Anita Ericson
Green wellness is a fairly new concept that combines sustainability and health. It's more than just a trend. This is about a holistic view of well-being. Some wellness oases are exemplary.
This is particularly the case with the nature hotel Chesa Valisa in Vorarlberg for sustainability in all areas. 100 percent organic (preferably regional) in the kitchen, clay walls instead of air conditioning, district heating with wood chips from the Kleinwalsertal - to name just three of the eco-pluses. Of course, this line also extends to the wellness area, whose solar-heated outdoor pool is fed with its own spring water, cleaned with ionized salts.
The applications come exclusively Natural cosmetic products for use - just green wellness. However, the herbal stamps are prepared in-house from our own collection. Herbal fairy Marlene Paul is responsible for this, she also accompanies the guests on Thursday herb hikes, where wild herbs are collected and medicinal herbs are determined. Chesa Valisa-Chief Magdalena Kessler: “There is a workshop once a month. The last topic was the 'Green Pharmacy', where the participants produced a pain oil, a lip balm for herpes and a wound and healing ointment. "
Green wellness the real Styrian way
The focus is on the regional offer on the other side of Austria, in the Heiltherme Bad Waltersdorf. "In the early 2000s, applications from China or India were suddenly seen as the answer to every health problem," recalls Gerti Haas from the hotel's health oasis, "Our own healing knowledge was almost completely forgotten". So she and a colleague decided to go back to the local tradition. Green wellness reinterpreted. Just as she had learned from her grandmother, who did not run to the pharmacy if she had a fever or wounds, but instead prescribed vinegar or homemade marigold ointment.
Haas has supplemented its own knowledge of herbs with a TEM training (Traditional European Medicine) and created TSM - Traditional Styrian Medicine from it. “Since 2006 we have been offering treatments in the TSM health oasis of the Heiltherme Bad Waltersdorf that combine traditional healing knowledge with modern knowledge. We developed all treatments ourselves and also carried out studies based on scientific criteria that prove their effectiveness, ”she says proudly. Wherever possible, the raw materials for green wellness are collected by employees in the hotel's own guaranteed natural garden or outside on meadows or in forests and processed in-house to make oils, balms and tinctures.
Green wellness with stone pine
In contrast to Eastern Styria with its mild climate and fertile soils, it thrives in the alpine region, and is much less lush at high altitudes. Trees and herbs grow very slowly here, but are characterized by their robustness. The best example of this is the stone pine, which has adapted perfectly to the harsh life in the mountains up to 2.500 meters above sea level. Their arm-thick roots wedge themselves firmly in the ground and can withstand any weather. Not even avalanches or landslides can harm her. Fortunately, humans can benefit from this resilience. It has been proven that inhaling the essential oils of the stone pine significantly reduces the heart rate - which improves the general bonding, i.e. strengthens the organism.
This is where the Tonnerhütte in the Styrian Zirbitzkogel – Grebenzen nature park comes into play, the heart of which in the green wellness area are the two stone pine saunas. “On the one hand, we offer our guests the Brechlbad. Here we steam the stone pine branches that we collect ourselves on the alpine pastures at a maximum temperature of 60 degrees. This dissolves the essential oils and is not as stressful as a really hot sauna, ”says boss Katharina Ferner. “On the other hand, we have a correspondingly paneled stone pine panorama sauna, where stone pine shavings are also steamed in a scent tower”. The shavings are obtained from a local carpentry shop. The Tonnerhütte also offers massages with Berg.Kraft products, which are collected by farmers from the Murtaler Herb Kettle Association, carefully dried in the sun and processed into all kinds of oils and essences without any additives.
Mountain hay and bread dough
The 1st Almwellnesshotel Tuffbad in the Carinthian Lesach Valley is also at the same height, albeit a little lower. Here one relies heavily on mountain hay, boss Egon Oberluggauer: “If the farmer used to suffer from backache, he would lie down in the haystack. The body heat released essential oils from the hay and muscle tension was relieved. Today's Kraxenofen works according to this principle: The hay is blasted with steam and at 35 degrees Celsius you can quickly feel how your back and shoulders relax ”. Of course, it's not just any hay whose oils evaporate: “We use mountain hay from the Riebenkobel at 2.000 meters above our house. It grows slowly and can therefore only be mowed every other year, but it is particularly rich in species. It consists of 120 different grasses, flowers and herbs, including numerous particularly powerful medicinal plants, ”explains Oberluggauer.
The hay is not only used in the sauna but also in various massages. A special relaxation tip for green wellness is the bread bath. Oberluggauer: “In the past, the waste heat from the oven was used to free patients from rheumatism, bad thoughts and sins. Our modern bread bath is a room with a dry 35 degrees, the air is enriched with sourdough enzymes, which stimulate the metabolism and ensure proper digestion. And who knows: maybe they actually drive away sins. "
Peach for the skin
The Theiner family's house is on the sunny side of the Alps, in South Tyrol, which is particularly spoiled by the climate. To be more precise, in the Adige Valley, the largest contiguous fruit growing area in Europe, where Walter Theiner and his wife Myriam are among the organic pioneers.
At the beginning of 1980, Walter converted his parents' business to biodynamic agriculture, and in 1985 he founded the first cooperative to sell organic fruit in South Tyrol. 15 years ago, what had been created was passed on to the children.
Because the two of them wanted to pass on their experience and also establish it in the organic tourism sector, they then built the organic hotel in the former peach garden. "With us everything is organic, even in the spa area," says Stefan Hütter, son-in-law and co-managing director. "But we go one step further: We offer applications with purely local products, where the added value remains in the region."
There are the hay packs from meadows at around 1.700 meters above sea level from the Passeier Valley, which are interspersed with a lot of herbs and are not fertilized with mineral fertilizers. There is the sheep wool massage with wool from alpine pasture sheep from the neighboring, very pristine Ulten Valley. And there are the silver quartzite applications with primary rock from the furthest part of the Pfitschtal. The herbs for the herbal stamp massages grow in the hotel's own garden, but they are also used in the sauna for infusions (as well as in the kitchen). “Theiner's Bio Vital Cosmetics” is also homemade. The apples and peaches for it come from the family's own organic farm. The natural cosmetics manufacturer Kräuterschlössl from Val Venosta uses them to produce lotions, creams, shampoos, etc. The cosmetics are used in the spa. Green wellness all around.
Green Wellness Recommendations
Chesa Valisa, Kleinwalsertal
As a member of Bio Hotels in terms of sustainability beyond any doubt. Wellness offer: three saunas with different temperatures, year-round heated outdoor pool, classic massages and treatments, Ayurveda. Regional wellness: natural garden, massages with herbal stamps, guided herbal hikes.
Green wellness in www.naturhotel.at
Thermal bath, Bad Waltersdorf
Massages with balms and oils as well as cosmetic treatments based on pumpkin, herbs, apples and meadow / hay flowers are offered in particular as part of traditional Styrian medicine. Depending on the season, the focus is on a product. Another sustainable component in the house: the entire thermal spa area (including the hotel) is heated completely emission-free thanks to warm deep water and sophisticated technology.
Green wellness im www.heiltherme.at
Tonnerhütte, Zirbitzkogel-Grebenzen Nature Park
“Only that which grows locally works” is the credo of boss Katharina Ferner. So it is logical for them to rely on the power of the local stone pine as well as on the healing herbs of local farmers. In addition to the saunas, massages with stone pine stamps and honey products that pamper the skin are particularly popular in their wellness area. Good news: the organic certification project for the kitchen was launched this summer.
Green wellness im www.tonnerhuette.at
Almwellness Tuffbad, Lesachtal
Ten saunas, including the Kraxenofen, the bread bath or the stone bath, are the focus of the wellness area in the hotel and chalet village located 1200 meters above sea level. The water for all saunas and pools flows from the in-house, officially medicinal spring, it is also suitable for detoxifying drinking cures. The youngest sauna was equipped exclusively with regional woods (stone pine and alder). The restaurant has the green hood and you are a member of Slow food travel.
Green wellness im www.almwellness.com
theiner's garden, Etschtal / South Tyrol
Herbal stamp massages, sheep's wool massages, hay packs, silver quartzite applications and mountain juniper smoking are the regional components in the natural spa. In addition, essential oils from a local supplier are used in the sauna, including spruce or mountain pine oil from the surrounding forests. Guests with high demands on sustainability on vacation are spot on here - indulgence, recreation and relaxation are uncompromisingly green here. You can feel at every nook and cranny that the Theiner family doesn't pay lip service, but rather lives “eco” themselves. member of Bio Hotels and Demeter certified. Green wellness im www.theinersgarten.it
Photo / Video: Shutterstock.
