By Rich Fisher
OK boys, time is running out and you are sweating over what to get your girl for Christmas.
Fear not, help is here.
Who doesn’t want to spend 30 minutes to several hours being made to feel like she is the most special person on earth? Who doesn’t want a chance to get a break from it all, whether it’s her job, the kids or, well, you!
There may be no greater place for that in central Jersey than Gentle Healing Wellness Spa on Cranbury-South River Road in Cranbury.
One only need enter the 163-year-old Victorian home that houses the spa to be put at blissful ease by its charming décor, relaxing aroma and friendly employees. It already feels like a mini-getaway, and you’re only in the lobby/gift shop.
What lies within is a luxurious vacation from the real world, including massages, facials, steams, saunas, Jacuzzis, hydrotherapy treatments, ros- petal baths, manicures and pedicures. From there, slip into a robe and slippers and head for the inviting dining room — complete with fireplace — where wine, tea and snacks await.
“Our mission statement is to give our guests the ultimate experience,” owner Donda Kraus Sternberg said while sitting by her gorgeous Christmas tree in the festively decorated dining room. “You have a ton of franchises open now, which is all fine, everything has its place for people. But if you want to still be pampered, if you want to be in the robe and slippers sipping champagne and relaxing eating chocolates, this is the place to be. There are very few places you’re still going to get all of that pampering.”
Which is what makes a Gentle Healing gift certificate a surefire present that falls under the gift-buying rule of “Give someone something they won’t get for themselves.” Folks are usually too busy to even think about taking time out of their day to purchase pamper time. But offer it up, and it’s like the siren’s song beckoning women and men to just decompress for a while.
And if the gift certificate — which is not a plastic card, but old-school handwritten and elegantly gift wrapped — is not for services the receiver desires, the staff will alter the treatments to what the guest enjoys. A trip to Gentle Healing is not only pleasurable, but healthy as it restores the lost art of touch.
“Physiologically a massage affects every different organ of the body,” Ms. Sternberg said. “What’s happening in our world today is we don’t have enough touch. We used to touch a lot more. People were much closer, people hugged. Now everybody communicates via phone, via texting.
“This provides the whole aspect of tactile (skin to skin) stimulation. The cellular tissue actually has a different response to tactile stimulation. It physiologically affects the system, it affects the brain. It has a tremendous amount of physical benefits.”
As an Air Force brat, Ms. Sternberg lived all over the country as her dad was transferred from base to base. She went to Cranford High School and eventually returned to New Jersey. While working in sales at Bamberger’s (now Macy’s), a cosmetics sales woman suggested Donda get into the skincare business.
In her early 20s Ms. Sternberg began going to school for massage and esthetics and became a state licensed massage yherapist in 1987. She went on to earn a degree in spiritual counseling from New York Seminary, graduated from Carolyn Myss CMED Institute and has a background in Gestalt and Jungian therapy. In 2000 Ms. Sternberg was appointed by Governor Christie Whitman to serve on the State Board of Massage, Bodywork and Somatic Therapy Examining Committee, which wrote the laws and regulations for New Jersey.
Her foray into massage came from giving facials, which requires attention to the neck and shoulder area as well.
“Whenever I gave facials people would say ‘Oh you have great hands. Did you ever think of becoming a massage therapist?” she said. “Really, it was my clients who talked me into going into massage therapy.”
In 1991, Ms. Sternberg opened a holistic center, where she taught various modalities in the healing arts to the general public. Five years later she taught a massage therapy program in her basement. In 1999, she opened the Gentle Healing School of Massage and The Gentle Healing Wellness Spa in a medical building on Prospects Plains Road in Monroe, but after two years her release was not renewed because the landlord did not appreciate the smell of the aromatherapies.
What came next was a lesson in serendipity.
Ms. Sternberg discovered she was eligible for a small business loan in order to buy her own place. She long had her eye on a large Victorian home just off Route 130 North, which sat vacant for 20 years. When a family finally moved in and renovated it, warehouses simultaneously began going up behind it, which did not sit well with the new owners, who had three young daughters.
Sensing the new construction may have soured the family, Ms. Sternberg gave them a business card in case they ever wanted to sell. A week later they called and eventually a meeting was set up. In something right out of a hokie Hallmark Christmas movie, the owners slid a piece of paper across the table with their asking price. Ms. Sternberg could only hope and pray, and the number on the paper turned out to be the exact amount of the loan she was getting.
The new location officially opened on Nov. 12, 2001 and hit the ground running as gift certificate sales exploded from the start, which was a pleasant surprise considering most of the purchasers had not been to the old place.
The building itself is inviting, as it has that cozy bed-and-breakfast feel despite all the activity that goes on. There are nine treatment rooms, a manicure/pedicure station, the lobby/gift shop, two rest rooms with Victorian bathtubs and the quaint dining room.
There is a historical plaque outside confirming the house was built in 1853. Original doors and medallions are still intact. According to Ms. Sternberg, appearance is as important as everything else.
“You want to affect all the senses,” she said. “Your visual, your hearing, your sense of smell.”
The main building is the centerpiece of much more, as the backyard also features a few gems. Donda moved her school into a new building on-site, but it quickly outgrew its enrollment. A new structure was built in 2009. The building where the school once was, is now used for the “suite retreat,” where couples can spend up to eight hours together enjoying side-by-side facials, aroma therapy massages, Jacuzzi sessions and more. That is followed by a shower, some champagne and chocolates and a fire, if so desired.
The atmosphere is so desirable that the room was named one of the “Top 30 Most Beautiful Rooms in the World” by Day Spa Magazine. Guests can reserve the room for specific amounts of time, and if someone just wants to get away by themselves and get a massage while enjoying the Jacuzzi, they can purchase a package for one person.
Of course, the biggest draw to Gentle Healing are those heavenly massages, which come in all shapes and forms (details can be found on the website). Seven of Ms. Sternberg’s therapists are graduates of her school, which serves as a feeder system for her business while placing graduates at other massage therapy businesses around the state.
One of the main things they learn is to give their complete attention to the guests and make them feel they are the only thing that matters in the world at the time.
“You can tell the difference between somebody who’s actually really present in the room by holding the space for you, so to speak, versus somebody who’s just rubbing you down while thinking about their grocery list,” noted Ms. Sternberg, whose experienced employees thrive on being attentive and considerate.
The owner also wants her staff to encourage guests to get thoroughly lost in whatever treatment they are enjoying. Too often, people feel guilty that the therapist is doing all the work and they’re not providing any conversation. Thus, in focusing on chit-chat, they lose the experience the massage is meant to provide.
“If someone wants to be talkative, we encourage our therapist to bring them back to their breath,” Donda said. “A lot of time people feel nervous or they feel bad for the massage therapist. If you’re bringing them back to their breath and reminding them that this time is for them, it will help them feel a little more comfortable with just accepting and receiving versus feeling that they have to do something for the therapist.”
And there it is. Once a person arrives at Gentle Healing, their only mission in life is to sit back and enjoy.
So if you’re behind on your holiday shopping, head to Cranbury. For if there is one thing we all agree on, it’s lazy enjoyment, and few places provide it like Gentle Healing.
Gentle Healing Wellness Spa is located at 1274 Cranbury/South River Road, Cranbury. For more information, go to gentlehealingspa.com, email [email protected] or call 609-409-2700.
