Parma Spa

In the lobby of Parma Spa and Center for Health, a sculpture of a woman balancing on a jade-colored orb acts as an axis for a spiraling, gleaming ribbon. The statue represents the Ayurvedic philosophy of health, a belief that the client will be "on top of the world" when mental, physical, and aesthetic needs are met and balanced. Ayurvedic medicine strives to heal the emotional and physical cause of pain rather than just treat the symptoms. "Well-being is physical, mental and spiritual," owner and founder Dr. S Nicky Singh says in a feature on WUSA 9. "I believe in this with a passion. There is a need for people to look at themselves preventatively."

In addition to med-spa-quality services such as microcurrent facials, staff members trained in Ayurvedic medicine perform massages and body treatments with healing herbal oils that invigorate and detoxify the body. Physicians are on-hand to supervise, and they also provide health care ranging from counseling to cardiology. "The presence of physicians reinforces the idea that there's a quality to what we do that's [more than just a spa]," Dr. Singh says.

But the clinical capabilities of the spa and wellness center don't mean that it feels like a doctor's office. "In a frenzied, frenzied world, it was my goal to create a place where we [could have true] wellness," Dr. Singh says, and that means being kind to the eyes and the sleeping koala clinging to each person's shoulder. Oversize gilded mirrors reflect the twinkling lights of an imported Venetian chandelier, which in turn casts light over Italian linens, chamois robes, and a Limoges tea service filling steaming cups with herbal tea. "We're not trying to create a place which is just glamorous … The idea was to show that we worry about every little detail," she says.