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powerHouse Books is pleased to announce the February 2004 release of

SPA JOURNEYS: FOR MIND BODY AND SOUL
Photographs by Linda Troeller
Text by Annette Foglino

Spa Journeys: for Mind Body and Soul is both an elegant art book and a practical travel guide that expertly highlights how a spa can be more than a relaxing respite. Designed to be either savored or consulted at a glance, this comprehensive book includes detailed descriptions of the atmosphere, charm, and unique qualities of each of the twenty-six spa destinations as well as its surrounding location and nearby points of interest.

The spas in this book run the gamut, from historical sites that have been attracting pilgrims for centuries to Zen retreats, luxurious pampering palaces, and holistic health centers. Spa Journeys offers advice on what to do, when to go and what do have done along with a sumptuous feast of images of deluxe facials, therapeutic massages, and healing mind-body treatments. In addition, readers are given a behind-the-scenes look at spa life and the possibilities for a transformative inner journey.

As the popularity of spas grows, the motivation for visiting them continues to evolve. Spas have become the nations leading travel destination with over forty-five million Americans visiting a spa in the past year, spending almost as much on spas as at the box office. Now an essential element of virtually every new hotel, resort, and health club, spas are clearly a mainstream phenomenon. And increasingly, spas are offering their clients unique opportunities for personal growth.

Explore the labyrinth at the Golden Door in Southern California, a spa connoisseurs favorite, and gain unexpected insights. Learn to communicate with horses with Miraval's innovative Equine Program in the Arizona desert, and discover ways of changing old patterns. You learn a lot about a person by how they are around a horse, says Miraval's cowboy-shrink Wyatt Web. Or try deep relaxation techniques south of Rio in Brazils Kurotel spa; then take a bath in pure chocolate, leaving the skin as smooth as a Hershey's Kiss. Another option: have a mud treatment before exploring the natural steam bath caves at Tuscany's Grotta Giusti Terme; close your eyes and meditate, listening to the gentle trickle of water as it drips off the cave walls.

Celebrities have been flocking to spas for years in search of personal change and pleasure. Actress Sharon Stone went to a spa to quit smoking and even the curmudgeonly comic Bernie Mac declared Saturdays his spa day when I really pamper myself. Spa Journeys includes one of Oprah's favorites, Rancho La Puerta in Mexico, home of the mystical Mt. Kuchumaa, sacred to the local Indians; Miami's ayurvedic haven, the Mandarin Oriental (where Jennifer Lopez has been known to frequent), and one of Hollywood's favorite hideaways, Two Bunch Palms Resort & Spa, outside of Palm Springs, where everyone from Mariah Carey to Calista Flockhart have been known to visit.

Another rich aspect of the spa experience -- spa food -- is covered here. For years, spa cuisine was notorious for its miniscule and tasteless portions, but it has now been elevated to a culinary art form."Spa Journeys features recipes from two of the worlds most well-known spa chefs - Miraval's Cary Neff, author of Conscious Cuisine: A Harmony of Flavors for a Life in Balance, who was recently featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and the Golden Doors Michel Stroot , author of the recently released The Golden Door Cooks Light & Easy: Delicious Specialties from Americas Premier Spa.

Unlike many other spa travel books, Spa Journeys is not a compilation of promotional literature and stock photos. The book offers an artistic collection of unique, original photography and an engaging narrative travelogue. Annette Foglino covers the full spectrum of mind-body techniques with humor, honesty, and depth offering a keen perspective into this promising new arena for self-improvement. A journalist with an artists eye, her prose is an ideal accompaniment to the rich beauty and sensuality of Linda Troeller's photographs. Troeller, who has devoted more than twenty years to capturing sacred sites all over the world, artfully conveys the profound healing and transformative power that lies at the heart of a true spa journey.

Says David Friend, editor of creative development at Vanity Fair, "Linda Troeller's work induces trances, decanting viewers into realms ethereal, nautical, sensual. Her images should be mounted on the sides of a warm pool and, fitted with goggles and snorkles, we should swim by them, buoyant, observant, transported. And Annette Foglinos words are, as always, splendid."

Health & Beauty/Travel/Photography
Hardcover, 7.25 x 9.25 inches, 192 pages, 164 four-color photographs
ISBN:1-57687-190-8 $29.95

For more information, please contact Sara Rosen, Publicity Director
powerHouse Books, 68 Charlton Street, New York, NY 10014
Tel: 212-604-9074, Fax: 212-366-5247. email: sara@powerHouseBooks.com