"As the pool hoist lowered me into the water, I noticed how it bubbled up from thousands of feet underground. These thermal baths in Palm Springs, stewarded by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians for more than five millennia and long considered a portal to the spiritual underworld and a place of healing, welcomed my paralyzed body. I began to float weightlessly as the surrounding San Jacinto Mountains turned pink in the evening desert light."
"Around the world, spas are often physically inaccessible, retreats off-limits by design, and practitioners limited in their ability and training to see disabled bodies as deserving of the restoration everyone so desperately needs."
"From the 1930s, when Hollywood stars fled here to escape studio contracts that controlled their public images, finding sanctuary in midcentury modern villas hidden behind bougainvillea; to today, where the LGBTQ+ community has built a haven when few other places offered acceptance: Palm Springs has always known how to welcome the marginalized."
Palm Springs, located 130 miles east of Los Angeles in California's Coachella Valley, has established itself as a sanctuary for marginalized communities. The city's thermal baths, stewarded by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians for over five millennia, provide healing experiences for disabled bodies through accessible pool hoists and therapeutic waters. Historically serving as refuge for Hollywood stars escaping studio control in the 1930s and later becoming a haven for the LGBTQ+ community, Palm Springs has cultivated a culture of acceptance. Over one-third of residents identify as queer. The city's commitment to inclusivity extends to wellness experiences, addressing the widespread problem of inaccessible spas and retreats that typically exclude disabled individuals from restoration and healing opportunities.
#accessibility-and-disability #wellness-and-healing #lgbtq-community #inclusive-travel #thermal-spas
Read at Conde Nast Traveler
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]