Balance Your Adventure: Wellness Around Nelson & Kootenay Lake

Nelson and Kootenay Lake are famed the world over for winter recreation, but anybody considering a visit should take note that our little corner of the world has more dimension than just sports in the winter. This is a place founded by cultural rogues and spiritual iconoclasts, built around counter culture and holistic lifestyles—we are also a global hub for wellness.

If your legs get tired between big days at Whitewater Mountain Resort, or skiing and snowboarding doesn’t sing the same way to the whole family, there are still plenty of reasons to make a trip here that don’t involve sliding down snow. Chief of which are the opportunities to decompress and reset; this is one of the best escapes in the world to build or deepen your self-care practice. We’ve got an entire ecosystem—both figurative and literal—to help heal you.

The serene setting of the world’s only inland temperate rainforest draped in snow, and the contrast of a cold exterior and warm interior, conjures a special kind of peace. There are numerous ways to nourish your inner life while visiting, here are some of the best.

Yoga & Movement

A nearly 5,000 year-old Eastern practice born in the snowy shadow of the Himalayas, it’s a natural fit in our region. Today, there are so many modern variants that spiritual purists and agnostic pragmatists alike have found equal benefit from it. Whether it be stretching and strengthening your physical or psychic constitution, you can centre an entire trip around yoga, or even becoming a yogi yourself (that’s a yoga practitioner, for those new to the space).

In Nelson, Bambu Hot Yoga features infrared-heated classes for functional movement, as well as 200-hour teacher training. The Vitality Nelson Health Centre is another favourite, alongside Shanti Yoga and Intuit Studios, all an easy walk from Baker Street. But there are more equally good options if you dig deeper. Not to mention quieter retreats up the lake.

Take the world’s longest free scenic ferry over to Crawford Bay, for example, and you can drop in or stay at Tara Shanti Accommodation and Retreats, with its Chateau-style structure on five quiet acres, with piercing views of Kokanee Glacier.

Spas & Hot Springs

There is no better way to treat yourself. With natural geothermal pools a dominant feature of our landscape, many of our spas centre around hot springs, just like in Japan (except tattoos are allowed).

Ainsworth Hot Springs Resort offers relaxing stays in a historically healing locale that the Ktunaxa first people have been visiting since time immemorial. The onsite Spirit Water Spa is owned and operated by the Lower Kootenay Band, offering signature treatments like clay detoxes and cranberry skin toning.

If you prefer being closer to the action, the Hume Hotel & Spa in Nelson operates a full fusion of rooms, dining, entertainment and, of course, spa facilities. The Aura Spa & Salon can help detox and rejuvenate in the eclectic heart of Nelson’s historic downtown, minutes from anything else you might want to do—like visit a gallery or take in a show.

Or make your way up to the impossibly picturesque village of Kaslo, for a quieter setting at the Falling Waters Spa at Wing Creek Resort, just north of town.

Massage Therapy

Sometimes you just have to get in there and use your hands. Thankfully we have an entire subpopulation of registered massage therapists around these parts who can loosen fascia and untie even the ropiest of muscles.

All of the spas (and there are many) in Nelson and up and down the lake offer massage. But there are also businesses and practitioners that specialize in this therapy. In Nelson, the Baker Wellness Centre stands out, as does Lotus Thai Massage & Wellness, Corner Brick Massage Therapy, and Samashi Thai Massage Studio—which is also a school, if you’re looking to learn.

An hour up the lake, you can book with Kaslo Shiatsu. Once again, this is nowhere near a complete list, and just a place to start!

Meditation & Mindfulness

Mindfulness is at the heart of all wellness—the body always follows. There are approaches that range from the religious Tao, to the spiritual chakra, or even secular movement meditation. And you can find guided forms of all of them in and around Nelson and Kootenay Lake.

The most immersive way to experience being present is to pick a setting devoted to this. The Yasodhara Ashram is world famous, offering life-changing programs up to three months long, all at an architecturally arresting retreat designed in the shape of a lotus flower. Their Temple of Light is located on the peaceful East Shore of Kootenay Lake, near Kootenay Bay.

Many spas and retreats also offer guided meditation. In Nelson proper, you can get your om on at the Kootenay Shambhala Meditation Centre, or make your own meditation by forest bathing amongst the giant trees of the snow-caked rainforest. The Great Northern Rail Trail between Nelson’s Uphill neighbourhood and Cottonwood Lake Park is an easy access point, with Nordic skis, snowshoes or even by foot.

Check in at our Visitor Centres to find more maintained and safe winter access points into the woods, up and down the lake—there are many.

Sound Healing

Sound healing uses vibrational frequencies from instruments like singing bowls, gongs and tuning forks to promote relaxation, clear energy blockages, and support physical and emotional well-being. It’s both niche and avant-garde, so of course we have multiple practitioners.

There’s the Kootenay Sound Healing Centre in quaint and tiny Riondel, on the East Shore. The  Mystic Mountain Nature Retreat in Kaslo offers digital detox and shamanic sound immersion.

But maybe the most eclectic of them all is the Himalaya Salt Cave in—believe it or not—downtown Nelson. Amongst its fulsome wellness offerings, they do immersive sound baths with Tibetan bowls and gongs in a room completely encrusted in pink Himalayan rock salt. Traditionalists say the salt's high vibrational frequency and crystalline structure absorbs low-vibrational negative energy from one’s aura, purifying it.

The Kootenay Sound Healing Centre can go a step further and actually teach you how to practice for yourself. Hearing is believing, after all.

Getting Here

If you’re driving locally, check DriveBC.ca for updates on conditions. If you’re flying, Spokane, Kelowna and Cranbrook offer the most reliable winter itineraries. Check out our travel advice here, we’ve made it simple and easy for you!