To ski takes a certain amount of balance. But that purely physical state of non-teetering equilibrium isn’t all that interests Aspen/Snowmass Diamond Pro Ski instructor Jacqui Forster, when she gathers her students atop a slope on a bitterly cold winter day. Instead, she’s conjuring soul magic. “Before we start, I want everyone to breathe deeply and take a look around. See where you are,” she says. “Look at the colors.”

An Australian who has been in Aspen for a decade, Forster begins every lesson with an ode to being present. Believing that every athletic endeavor, not to mention every human act, should emerge from a place deep within, she urges students to employ more than their quads when S-turning down the mountain. “Root in,” she says. “Feel your connection to the earth; be aware of that fire in your belly. Visualize your power. See it.” We close our eyes and colors flit beneath our eyelids.

This is what Forster is after. An Aura-Soma practitioner, Forster believes our connection to color revitalizes, empowers and informs us. A trained therapist in this color therapy system—as was her mother—she understands that color vibrates on a separate frequency. She explains that color has its own energy, and that its varying hues derive from light. According to Aura-Soma (as in both Chromotherapy and Ayurveda) color plays an integral part in the practice. Historically and symbolically, colors correlate to certain aspirations, traits or states of being. Like a mirror to our soul, they can be metaphor. Yellow, for example, can signify wisdom, red could evoke vitality, green might connote the vastness and beauty of nature. There are no right answers. It’s all about you. But, in a good way.

On the mountain with Forster, after one brief meditation, the colors encircle us like a magic spell. Even in the middle of a chilly storm with the atmosphere awash in white, they speak to us—if we let them. Under her ministrations, our intuition takes over and we descend with a focused gusto that seems both joyful and harmonious, in what she calls “a nurturing, protective bubble,” a sort of blanket of soulfulness. “Color affects our energy,” says Forster. “When we choose colors, we choose from our soul level. We take what we need and it reflects back to us.”

Aura-Soma, founded by Vicky Wall in 1984, draws from a variety of ancient practices: color energy, aromatherapy, and herbal healing. Not many spas in the US offer Aura- Soma, but at Mii Amo in Sedona, practitioner Bhakta Ruttiger leads the program, and has been a color guide at this world-renowned destination spa since 1992.

Amid the otherworldly red rocks of the region, in a locale known for its energy vortex, I experienced Ruttiger’s ministrations. The reading involved instinctively choosing four bottles of brightly colored oil from more than 100 on a shelf. I discovered each bottle augured a life lesson, provoked a question or served as a marker for a path yet unexplored. In Aura-Soma, bottles comprise two juxtaposed colors, mixed with herb -infused oils and a small amount of water. They appear like enchanted potions, as lovely to look at as to smell. That day, I was most moved by a duet of regal purple and pumpkin orange. I took it home and, following directions, rubbed it gingerly on my skin, using it to completion over a period of a month or so. My cares unraveled.

I think of that today, with Forster on the mountain. In the snowflakes I see a flurry of purple; in the slivers of light from the sun, I note a dappling of lime green; in my belly the fire burns brightly orange. I am awake and alive and anything can happen.

Ensconced amid 13th-century buildings in Prague’s Mala Strana, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel sits amid a preserved Dominican monastery.

 Spas in contemplative settings recalibrate mind, body and spirit

Here in the monks’ garden, in a hidden courtyard at Cusco’s newly opened Palacio Nazarenas, the cacophony of urbanity seems miles away. Though the ancient city’s main square sits just behind the one-time convent (now a sleek, restored, boutique hotel), the silence is so ponderous one might think the entire staff and every guest has taken a vow of silence. From the garden, a medley of perfume—lavender, rosemary, thyme, chamomile—scents the air. Beautifully assembled plants, flowers and herbs, replicated from authentic medieval monastery renderings, make for a visual feast. Accompanied by staff, guests as meditative as labyrinth walkers, snip the plants of their choice to create bespoke baths, curative drinks, or healing spa treatment ingredients. The spiritual experience tweaks all the senses at once. Reflection comes naturally here.

Which is what Orient Express had in mind when it spent 10 years excavating and renovating this sacred space for reuse as a tony hotel.

Abundant with original arches, hacienda-style balconies, ecclesiastic artwork, hidden nooks, and glass floors that reveal not only colonial remains but Incan artifacts, Palacio Nazarenas (palacionazarenas.com) revels in the mysterious allure and contemplative energy that imbues the place. Not surprisingly, the spa borrows from centuries-old wisdom, offering balms, oils and wraps created from the recipes of a coterie of local shaman then fine-tuned by beauty experts in France. Local ingredients like white sage from Lake Titicaca, pink Andean salt, eucalyptus and muna reference the region. And, throughout the hotel, the staff sport a signature aromatherapeutic scent, meant to leave an essence of tranquility in the air after they pass.

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel spa lobby

Of course, sacred sights have long attracted the contemplative. No wonder hotels and spas have begun to root into the pre-existing power of long cherished locations. Ensconced amid 13th-century buildings in Prague’s Mala Strana, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel (mandarinoriental.com/prague) sits amid a preserved Dominican monastery. Its spa, part of an adjoining building, hovers atop the former nave of a Renaissance church. Further below it, a Gothic chapel’s ruins can be seen through a glass floor for mind altering spa moments.

The pool in the Couvent de Minimes

In Provence, Couvent de Minimes (couventdesminimes-hotelspa.com), a one-time convent, now Relais Châteaux property, partners with L’Occitane to honor the work of the herbalist nuns who once resided here. Profuse with the aromatic plants of Provence (lavender, acacia, verbena, rosemary), gardens here once ministered to pilgrims. Now guests can enjoy treatments outdoors, attuned to centuries of spiritual thought. Even amid the gentrified streets of bustling cities like Milan, refuge can be found. At the Four Seasons (fourseasons.com/milan), flanked by Milan’s chicest shopping streets, a converted 15th-century convent, adorned with original frescoes, warm stones and wooden walls, serves as luxury spa.

Often built on ley lines or energy vortexes, convents, monasteries, and such have drawn the ruminative since the beginning of time. In such places, certain energies are palpable to the intuitive, ancient whisperings can nearly be heard, and introspection and enlightenment come more easily. For the renewal of mind, body and spirit, such sanctums are what serious spa-goers crave.

Other Spas for Contemplation

PARADOR HOTEL MONATERIO DE SAN ESTEVO
Ourense, Galicia Spain
parador.es/en/parador-de-santo-estevo

Atop a hill in northwestern Spain along the Portuguese border, where the Mina River meets the Rio Sil, this retrofitted 10th-century Benedictine Monastery recalibrates with a water-themed spa.

ASHDOWN PARK HOTEL
East Sussex, UK
ashdownpark.com

Not ancient, but nevertheless holy, this one-time country house became a convent for the Sisters of the Order of Notre Dame in the early 19th-century. Now a posh retreat, the once-spartan habitat boasts such modern accoutrements as a golf course, but its chapel and haven-like spa evoke its past.

SONGSTAM RESORT, LINKA SPA
Shangri-la, China
songtsam.com/en/lodges/songtsam-shangri-la

In the foothills of the Himalayas, on the border of Tibet, a breath away from the golden rooftops of Zhongdian Buddhist Monastery, this spa hotel delves deeply into Buddhist and Tibetan traditions. Here guests on the quest for a mind-shift can enjoy local treatments like a Tibetan Butter Massage, blessings by a Living Buddha, yoga, and courses on Buddhism.

For Lake Austin Spa Resort’s new executive chef Stephane Beaucamp, life is about balance. That’s what brought this French-born, raised, and trained chef from Europe, via a stint in Los Angeles, all the way to the Texas Hill Country. “The life of a chef is not so easy,” says Beaucamp, who is a single father and wanted to find a job that allowed him to spend more time with his son.

A veteran of such frenetic kitchens as Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris and Bouchon Bistro Lyonnais in Los Angeles, Beaucamp longed for a less frenzied lifestyle. Equilibrium came when Lake Austin Spa Resort’s iconic chef, Terry Conlan, retired and the property sought someone to helm the award-winning destination spa’s restaurant and food program. Beaucamp leapt at the chance to fill Conlan’s well-worn cowboy boots and to take the menus in a new direction. “Austin was on my radar: the water, the landscape, it reminded me of France. It felt, in a sense, as if I were returning to my roots.” And the tranquil, reviving aura of the resort, nestled on the banks of Lake Austin, spoke to his need for a slower, restorative, life-affirming pace.

At a resort already known for its all-inclusive, three-gourmet-meals-a-day, Beaucamp understood the need for a diverse, fully loaded carte—the sort that embraced fresh, simple and healthy over diet and diluted. Bringing his classically trained instincts to the table, Beaucamp tweaked the already eco-friendly traditions set by Conlan to reinterpret the menu with a Mediterranean flair. Now you can find such options as Fried Nicoise Olives (50 calories), Garden Kale Caesar (120 calories) or Truffle and Goat Cheese Ravioli topped with pine nut pesto (270 calories). “This is the sort of simple, fresh food my mother prepared,” says Beaucamp.

Inspired by the setting, Beaucamp raves about the resort’s ample garden. “I simply step from the kitchen and pick what I need,” says Beaucamp, boasting that his kitchen utilizes most of the garden’s yield. Preferring a fixed menu that follows the seasons, Beaucamp also patronizes local farms and nearby artisan food producers.

While nourishing spa goers with fine food in a sanctuary-like setting defines him, Beaucamp particularly relishes his other role: resort cooking teacher. In a classroom overlooking the emerald-colored lake, he tutors guests in healthy cooking techniques and lifestyle choices. “To have the chance to make a difference—that is why I am here, that is what I love about this place,” he says.

Quinoa Salad with Fennel, Avocado and Grapefruit

Executive Chef Stephane Beaucamp at Lake Austin Spa Resort

Salad Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa

2 limes, zested

3 pink grapefruits, peeled and sliced, white membranes removed

2 avocados, peeled and sliced

• fennel bulb, cored and finely sliced with a mandolin

3 pink radishes, finely sliced with a mandolin

Crumbles of feta cheese (quantity to taste; about 4 to 5 tablespoons)

Chopped parsley

For the dressing:

• Sea salt and pepper

• Juice of 1 lime

• • teaspoon ginger, peeled and finely grated

• 6 tablespoons olive oil

• 3 tablespoons low-fat half and half

Directions:

1. Rinse the quinoa and cook it with the lime zest, covered, in 2 cups salted water.

2. When water is absorbed, stop the heat and let rest for 5 minutes.

3. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a bowl to cool.

4. In a large bowl, combine grapefruit, avocado, fennel and radish slices, and toss gently.

5. Make the dressing by adding ingredients in the following order: salt, pepper, lime juice, ginger, olive oil.

6. Emulsify with a small whisk and finish with the low-fat half and half; keep aside.

7. Add the quinoa, feta (to taste) and parsley to the vegetables and fruit.

8. Toss gently with the dressing and serve.

8 servings

Sweet Potato & Carrot Pancakes

Executive Chef Stephane Beaucamp at Lake Austin Spa Resort

Ingredients:

1 ounce hazelnuts

1 medium sweet potato, peeled

and diced

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced

Sea salt and pepper

2 large eggs, separated

3 tablespoons millet flour

3 tablespoons low-fat buttermilk

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Toast hazelnuts in a frying pan over medium heat for four to five minutes.

2. When cool, chop coarsely and set aside.

3. Steam the potato and carrot dice until soft then puree.

4. Transfer the puree into a large bowl and season with sea salt and pepper.

5. Stir in egg yolks, millet flour, buttermilk and cilantro, and mix until ingredients are incorporated.

6. In a mixer, beat the egg whites with a pinch of sea salt until they form a soft peak.

7. Fold them into the vegetable mixture.

8. Cook batter in a frying pan, with olive oil, like you would cook pancakes, two to three minutes on each side.

9. Top pancake with chopped toasted hazelnuts and serve with a side of salad such as arugula or mache and a light citrus vinaigrette.

Makes six three-inch pancakes

Austin-based travel and lifestyle writer BECCA HENSLEY’s work appears regularly in National Geographic Traveler, Virtuoso Traveler, Austin Monthly and Washington Flyer.