the Wellness Resort

Walden Wellness Resort

"It is health that is the real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver."
Mahatma Gandhi

"The part can never be well unless the whole is well.”
Plato

Mission

To create a safe, comfortable and supportive environment for our guests and trainees, and provide them with the education and reinforcement necessary to facilitate lasting behavior change that delivers physical and psychological well-being and a happier, healthier and more fulfilling life experience.

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Resort Overview

The Walden Wellness Resort (WWR) is one of our primary social entrepreneurial enterprises. The resort is comprised of infrastructural resources, personal services provisioning, our Right Living program, access to our therapeutic milieu (Walden Ecovillage and Members) and long-term virtual community support.

As such, WWR will engage in both the practice of applied psychology and the business of tourism, and it will provide psychological support services and occupational training opportunities to those not being served by their communities (this vocational training feature is consistent across Walden products and services). By sharing the principles and practices of Secular Humanism with the global community, WWR will function as an 'outreach arm' of a Eupraxsophy Center.

In addition to Wellness tourism, we will ...ecotourism, agritourism, animal husbandry, horseback riding, wilderness tourism, romance tourism...

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Farm-Barn Example

Infrastructure

The Hotel will provide clean, comfortable and convenient lodging for resort guests and the traveling public. We envision converting (and updating with modern amenities) an old farmhouse and barn for the resort's infrastructure. Guest rooms would occupy the second floors of both buildings, and the restaurant (including patio dining), conference facilities and spa would be located on the first floors: some lodging, for people with disabilities, will also be located on the first floor. Additional lodging will be afforded by woodland cottages and campsites.

The Restaurant will serve, not only our resident guests and members it will welcome the local community as well (this is the case for all of our businesses). It is our intention to become renowned for the quality of our multicultural culinary offerings. Home-grown organic produce, meats, spices and artistic presentation will be combined to create a variety of local and ethnic dishes from around the globe.

The Spa will likely include a sauna, whirlpool, swimming pool (preferably a natural pool), a fitness center and a dance studio. We will offer services typical of health spas, but with our own bent. Some of the personal services we are likely to offer include: skin care; hair styling; nail care; massage; physical therapy; and training on exercise physiology, yoga, T'ai Chi, dance and any other practice for which our Membership has expertise. We will use and offer a variety of our own (organic) personal care products as well.

The Therapeutic Milieu, within which guests will explore their new world, is none other than Walden Ecovillage: our home. This feature of the training is not just about hospitality, it is also about providing our guests with the opportunity to practice newly acquired behaviors and discuss new ideas (right away) with a variety of people, in a social context. This opportunity for immediate, informed and compassionate feedback and social reinforcement is critical to establish new behaviors and increases the probability that they will be maintained over time.

Long-term Virtual Community Support

The maintenance, generalization and fading of behavioral scaffolding for new behavioral repertoires (thoughts, feelings and overt behaviors) requires ongoing contingency management. ...more coming

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Right Living: Wellness or Life Improvement Training

Our Right Living program is a comprehensive, evidenced-based wellness program. It will be designed so that Guests can build on the Core Curriculum with Electives that fit their specific needs and interests. Members will have the same options, but the Core Curriculum will likely be expanded to include some of the electives.

A Naturalistic World View (Core)

Secular Humanism: Living Without God- in 'His' world
Scientism
Logic
Behaviorism: Life implications of behaviorism; Cognitivism Displaced: Living Without a Mind
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy ( FAP-ed)
Secular Buddhism & Hinduism- Puruṣārtha (behavioralized)

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A Healthy Lifestyle (Core)

Diet
: Sustainable Diets- permaculture; Responsible Vegetarianism, Veganism?
Hygiene
Sleep & Rest
Appropriate Medical Care
Stress & Pain Management: Relaxation Training; Biofeedback & Contingency Management; Meditation; Massage (Swedish?)
Exercise & Movement: Yoga: breathing and postures; Dance; T'ai Chi
Environmental Health & Safety
Gardening- permaculture
Art, Music & Traditional Craft-work
Community Involvement: Bigger than I?

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Psychology: Workshops & Professional Services (Electives)

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)
: Seeing the Matrix: Understanding People, Society and Pets
Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP)
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (FAP-ed): Emotional Awareness & Control
Positive Psychology (FAP-ed): Finding, Maintaining & Sharing Happiness
Health Psychology (behavioralized): Sexual Dysfunction
Human Sexuality: Biological sex; Cultural- gender
Social Skills: Relationship Skills; Communication Skills; Negotiation Skills

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Individuals

Individual Counselling

Behavioral Excesses (reduce)
: Smoking sensation; Overeating; Substance Abuse; Panic & Fear; Mild Depression; Anger & Aggressiveness
Behavioral Deficits (increase): Under-eating; Social Competency; Attention- focus; Mild Depression (happiness deficit); Incontinence; Passivity (assertiveness deficit)
Professional Coaching
Intimacy Skills: Kāma; Erotic Massage