The Spa at Willow Pond was opened in January 2014 by Gail Lentz, but the experience and knowledge behind The Spa was built throughout Lentz’s lifetime of learning. After serving in the Air Force, she became a registered nurse (RN), working first in hospitals and then in an industrial plant. Those experiences led her to explore energy healing and other alternative practices that could help people heal without resorting to pills and surgery.

Lentz was able to build The Spa on the property where she has lived for 34 years in place of an old barn that burned down in 1996. “With the clearing that was created by the fire, the energy is great,” she says. Set on five acres, The Spa at Willow Pond offers a retreat-like atmosphere, where guests can enjoy tea, coffee or artesian well water on an outdoor deck area after a treatment or take a stroll to watch the swans swimming in the pond.

Passionate about finding the best healing methods available, Lentz seeks out new modalities from all over the world. She became a licensed massage therapist and licensed acupuncturist before discovering laser acupuncture in Canada; since then, she has synthesized the practices. “I used to use needles, but I find the laser acupuncture to be more accurate and effective. The results are just spectacular,” Lentz explains. “And I’m probably the only one in the United States doing laser acupuncture massage, because I just came up with it on my own. Using a laser probe, I can go over the spots where there is pain and dissolve them using the laser.” She advises that laser acupuncture is also extremely effective with smoking cessation.

Of the five subcontracted team members at The Spa, all are Reiki masters and licensed massage therapists, and besides Lentz, there is one additional RN. The Spa provides a plethora of services, with staff specializing in designated modalities. Massage techniques include therapeutic, aromatherapeutic, myofascial, craniosacral, lomi-lomi, bamboo fusion and reflexology. The team at The Spa also offers facials, body scrubs and wraps and an abundant selection of detoxification techniques, as well as exceptional equipment that all of the staff are certified to operate.

One of these, the Alpha 2010 Environmental Spa Capsule, manufactured by the Swedish company Sybaritic, offers 12 pre-programmed relaxation and detoxification services. The ergonomically contoured bed produces adjustable vibratory massage, infrared heat (moist or dry), aromatherapy and ionized air/steam, as well as earphones playing soothing sounds; most treatments last 30 minutes. Time in the Alpha Capsule is included as part of The Spa’s menu of body wrap services.

The Spa also uses the Electro-Acuscope, a device that produces transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, to help clients eliminate pain, manage stress, promote the body’s self-healing abilities and resolve or reduce the symptoms of insomnia, stress, epilepsy, attention deficit disorder and other emotional and behavioral disorders. Another microcurrent device, the Myopulse, gently stimulates soft tissues, including muscles, tendons and ligaments, reducing spasms and inflammation to provide a non-invasive facelift and stimulate lymphatic drainage and liver detoxification.

At age 67 and with five grandchildren, Lentz shows no sign of slowing down. She keeps her nursing licensure up to date and participates in continuing educating. “I’m in college right now,” she says enthusiastically. “I’m taking the same nutrition course that my granddaughter is enrolled in, because I want to update my knowledge on the topic.”

The Spa at Willow Pond is located at 1487 Old Lancaster Pike, in Sinking Spring. For more information, call 610-507-9004, 610-406-5733 or visit TheSpaAtWillowPond.com.

Lauressa Nelson is a contributing editor for Natural Awakenings magazines who lives in Orlando, Florida.