After 12 years of suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and Lyme disease, former actress Janet League-Katzin learned that sleep shouldn’t be the result of passing out on a couch after a trying day at work, but a deliberate part of maintaining one’s health. There are no substitutes for deep, restful sleep, insists League-Katzin, a self-professed perfectionist who admits that she worked and played hard. “It’s the only thing that allows the body to heal. And the body has to do it itself,†she says.
A student of hol
istic health and Eastern philosophy, League-Katzin was inspired by her personal journey to health to open the full-service spa Sphatika in New York City four years ago with a restorative focus for the mind, body, and spirit and the mantra, Beauty is Balance. “When you’re balanced, you’re more healthy, more creative, more successful. When you’re not balanced, you lose your health; you lose your mind,†says League-Katzin.The two- and three-hour full-body treatments, complete with facials, such as the Warm Precious Jade Stone Experience, Pre-Natal Crystal Experience, and Crystal & Cashmere Castor Oil Pack–begin with 20 minutes in an infrared sauna, which removes 10% to 20% more toxins than the typical sauna. “For the body to heal, it has to detox,†League-Katzin explains.
Every element of the experience is designed to rejuvenate. All treatments are based in what she calls a luxury line of chemical-free botanicals infused with holistic practices that include aromatherapy, Ayurveda, and crystal and vitamin therapies. “Our vitamins come from botanicals, which means they don’t go through a
process that alters them.†League-Katzin even commissioned the spa’s ethereal flute and piano compositions. “I want it to be a complete experience,†she offers, “feeling restful and serene in a very nurturing environment.â€A full line of League-Katzin’s products and the spa music can be purchased at her Website, www.sphatika.com.
This article originally appeared in the February 2010 issue of Black Enterprise magazine.