Martin Menocal
A family affair: Owner Shilpa Sankaran, seated, works with, from left, sisters Sonya and Nandita and mother Lalita.
When Kosa Wellness Spa opens in the Garver Feed Mill in late October, it will be Madison’s first fully Ayurvedic spa. Sure, it will offer facials and massages and feature a sauna and steam room similar to what one might find at some upper-end day spas, but all of Kosa’s services will be of Ayurvedic origin.
Ayurveda, an ancient Indian art of natural healing based on putting life into balance, translates to “science of life” or “the art of longevity.”
Kosa’s owner, Shilpa Sankaran, was born in East India and raised in Middleton. She experienced a typical American childhood in some ways, yet one that incorporated the Ayurvedic traditions of her parents, particularly in the food and healing methods of her mother, Lalita Sankaran.
“The Ayurvedic lifestyle stems from principles of wellness that go beyond the day-spa experience,” says Sankaran. “It involves simple daily rituals, eating habits, and self-care practices that are synchronized with natural cycles.” All of that provides a counterbalance to the hectic pace of modern living, she continues. Kosa Wellness Spa will specialize in seasonal and organic food and teas, aromatherapy, massages, and counseling “for long-term well-being,” says Sankaran.
Todd Hubler
Kosa Wellness will offer personal retreats, a meditation studio and a healing treatment known as pinda sweda.
The spa will also offer personal retreats, a meditation studio and a healing treatment called pinda sweda (a kind of poultice massage).
Sankaran and her sisters are all successful entrepreneurs. Sankaran worked in the tech industry in San Francisco and then found her niche in sustainability as a co-founder of a zero-energy modular construction business. She was good at finding investors and making money along the way, but a wish lingered — she wanted to start a wellness center that would bring her closer to her roots and a greater purpose. More than a decade ago, she and her husband conceived a vision of a sustainable wellness center and community that would blend Sankaran’s Indian roots and her home state of Wisconsin.
After Sankaran and her family returned to Wisconsin, she was hired by Garver Feed Mill project manager Bryant Moroder as a consultant for zero energy micro-lodging at Garver (an aspect of the project that is still in development). While Sankaran had envisioned her wellness center on secluded acreage in rural Wisconsin, something shifted after working with the Garver team. After visiting Garver, she realized it was a great site for her business.
“I originally wanted Kosa off the grid,” says Sankaran. But Garver offered 18 acres of hiking trails, a nearby bike path and a creek: “It feels like an oasis in the middle of the city.”
Sankaran helped recruit other tenants interested in establishing wellness businesses at the site and has brought in her sister, Nandita Geerdink, as her communications director. Her sister Sonya and her mother are developing an authentic Indian menu for Kosa Kitchen (not a restaurant open to the public but dishes for spa clients) featuring organic, traditional Indian ingredients that cater to Ayurvedic seasonal eating and body cleanses.
Sonya and her mother also create linen pouches filled with rice, herbs and essential oils. “Then we heat them and use them along with traditional Ayurvedic massage techniques,” says Sankaran. “The warm oils and herbs heat and penetrate muscles for relaxation and healing properties.”
Kosa counselors will create personalized health plans for clients aligned with one of three fundamental inner and outer energies: movement, transformation, and structure, known as vata (wind), pitta (fire), and kapha (earth). In Ayurvedic healing, these forces are specific to personalities and body type, and are responsible for the characteristics of mind and body.
“We are so disconnected as a society, and to create a community around a lifestyle that nurtures connection and balance, became very important,” says Sankaran. “My husband and I follow many differing philosophies — Buddhism, Hinduism — and we incorporate other spiritual philosophies into our lives. That philosophy is incorporated in Ayurveda. It’s a simple, beautiful practice once you understand what it’s really about.”
Kosa Wellness Spa
3241 Garver Green, Suite 260; 415-857-5610; kosaspa.com
