Deepak
Chopra Adds Spiritual Twist To New Spa
Yoga,
meditation, massage to be featured at wellness center in Westminster
By
Janet Forgrieve, Rocky Mountain News
October 14, 2005
Friends
old and new lined the table at the Westin Westminster on Thursday
morning, sipping Chopra Chai Bliss Shakes with their zucchini
pecan bread.
The
group dined on recipes from the cookbook of prolific author
Deepak Chopra, as did the author himself, who was in town to
unveil his Chopra Center's Colorado expansion.
"(Colorado) is very attractive to us in terms of the number
of people interested in our ways of thinking," he said.
Chopra
will lend his recipes as well as his name to a new 17,000-square-foot
spa and wellness center at the Westin Westminster, part of a
$40 million, 60-unit condominium project attached to the hotel.
Before
the center opens in 2007, Chopra will offer at least two programs
at the Westin to acquaint area residents and interested visitors
with the center's services, he said.
Chopra
has made his fortune espousing a lifestyle based on Ayurvedic
medicine. Billed as an ancient Indian practice, it places emphasis
on healing body, mind and spirit.
In
1995, Chopra and partner David Simon opened the Chopra Center
at the La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, Calif.
The
center's practices complement traditional Western medicine and
include massage, herbal oils, yoga and meditation. Westin will
operate the spa in Westminster under a licensing agreement with
the Chopra Center, said hotel general manager Scott Weber.
Chopra
and Simon have not invested cash in the project but are working
alongside Westin to ensure that the new center adheres to their
standards, the pair said.
About
25 instructors trained in Chopra's meditation and yoga methods
live in the Denver area, and some will likely join the staff,
Weber said.
Trained
as an endocrinologist, Chopra is licensed to practice medicine
in California, as is Simon, a neurologist before partnering
with Chopra.
Simon
said he sees patients almost daily at the Chopra Center, practicing
what he calls "the best medicine."
In
addition to offering traditional medical tests and treatments,
he said, doctors at the center also focus on listening to the
patient and treating the mind and spirit along with the body.
It's
quite likely the 10,000 square feet of retail space planned
for the Westminster development will be taken by a physician,
quite possibly one certified by the Chopra Center, Weber said.
"We're
in discussions with a number of physicians and surgeons,"
he said.
The
spa is one part of an ongoing expansion plan. On Nov. 1, Chopra
and Simon will debut a 9,000-square-foot center at the Dream
Hotel in New York's theater district.
The
partners said they also have plans to expand abroad by developing
a 17-acre oceanfront property in Mexico and a former hunting
lodge of King Henry VIII in rural England.
The
new properties will adhere to principles developed by Chopra
and Simon at the Chopra Center in Carlsbad, but each also will
have its own flavor, they said.
"We've
been keeping close to home for a long time," Chopra said.
"We're excited with this next phase, bringing it to a wider
audience."
Well-known
fans of Chopra include former President Bill Clinton and Oprah
Winfrey. Along the way, however, he also has garnered detractors.
Criticism
of Chopra's theories and methods and the empire he has built
doesn't seem to concern him much.
"We
never had a plan," he said. "We never had an ambition.
We've just sung our own song, in a sense, not caring who listened."
forgrievej@RockyMountainNews.com
or 303-892-5191
