Panchakarma at Surya Spa is a remarkably healing experience. Martha and John devote all of their expertise and care to understanding how best to improve your health and reinforce your immune system. I have been to Surya Spa twice, the first time for seven days and the second for three. On both occasions I’ve felt that the treatments rejuvenated and purified me from the inside out. And I’ve never had spa treatments that were more relaxing. The treatments at Surya get down to the core of you, so that you leave calm and healthy with skin and eyes glowing. I highly recommend Surya Spa to anyone who wants to explore what peace of mind and a healthy body is really all about.
Roxana Badin
It was a pleasure and a privilege to be cared for at Surya Spa. I say "cared for" because this experience was so much more than diagnosis and treatment. It was being loved and healed by two people devoted to ayurveda and willing to serve anyone who is willing to participate in a healing journey. The atmosphere was relaxed yet kindly focused. I was impressed with the time both John and Marta were prepared to spend to understand my needs. All treatments and products at Surya Spa were totally customized for me personally which not only takes time but considerable knowledge. I loved that they used wild crafted herbs from the LA area too. The treatments felt blissful and at all times I felt secure in their hands. They are the best kind of professionals - competent and heartful. Pancha Karma is physical hard work but John and Marta seemed to be nourished by seeing the process help someone else. I was only able to have two sessions but even in that time the results were profound. I felt my body got a fresh start and I felt an inner confidence rise. I felt inspired and at the same time more capable of taking care of myself. These two are the real thing. I feel truly blessed.
Melanie Sachs
author of Ayurvedic Beauty Secrets, owner of Diamond Way Ayurveda
Surya Spa is a rare intimate setting that radiates the healing power of Ayurveda through the expertise and most importanty human warmth that John and Marta bring to their transformative pancha karma session. I am committed to their sessions every season as the path of living yoga and a life of balance and health. I am grateful from my heart and know that anyone who comes in contact with Surya Spa will receive the full benefits of Ayurveda that can be integrated right here in your own town!
Shiva Rea, Internationally renowned teacher of Vinyasa Flow Yoga, and creator of the award-winning home practice Yoga Shakti Series
I received inmense benefits from my treatments at Surya Spa. I had previously injured three discs on my lower back during a car accident. Due to the constant pain I developed sleep disturbances. All this lead to an eventual diagnosis of trauma-induced fibromyalgia. After a seven-day panchakarma treatment with Martha Soffer and John Holmstrom, I began to sleep better and better. As the sleep improved, my pain receded. Within two months I was nearly pain-free and sleeping throught the night. I believe this to be a miracle, induced by the able hands of Martha Soffer and John Holmstrom and the centuries of accumulated knowledge provided by Ayurveda. I plan to make treatments at Surya a part of my health-maintenance regimen. Years ago, before the car accident, I had received panchakarma at two of the most well-known Ayurveda treatment facilities in the U.S. I found the experience at Surya spa to be quite superior. Martha Soffer and John Holmstrom offer a level of personalized service that was not available at the other facilities. At Surya Spa they prepare herbs specifically prescribed for the individual's needs. They even altered the herbs on a daily basis, as my symptoms changed during the panchakarma process ! The level of indivudual attention is truly amazing! Other panchakarma services feel like standardized assembly lines. At Surya Spa you feel as though you are visiting a family doctor who listens and treats you with specialized, kind care.
Marie Isabelle Perera, Lawyer
Dear Martha and John,
After resting in your care for a week, I thought I would share my thoughts regarding my recent experience of panchakarma at Surya Spa.
Let me briefly review the facts that led me to your doorstep. Approximately 20 years ago I experienced a general and severe breakdown in my health. I finally discovered Ayurveda after a fruitless exploration of conventional and alternative therapies over a period of several years. Through the intelligence of Ayurveda I was able to deal directly with the unique aspects of my constitution and lifestyle instead of the generalized therapies I had encountered. I was able to cleanse the damage I had done to my health over the years, and learned how to maintain my health and avoid the recurrence of similar damage.
Although my health returned, I found that in this toxic world it was difficult to maintain my optimum level of mental and physical health solely through diet and exercise. I found that continued panchakarma sessions helped maintain the energy and clarity that I was now accustomed to.
For the past several years I have traveled to the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque for panchakarma at Dr. Lad's center. I have also sent my family and friends to experience the benefits of Ayurveda and panchakarma. In this busy world I often lamented the travel involved and that there was no equaliveant center in the Los Angeles area. But Dr. Lad's centre set a very high standard in my mind and I had never found a level of care that came close. That is until last week when I was fortunate to experience panchakarma at Surya Spa.
Such an intelligent and caring environment you and John have created. Aside from the extremely competent technical aspects of your program it is very clear that the personal awareness you both bring to the healing process is an integral aspect of the experience.
Starting with John's initial Ayurvedic consultation I was very impressed with the intelligence, compassion and enthusiasm with which he approached my health and well-being. The care and enthusiasm with which you both approached a customized panchakarma treatment that required much additional time and preparation on your part was also very impressive. I have never before experienced panchakarma with the customized pouches you prepare for the process and now could not imagine the process without them.
What is most telling though are the results I experienced and am continuing to experience post treatment. Following the delightful shirodara at the end of each session I was aware of an increasing energetic depth to the cleansing. An experience best described as similar to a deep meditative relaxation and awareness that continued to grow day-by-day. I am still very much aware of certain channels that are actually pulsing with energy still days later. Although my previous experience of panchakarma was very positive, I had not experienced such a deep energetic cleansing before.
So thank you both for setting a new standard in my experience with Ayurveda and especially for doing it so close to home!
In humble appreciation,
Randall Gates, Financial Advisor
Surya Spa is one of the very few Ayurveda centers employing the full range of Ayurveda and pancha karma in the Los Angeles area. I've been a doctor of Oriental Medicine for 15 years and they're who I go to for my health care needs. The detoxifying pancha karma treatments are divine. I've never felt more clear in both body and mind in my life. I felt 20 years younger in just 5 days.
James Bailey, L.Ac., M.P.H., Dipl. NCCAOM