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Health Care
Wellness Center and Spa Opens in Mooresville
Lynne Wiggins offers pampering and relaxation to customers at Ahlara International spa.
When you pronounce the name of Ahlara International‚ just remember the first syllable is pronounced‚ “Ahhh.” That’s fitting‚ considering that the Mooresville business is a wellness center and spa unlike any other in the community.
“People’s lives are so busy‚ and we have a very tranquil atmosphere‚” says company owner Lynne Wiggins. “People tell me every day when they come that‚ first of all‚ they’ve never seen anything like it. Second of all‚ they tell me that they immediately calm down when they walk in.
“Even if they take half an hour out of their lives to get a manicure‚ it’s very relaxing.”
Wiggins founded Ahlara in 2005 and patterned it after a wellness center she owned in Boston in the late 1980s and early ’90s.
“I found that there was nothing here like what I had in Boston‚ a true wellness center.”
Wiggins bought an acre of land and built the 7‚500-square-foot facility on Joe Knox Avenue‚ now an area of considerable growth.
“We built it out in the middle of a field‚” she says. “Now the YMCA is near us; it’s one of the biggest in the South.”
Ahlara employs 22 specialists in body‚ skin and nail care. Wiggins’ enterprise boasts four distinctive divisions: the wellness center‚ a spa‚ a retail shop and a travel service. Wiggins leads two to three trips annually for travelers interested in seeing more of other countries – not just the traditional tourist spots. On these excursions to places such as Thailand‚ Nepal‚ Tibet‚ India‚ Egypt and South American countries‚ Wiggins buys local-artisan handcrafted treasures‚ which are sold in Ahlara’s International Market. She brings 20 years of retail experience to the merchandising side of the business.
The overall atmosphere at the wellness center and spa also has an exotic flavor. Wiggins says the interiors are “decorated in an Asian motif” and that many of the space services are Asia-inspired.
“One of my areas of interest has been to travel all over Asia‚ so I brought back a lot of their thinking and philosophy.” Wiggins says.
The 1‚500-square-foot wellness center offers classes in yoga‚ meditation‚ tai chi and Pilates‚ as well as symposiums taught by local physicians and practitioners such as accupressurists‚ chiropractors and podiatrists. “We look upon ourselves as preventive health‚” she says.
The spa takes clients into an atmosphere of pampering and relaxation‚ with an eclectic assortment of services‚ from shirodhara‚ a sesame-oil treatment for the forehead and scalp‚ to prana massage‚ designed to release blocked energy and realign healing forces.
“People will come to us so that‚ at least‚ they get an hour or two out of their day for themselves. That’s the main thing‚” Wiggins says. “We find that people don’t take care of themselves. They don’t take the time to take care of themselves.”
Story by Sharon H. Fitzgerald
Photo by Ian Curcio
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