In the 1980s, as U.S. fitness buffs in leg warmers bounced around in their homes to the beat of Jane Fonda’s aerobics workout videotape, Susana Belen hosted a fringe wellness trend in her Desert Hot Springs home: a yoga class. Four decades later, at age 88, she’s still teaching yoga — and much more about holistic wellness — to guests who visit what is now We Care Spa. Spread over 20 acres, the retreat spa includes her original remodeled home plus 28 luxury guest suites, two pools, an infrared sauna, meditation labyrinths, lush native vegetation, and other amenities designed for detoxing, de-stressing, and deep healing.
But first, Belen, now an apotheosis of serenity, needed to heal her own anguished mind, body, and soul. After a difficult divorce, Belen, while caring for her four children, suffered from physical and emotional pain and stress. “I went into a panic state,” she recalls. Traditional Western medicine failed to help, so she traveled to a retreat in Montana, then Greece, Thailand, Egypt, India, Mexico, and Peru to learn ancient forms of healing: breath work, meditation, juicing, fasting, cleansing, shamanism, yoga. “I became a different person,” she says.
Back home, she began offering yoga classes around the desert, then asked herself, “Why don’t I build a house and let people come to me?” So she designed a home with a large living room and kitchen to teach both yoga and nutrition. Some people stayed overnight. Today, Belen and her daughter, Susan, have expanded We Care Spa beyond the blueprint of Belen’s original residence and vision.
