Let’s get the geographically appropriate Ponce De León reference out of the way early, shall we? While the Spanish explorer of noble birth, first name Juan, made many marks in the early 1500s, including three turns as governor of Puerto Rico and leading the first-known European expedition to La Florida, as he named the Sunshine State, he is best known for his supposed search for the Fountain of Youth. Though, as myths tend to go, there isn’t any evidence to back up the notoriety.
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Let’s get the geographically appropriate Ponce De León reference out of the way early, shall we? While the Spanish explorer of noble birth, first name Juan, made many marks in the early 1500s, including three turns as governor of Puerto Rico and leading the first-known European expedition to La Florida, as he named the Sunshine State, he is best known for his supposed search for the Fountain of Youth. Though, as myths tend to go, there isn’t any evidence to back up the notoriety.
I mention Ponce De León to segue into the nearer-term evolution that I’ve seen among locals and visitors in Miami to maintain youthful-looking skin through holistic wellness via new touchless technologies that employ light therapy. Given that the Magic City bakes or steams under nearly 250 days of sunshine per year, one might think that people would have embraced a wellness approach to minimize signs of aging all along. But from my perspective as chief wellness officer of Alchemy Wellness Resort Management Company and vice president of spa operations for the Carillon Miami Wellness Resort, that hasn’t always been the case.
As recently as 2018, the concept of wellness that most of our guests pursued was relaxing on the beach while sipping piña coladas. I must admit, I’ve enjoyed that sort of wellness on occasion myself—and still do!
Over time, guest preferences evolved from invasive treatments like injectables to more noninvasive technology aimed at skin wellness, like radiofrequency and cryotherapy.
This was due, in part, to the pandemic inspiring our resort guests to look at skin care differently and seek out non-contact ways to slow the aging process. It was part of a widespread shift that reconsidered skin care with a more positive spin as wellness.
According to the Beauty Meets Wellness Initiative of the Global Wellness Institute, we now live in a unique time in which people see a convergence between health, beauty and wellness, leading to the realization that, “We can only be our most beautiful selves when we are in our most healthy state, be it physically, emotionally, socially, intellectually, professionally or spiritually.”
With our guests having seen the same light, we now have offerings to aid them in approaching skin wellness holistically and on-trend to achieve a youthful glow inside and out.
Related: Light Therapy for Wellness & Beauty
Promoting Skin Wellness
Among the first touchless wellness technologies I introduced amid the pandemic in 2020, the Prism Light Pod is like opening a treasure chest built for space flight. The Prism Pod employs red light therapy, or photobiomodulation, with red or near-infrared light that helps to spur cellular processes that promote healthy, youthful-looking skin. Effects include boosting collagen production for firmness and elasticity; accelerating cellular regeneration for a healthy and more youthful complexion; and reducing oxidative stress, rooted in pollution and ultraviolet rays, that can cause cellular damage and inflammation, and lead to premature signs of aging.
Another of the resort’s touchless light therapy options is the Neo | Light. Similarly resembling a chest freezer that looks like it could blast off, the Neo | Light invites resort clientele to lay back, stretch out and select the therapeutic effects of three distinct light modes to improve mitochondrial function and cellular function, and reduce oxidative stress.
Like every touchless wellness offering at the resort, our light therapy offerings are backed by science, which has found red light therapy capable of rejuvenating and improving the feel and complexion of skin, as well as extending the range of anti-aging treatment options available for those in need of mild, noninvasive, light-only skin rejuvenation. (Pssst: Red light therapy has also been found to help address thinning hair by increasing hair follicles and strengthening what sprouts from a scalp by stimulating circulation, reducing inflammation and boosting cellular energy.)
Meanwhile, green and infrared light frequencies can be used to improve skin texture and reduce hyperpigmentation. A red and blue light combination can reduce blemishes caused by bacteria and improve the appearance of skin on the entire body. Red and all infrared frequencies help fight inflammation and pain, assist muscle recovery and stimulate collagen production.
Sleep Health Boost
For those keen on taking a holistic approach to wellness, light therapy is also a common course of action for alleviating sleep disorders and mood disorders that can keep people up at night and make their days miserable. According to Sleep Foundation (www.sleepfoundation.org), a leading source for evidence-based, medically reviewed sleep health information and in-depth product testing, the goal of light therapy for sleep is to relieve sleep issues associated with insomnia, circadian rhythm sleep disorders, jet lag, seasonal affective disorder and depression.
There is really nothing magical about the power of light for sleep, with ready and consistent exposure to light for a set amount of time each day helping to reset one’s body clock (aka circadian rhythm), which dictates everything from sleepiness and alertness to hunger and more. Offering exposure to light that’s similar to sunlight, light therapy can help realign circadian rhythms with the patterns of the sun.
With light therapy, the retinal cells of the eye that perceive light affect chemicals in the brain, including melatonin and serotonin, which are responsible for regulating the sleep-wake cycle. In a nutshell, the perception of light through light therapy delays the brain’s melatonin production, leading to wakefulness and an uplift in mood.
Those experiencing circadian-related sleep issues are “phase-delayed,” that is, their internal body clock functions behind a normal circadian rhythm. As such, light therapy can be most effective when undertaken sometime before the sun soars to noon.
Feeling tired early in the evening instead? That’s “phase-advanced,” typical of one who burns midnight oil rather than tucks in at a reasonable hour. For those individuals, light therapy is better practiced in the afternoon or evening.
Although light therapy delivered by anything from lamps to light boxes is not considered a cure for insomnia and other sleep-deprived conditions, it can be beneficial for improving low energy levels, as well as helping people fall asleep and wake easier. There are many other things that those experiencing sleep difficulty can do as well, such as getting in the groove of a regular sleep schedule, covering bedroom windows with blackout curtains, and avoiding electronics at night and even during the day.
Making day-to-day changes for better sleep isn’t always easy: I’ve been trying to convince my mother to stop watching television before bedtime for years, to almost no effect. But, sometimes it takes breaking some bad habits to catch better z’s.
While there still may be no Fountain of Youth, the good news is that guests of wellness resorts now have many options beyond piña coladas to pursue skin wellness, enhance sleep and turn back the clock toward youth.
Tammy Pahel, VP of spa and wellness operations at Carillon Miami Wellness Resort, is a transformative and strategic spa, wellness, fitness and retail executive with 30 years of leadership experience. She’s responsible for all spa, health, wellness and fitness operations at Carillon, including forecasting, talent acquisition, learning and development.
