about our rooms
Welcome to Eviama Life Spa, located near Rittenhouse Square in the heart of Center City Philadelphia.
The benefits and wisdom of the green kingdom have been recognized by many peoples over time; Tibetan Masters even point to the direct link between human unconscious and all plant life with its inherent high vibration. To honor the Plant Kingdom, which so generously bestows upon us countless, life-sustaining gifts, we’ve chosen several plants to identify areas of the day spa.
spa reception & boutique
Olive
the olive tree and the branch of peace
Fragrant, enticing, full of texture and color, welcoming – our front desk and boutique are your best destination for finding the services and gifts which will make a difference in your world.
Evergreen olive trees may live and produce for 1,000 years. Time and wisdom might be what make the olive branch a potent symbol of peace. We all need to make peace - with ourselves, unsettling events, choices we make, with other people whom we see as different. It's easier to make peace when we are nourished, healthy and grounded – and these special trees bless us with food, anti-oxidant extracts, nutritive, delicious oil and yes, a steadfastness that suggests peace. Dr. Edward Bach engaged olive tree flowers for his flower essence remedy to dispel deep weariness and mental fatigue and to restore inner strength.
studio & library
Bamboo
Here we sit in meditation, feed our souls with yoga, drink a glass of water and wait, read for pleasure or knowledge, and meet with purpose.
Bamboo has strength and flexibility, grace in movement and form. Bamboo is exceptionally versatile - it holds the earth at its feet, provides food, material to build homes and to craft musical instruments, clothing, baskets and so many lovely useful things. Bamboo breathes for the planet, as does each blade of grass and every green living thing. Embrace the serenity of a bamboo forest and breathe it in!
In addition to a full menu of day spa treatments, Eviama is pleased to offer a number of classes designed to enhance your inner spirit, mind and body. Classes such as meditation and yoga are held in our Bamboo studio weekly. Click here to view our schedule of classes conveniently located in our center city Philadelphia location. We also invite you to plan a bridal party or presentation to be held here. The space is versatile and unique!
herbal laboratory
Ginkgo
This is where we mix the magic formulas we use in your spa services.
The green historian whose earthly journey spans eons, Gingko is a wisdom keeper, energy mover, provider of vascular and estrogen support. What elegant and iconic design her leaves express!
treatment cabins
Rose
Queen of Flowers
Rose cabin accommodates Myofascial Release Integrated Massage, Reiki, Foot Reflexology, Guided Meditation, Hot Stone Massage and Aroma Salt Glow!
Rose exemplifies ultimate beauty and three-fold balance. She commands respect, maintains her own defense, sweetens the air, gifts us with her rosehips, rosewax and most precious essential oil.
Sweetgrass
the Hair of the Mother Earth
Sweetgrass cabin accommodates all types of massage including Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, Houdini JINI, Neem Scalp Massage, Reiki and our Custom Herbal Wrap.
Braided and gathered with reverence, sweetgrass is burned in ceremony to honor the Sacred Earth and our connection to Spirit.
Mahonia
Purifier
Mahonia cabin accommodates all Waxing and Hair Removal services, Dr.Hauschka Rejuvenating Facial, PediKarma, and Target Therapies.
An evergreen that keeps her vibrant green leaves and meditates though winter, whose creamy, golden, fragrant flowers draw the first bees of spring, whose cascades of fruit satisfy the mockingbird. Herbal lore credits mahonia (Oregon grape) root with purifying the blood, cleansing the liver, and balancing skin and female hormones.
Oak
the Mighty Oak
Oak cabin accommodates Little Face Facials, Eviama Facial Treatments, our Bodywork and Massage menu, Hair Removal services, Crystal Chakra Harmonizing, Body Contour Wrap, Bio-Active Body Quilt and more.
Oak represents stability, power with kindness, symmetry, majesty with expansive generosity, and gives us food, shade, oxygen and shelter. Oak encompasses yin and yang with male and female flowers. Dr. Edward Bach engaged oak as his flower remedy to support those dutiful souls who work way beyond their limits by bringing balance to duty and a sense of joy to mastering life.
Artemisia
Green Goddess Energy
Artemisia cabin accommodates Couples Massage, mother-daughter facials, Dr.Hauschka SkinCare Classic Treatment and Holistic Body Treatment, Spiritual Healing and Maya Abdominal Massage, Artemisia’s Balm and nearly the entire Eviama menu of services.
All plants in this family are named for Artemis, Matron Saint of Herbalists and Faeries, Goddess of the Moon, Childbirth and War! Living wild in the woodlands, Artemis assists in birth, protects all wildlife, tends to wounded animals and injured warriors who come away from the battlefield to heal. She is connected to Bear, the animal of rebirth, and Deer, who is identified with Moon and female cycles.
Her quiver holds the Arrow of Truth and the true visions of wise old women. This Artemisia family of innumerable useful plants covers the Americas and reaches from Britain to Mongolia. Artemisia vulgaris grows to mend disturbed soil and anchor soil in streambeds. Artemisia martima thrives in salty marshes.
In Mexico, women wear a crown wreath made of wormwood as they dance in ceremony to honor the Goddess of Salt. Artemisia herbs are used to protect home and hearth, to smudge in preparation for ceremony, and to move energy in traditional Chinese medicine (moxa). Artemis green spirit offers protection, playfulness, resourcefulness, wisdom, clarity in sacrifice, support for the child and the feminine, and health for the maiden-mother-crone.
sauna
Cedar
Honoring the Helpers
Our far-infrared sauna is compact, sweet for one or two bodies at a time. Far- infrared heat is said to ease joint pain and muscle stiffness, and may lessen severity of allergy symptoms.
Great Spirit created the Western Red Cedar to honor those who help others, according to First People legend. Used for medicinal and religious purposes, this great cedar also provided fiber for cradle padding, blankets and clothing. Fallen trees were made into dugouts so massive they could carry as many as forty people. Cedar is also a vital host to butterflies, caterpillars and many birds. The earthy sweet smoke of burning cedar is used for clearing energy fields, ceremonial space, as well as personal and living spaces.
Relax Rue Invitation Space
Rue
Herb of Grace, Power Against Evil, Comforter of the Heart
This area of the spa is dedicated to foot soaks, transitioning from service to service, or relaxing with a book from our library.
Rue is named from the Greek reuo ("to set free") because of its efficacy in treating many diseases. The most bitter of herbs, Rue was revered by the ancient Greeks and Romans. Hippocrates thought it to be a powerful defense against magic spells and it was lauded as giver of keen eyesight and second sight.
The Romans brought Rue to England, where it earned the name herby grass, due to its resilience, heartiness and habit of thriving in poor soil. Herb lore says Rue is helpful in relieving sciatica, jangled nerves and stomach, nightmares, and that placing fresh leaves on the temples will diminish headaches.
Rutin, rue's main constituent was found to be effective in treating high blood pressure and instrumental in hardening bones and teeth. Rosita Arvigo, a naprapath and herbalist whose Mayan teachers passed on to her the green wisdom of the rain forest, values Rue as a sacred helper in her herbal arsenal.
shower and affusion cabin
Water Lily
Rendered in artwork of ancient Egypt and Claude Monet, water lilies behoove us to be grateful for the essential gift of water. Water is what makes up most of our physical bodies, and water cleanses, renews, remembers. Native Americans used water lily roots as a digestive aid and as a poultice for soothing and healing the skin. Floating in serene beauty, water lilies provide shady shelter for fish and invertebrates while gesturing heavenward with fragrant flowers.
powder rooms
We couldn’t resist naming our handicap water closet and regular loo, too.
Horsetail
Tower of Strength
In the time of dinosaurs, horsetail ancestors were giant beings too! A diuretic, horsetail is a tree-like plant rich in calcium (for strong bones and healthy nerve function) and silica - an essential structural component of every cell in the body.
Flax
Inspiried Gift from the Divine Realm
Valued for her fiber, nutrient rich oil and seeds and beautiful blue flowers, flax gives us the illustrious fabric, linen. Linen was so revered in ancient Egypt that garments of flax were reserved for high priests and priestesses.