By Monica Kaplan • Photos by Jay Grover
Prescott Woman Magazine • April/May 2008 issue
As a labor and delivery nurse for several years, Christine Eastman both loved her job and was sometimes troubled by it.
“My passion has always been in taking care of people,” says the well-spoken 39-year-old Prescott resident, her smooth skin and long mane of dark, lustrous hair radiating the type of glow seen more often in the women whose babies she helped birth.
After staying home to care for her three children, that fulfillment she received from nurturing others led her back to school to pursue a nursing degree.
For a time, she knew she was right where she wanted to be.
“I enjoyed what I did. It didn’t seem like work. Beautiful miracles took place, and I was a part of those, and it was wonderful.”
Gradually, as the years went by, the emotional tentacles of the situations she encountered every day began a slow, subtle creep into her own sense of wellbeing.
“I really absorb every detail of my interaction with people, and it was wearing me out,” says Christine. “I was either on an emotional high, or sometimes there were those not-so-positive experiences. It was just breaking me down. I was constantly thinking about the people I left behind.”
As she confided her feelings to her husband Tim, a longtime area Realtor, she knew what he was telling her was right, but not necessarily right for her.
“We talked about it a lot, and he would say, ‘If you’re going to keep doing this Hon, you need to make some changes.’
“I absolutely knew that in order to survive, he was right. In order to save your feelings and who you are as a person, in nursing you have to create more of a barrier between yourself and your patients and their situations. I didn’t want to create that barrier. I couldn’t do it. It forced me to think, ‘What am I going to do with my life?’”
So while she mulled it over, she took stock of her beliefs.
What was paramount to her was being able to take care of others to the degree her compassionate nature led her; she also placed immense worth on the pursuit of wellness of mind, body and spirit, for herself and those around her; and she wanted somehow to incorporate her commitment to environmentally friendly practices into whatever new field she was headed.
It didn’t take long before the idea for her current enterprise was conceived. After a considerable amount of time spent in research, Christine found a way to join together her medical background, her desire to bring her “green” ideals with her to work, and her passion for caring for others.
The end result is being unveiled to the public this month in the form of Mind, Body & Soul Spa &Wellness Center, located in The Crossings in north Prescott.
“I decided I wanted to create a spa experience in Prescott like no other,” begins Christine. “I wanted it to be eco-friendly, from the treatments clients receive, to the products we use to the facility itself; every aspect of the spa has been making sure we’re maintaining that standard.”
Having enjoyed the benefits of spa services herself in the past – although primarily out of town– Christine knew what made a great spa experience, and how she could make it even better.
“I’ve always loved spa treatments, and anything with regard to aesthetics, whether it’s facials, whether it’s massage for relaxation or for the sciatica I have in my lower back. I’ve also had laser treatments in the Valley.
“I think taking time out in our busy lives to invest in yourself, and how you feel about your appearance, or your state of mind through massage or acupuncture, it’s a very renewing, very rejuvenating type of activity. I came to Tim and said, ‘This is what I want to do. I want to continue nursing, but I want to do it in this type of environment.’”
Christine, along with a full-time nurse practitioner, will oversee the spa’s full array of medical treatments, including “injectables,” or dermal fillers, using such ingredients as hyaluronic acid, a natural substance produced in our bodies, Christine says, that can plump up sagging skin; Botox® will also be in the line-up.
“I will offer Botox® because I have great confidence that it’s safe, due to its longevity and the fact that it’s been used for quite some time now with no ill effects,” Christine says. “Botox® and the natural dermal fillers correlate with each other; why not embrace the reality of being able to mix those two treatments and create a fantastic result that most people are definitely looking for?”
Spa services on the wellness menu include acupuncture, laser hair removal, skin rejuvenation, micro-dermabrasion, facials, massage, body wraps and scrubs and hydrotherapy baths for detoxification or reduction of inflammation or pain – depending on the type of natural ingredients added to the water.
Christine admits that the broad menu of services available at a typical spa can be a bit confusing for the average consumer.
“The public generally has a lack of knowledge with regard to the benefits of skin or body care, and the various procedures offered in a spa environment,” she says. To address this issue, Christine will host special event evenings after regular spa hours geared toward education.
“Each special event night will focus on a specific spa offering – whether we are addressing the dynamics of cosmetic laser treatments or something as simple as what type of facial would best benefit a specific skin type. Education is key to making sound decisions regarding a person’s well-being.”
Throughout the journey from nursing in a hospital to becoming owner of a wellness spa, Christine says her husband has been both her sounding board and encourager from the very beginning.
“This process has been nearly three years in the making,” Tim says. “As she continued to find things out and learn more and more about the industry, she realized Prescott was lacking a place where people could come in and not hear the hairdryers blowing while they’re getting a massage, and so forth; a place where someone could experience a true spa; where they could walk in, relax and float out type-of-an-idea. That wasn’t here; they had to travel down to Phoenix.”
After making her decision, Christine immersed herself in learning everything she could about the industry: every aspect of the medical treatments, the myriad of wellness services, required certifications, and the best possible facility design – an element she has poured all her hard-earned wisdom and passion into.
“I want them (clients) to have a special feeling from the moment they open the doors,” says Christine.
She’s wasn’t kidding.
The first thing clients will see less than four feet beyond the glassdoor entrance is a tall, impressive water feature with a wide sheet of silvery liquid flowing in a gentle, vertical cascade. On the other side of that feature - anchoring an oval “relaxation” area - is a flat panel T.V. set high behind another transparent expanse of falling water – with surprisingly no distortion to the health-related programs that will be airing behind it.
Extraordinary touches like that can be seen throughout Mind, Body & Soul. Christine chose an Asian influence for her decorating scheme – partly because she says Asian medicine has such a profound influence on wellness practices – and also because she wanted to create an environment in which both sexes would feel at home.
Along those lines, Christine has designed a “couple’s suite” where husbands and wives, mothers and daughter, sisters or friends can enjoy side-by-side massages in a relaxing, soothing environment, while the flames from a corner fireplace flicker nearby.
Another unique feature Christine incorporated into her spa’s design is a separate music selection for each of her six treatment rooms, thanks to some valuable feedback from a friend and fellow spa enthusiast.
“How that process came about is I have a dear friend who gets spa treatments in the Valley, but she said, ‘I don’t like spa music, and I don’t relax to it. That’s the only thing that turns me off about spas.’ She told me she asked her massage therapist if they could turn the music off and the answer was no; it’s emitting throughout the building and if we turn it off here, no one else can enjoy it.”
That’s all Christine needed to hear to launch into finding an audio company to create a customized sound system in every room of her spa so that each of her client’s personal preference can be met.
“She’s very, very meticulous about such things,” laughs Tim, her other half for the past 21 years. “She’s not one to point out these things specifically, but everything you see is what she envisioned and wanted to have to a “T.”
The guiding principle Christine followed in designing her spa facility, as well as the services it offers, is that “nothing we offer clients is going to harm them,” she says.
“Coming from a medical background, everything I’ve incorporated into the spa I really feel should be medically sound and protect our clients that come through.”
That approach has influenced everything from the type of hydrotherapy tub she purchased, to the types of skincare products they will use and sell, to the company she chose to supply their equipment for laser treatments.
Not all spas adhere to her philosophy, she says, so consumers should approach their spa experiences with discriminating tastes.
“I’ve known it for quite a while that shampoos, for example, have unsafe chemicals in them that are cancer-causing and toxic to your system,” Christine says, adding that even popular baby shampoos have been exposed in the news recently for their not-so-healthy ingredients.
“You would think that you were being protected from chemicals that can do you harm, and that’s not the reality. There are no regulations with regard to body products.”
So not only did the nurse in her want first to do no harm to her clients, she also wanted to find a company that produced non-harmful products, yet at the same time also demonstrated a commitment to protecting the environment.
“A lot of the companies that offer organic products aren’t geared toward the environment,” she says. “Even though what they’re offering is safe to put on your skin, the company isn’t adhering specifically to energy-conservation practices.”
There are also limitations on finding “100 percent organic products,” Christine discovered.
“A 100 percent organic product goes bad quickly because it’s basically food. There are no additives, preservatives, or any type of chemicals that would hinder the process of turning it over.” As a result, the short shelf life on such products render them impractical to use, or to sell, she says.
“Every little detail mattered to me, so I really had to focus on a company that provided safe skincare products, but was also good to the environment, too. It had to be a balanced choice for me.”
Entering into an entirely new industry has brought unique challenges to this former labor and delivery nurse. She says she ran into a little bit of skepticism on the part of a representative from one of the companies whose skincare products she finally decided she wanted her spa to carry.
“I actually found I was running into brick walls being that I was calling from a small town,” Christine says, chuckling about it now, but adding it wasn’t funny when it was happening.
“I found that calling these people in the Valley and saying I was opening a wellness spa in Prescott, they didn’t take me seriously! I was leaving message after message but I knew deep down what it was. I was being ignored because I’m from a small town. I had to go so far as to leave a phone message that said, ‘Please, give me a chance.’”
Ultimately, the company representative traveled to Prescott and toured Christine’s spa, offering profuse apologies in the first 10 minutes, Christine says. “They have to be careful about what kind of standards they align themselves with, too.”
When various hurdles like that have worked out, Tim admits that his typically poised, self-assured wife becomes like a little kid, jumping up and down with giddiness.
“Have you ever seen that movie with Eddie Murphy where he’s clapping his hands, saying ‘Hercules, Hercules?’ That’s the excitement level she gets.”
It’s true, the mother of three confesses, flashing a big smile and holding up her right hand as if revealing a secret under oath. While it was difficult to leave the labor and delivery unit, the compassionate streak that led her there in the first place is simply pointing her in a new direction.
“Nursing is a joy to me, but I knew I had to step away from the hospital environment. That portion of my life was so difficult as far as making that decision.”
Three years later, her vision to create a spa that combines “Scottsdale luxury with Prescott hospitality” - and a dash of Christine Eastman-type caring, has come to fruition.
“I would have never imagined that I’d be walking in these shoes, but I love how much more comfortable they’ve gotten over the years, and the direction they are taking me.”