101 Vacations to Change Your Life : A Guide to Wellness Centers, Spiritual Retreats, and Spas
by Karin Baji-Holms

Ease the mind and cure the body with this comprehensive guide to 101 wellnesscenters, retreats, and spas throughout the country. Illustrations throughout.Glossary.

Spa Guide U.S.A. : Be a Traveler, Not a Tourist (Open Road Travel Guides)
by John Segesta, Anne Stein

Reviewer: Mike Duncan
Other spa guides only go skin deep, but this one gave me the detailed information I needed to plan a perfect spa vacation.

Fodor's Healthy Escapes : 284 Resorts and Retreats Where You Can Get Fit, Feel Good, Find Yourself and Get Away from It All (Fodor's Healthy Escapes)
by Mark Sullivan (Editor)

Does a trip to the Maruba Resort & Jungle Spa in Belize sound appealing? Or the Grand Lido Sans Souci in Jamaica? How about the Breitenbush Hot Springs Retreat in Oregon, known as the "Esalen of the Northwest," with reiki, Thai massage, herbal wraps, hydrotherapy, and craniosacral therapy available to soothe your soul? Fodor's Healthy Escapes, here in its sixth edition, is your ticket to feeling pampered, healthy, and fit. Spas across the U.S. and the Caribbean are profiled, including facilities, services available, accommodations, rates, descriptions of atmosphere and typical meals, and directions.
Not every spa is geared toward solipsistic luxury; many offer hard-core conditioning programs for athletes in training or nutritional and lifestyle counseling for those struggling with cardiac disease, obesity, or other serious conditions. To help you find the retreat that best meets your needs, the editors have therefore separated them into six classifications: luxury pampering, nutrition and diet, sports conditioning, holistic health, medical wellness, and mineral springs. While many of the spas profiled here are pricey, keeping with what you'd expect from a Fodor's guide, some are more low key, such as Maine's Northern Pines Health Resort, which starts at $115 per person. Maps to help you locate the spas come in handy. The glossary is an added bonus, with definitions of healing modalities you may never have heard of (such as panchakarma), massage techniques (including shiroabhyanganasya), and schools of fitness (the increasingly popular Pilates Method). --Erica Jorgensen --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Healing Centers & Retreats : Healthy Getaways for Every Body and Budget
by Jenifer Miller

Whatever your goal for going to a spa or retreat (stress relief, meditation, thinner thighs), or your budget (from extravagant to Spartan), you'll find Healing Centers & Retreats full of ideas about and insight into destinations across the U.S. and Canada. Author Jenifer Miller's comprehensive collection runs the spectrum from the gestalt focus of the celebrity-studded Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, to the hatha yoga and massage offered at the rustic Trillium Retreat Center on Vashon Island, Washington, to the plush Aveda Spa Retreat in Osceola, Wisconsin. Miller's visited all these centers (lucky duck!), so you can fully trust her evaluations. She describes each site by atmosphere, accommodations, rates, services, staff, and nearby attractions. Toll-free numbers and Web-site and e-mail addresses are also included when applicable. If you've always wished for such a getaway, this book will inspire you to make plans--or nothing will.
Miller also lists thorough descriptions of centers aimed at treating chronic ailments and disease (such as migraines or heart disease) through the use of biofeedback, Ayurvedic medicine, craniosacral therapy, nutritional treatments, Chinese medicine, or a customized combination thereof. And if you have never heard of craniosacral therapy, marma-point therapy, or holoenergetics, don't fret. Miller explains all in the fantastic glossary. There's also a thorough index with listings by healing center name, therapy used, and location.