepts.
The splendor of hydrotherapy occurred in the XX century, when
the social circumstances and the scientific discoveries led
to a better understanding of the benefits of this therapy.
Today, the accelerated rhythm of modern civilizations, and
the stress this brings about, awakened a special interest
for thermal therapies.
The
need for relax and the boom of aesthetics have brought about
the development of a new technique called SPA, which comes
from the Latin "Salutem per aqua" (health through
water). SPAs are places where aesthetic and relax treatments
are carried out through the use of water, usually enriched
with additives. SPAs also offer a diversity of treatments
with clay, aromatherapy, medicinal plants and massages. La
Mirage Spa additionally offers a therapy that combines the
ancestral knowledge of a native witch-doctor (Shaman).
 Ecuador, home to several active volcanoes, has extraordinary
thermal waters that naturally sprout from hot springs, with
high temperatures and rich in minerals. As an energetic center
in the middle of the world, Ecuador has also become a special
site for the development of modern and sophisticated SPAs.
Both thermal waters and SPAs are a treat… an escape
from stress of the busy world of today… an opportunity
to indulge oneself and renovate both the body and the spirit.
Article © by This is Ecuador Magazine
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