Eugene Weekly : Gift Guide 2008 : 11.26.2008

 

EW‘s 2008 Gift Guide (download the PDF)

Sampling the  Wares A few gems from the Holiday Market’s hundreds of booths

Doing Good and Eating Very Well

Local Pride Unique Eugene stores provide all kinds of options

Body Love Treat yourself and others this season

Handmade in Oregon

 

Body Love
Treat yourself and others this season
by Katie Dettman

With the economy in shambles and winter setting in, what better way to put your worries behind you (or your loved one) than with a healing massage or other spa treatment? Eugene offers a plethora of spas, salons and other professional relaxing spaces.

The reader-voted Best New Business 2008 is A Healing Space, Inc. (380 W. 3rd Ave.). It’s a calming, literally healing space that has been open for about a year. Services include chiropractic, naturopathy, massage therapy, acupuncture, reiki, flower essence therapies, microcurrents and holistic medicine as well as classes in yoga, fitness, boxing and tai chi. 

Owner Adam Dropkin has been a practicing chiropractor for 14 years. A Healing Space came about, he says, “because I’ve worked in an office with a few other practitioners, but to coordinate care between a medical doctor, a naturopath, a massage therapist and a fitness expert is so hard to do. You don’t exactly know how people work or what their specialties are, so the idea was to bring in a bunch of people who are very good at their jobs, but all do slightly different things.” 

He also wanted to create a “non-doctor-like atmosphere.” The office, located in an old warehouse space, sports tall cardboard-tube circular pods with fountains running between them. Patients receive treatments inside the pods.

Tom Etges practices medical acupuncture and medicine at A Healing Space. The family medicine doctor incorporates aspects of alternative therapies into his practice. “I think I’ve given a number of people options as to how to proceed,” he says. “For a number of folks who wish to continue with certain kinds of Western drugs, I can offer that to them as well.” 

A Healing Space accepts insurance and also has gift certificates available.

Readers named Gervais Salon & Day Spa (with two locations, 248 E 5th Ave. and 301 W 5th Ave.) Best Personal Indulgence Provider this year (with Bello Day Spa and Pearl Day Spa rounding out the top three). Gervais’ downtown location is a full-service spa and salon, while the Fifth Street Public Market location, which opened in June 2007, provides salon and waxing services.

Gervais carries and uses Aveda products, which are plant- and flower-based. Sharah Madrone, Gervais’ owner, says she appreciates Aveda’s environmentally and socially responsible practices. “Our holiday gift sets are a great example of Aveda’s social commitment,” she said. “The paper is made in Nepal. It is sustainably sourced, helping to preserve 90,000 acres of Himalayan forest.” 

In addition to the spas listed here, many care professionals have individual practices (be assured that we don’t talk to our sales department about this, but we do often check the wellness ads at the back of the Weekly). Remember to be sure that your practitioner is licensed (most will have license numbers on fliers, business cards or websites). Your body — er, we mean your giftee’s body — will be thankful. 

Some of Eugene’s Other Spas …

About Touch
895 Country Club # A140, 302-2600, www.jennifersmassage.net

Bello Day Spa & Salon
2746 Shadow View, 345-0551,
www.bellospa.com

Chikara Salon & Spa
134 Oakway Ctr., 683-2353,
www.chikarasalonandspa.com

Health Spa & Salon Institute
165 W. 11th, 302-8101,
spasalon.clearwire.net

Herbal Skin Spa
1646 E. 19th Ste. B, 554-0323,
www.herbalskinspa.com

Pearl Day Spa
1375 Pearl, 683-3377,
www.thepearldayspa.com

In Your Dreams
32713 E. McKenzie, 342-3442,
www.inyourdreamsspa.com

London Hair Studio & Day Spas
460 Valley River, 485-1653 and 770 Willamette, 686-1692,
www.londonhairstudios.com

Total Image Academy
1020 Green Acres # 15, 344-1259

TrueLifeSelf Bodywork  
315 E. 13th, 359-2633, www.truelifeself.com

Vitality Health Spa
2000 Cal Young, 343-6220