Credit: Seléne Spa and Wellness

Anchoring the space is the golden Medicine Buddha, not as decoration, but as a sacred reminder that true healing is not merely physical. It encompasses the body, mind and spirit.
– Founder, Katina Jones

Seléne Spa and Wellness has opened its doors following a renovation and rebrand in the heart of Adelaide’s central business district.

Originally opened in 2006 by founder Katina Jones as an integrative wellness centre called Aspects of Healing, the space has been transformed to meet the needs of clients in the city, as well as those frequenting Jones’ sister retreat business, Ayurveda Village.

Ayurveda Village is a rural retreat in the Adelaide Hills that was established in 2014, where Jones and her team provide healing experiences in nature.

Seléne Spa and Wellness

DC Architecture and Interior Design upgraded the space, fusing natural textures, refined finishes and calming aesthetic – designed to provide a healing and luxurious atmosphere. The spa represents where East meets West in both its elegant design and therapeutic intention.

Jones told Spa Business, “The inspiration for Seléne Spa and Wellness emerged from years of witnessing the profound need for rest, reflection and reconnection in the lives of those we serve, both at Aspects of Healing and Ayurveda Village.”

The 300sq m day spa has six treatment rooms, as well as an Ayurveda room with classical hand-crafted Shirodhara tables of neem wood, copper foot bowls, steam boxes and oil vessels in copper and brass.

The space also has two steam chambers with adjoining showers, changing facilities and a Cocoon Wellness Pro Pod – an automated infrared device with synchronised vibration massage.

At the heart of the spa, there is a reflection area called the Gathering Room, complete with a golden Medicine Buddha. This is where guests relax after treatments, drink teas and eat wholesome food.

Jones said: “The Medicine Buddha’s presence reminds us that the potential for healing already resides within us. His teaching is clear: to awaken from suffering, we must understand its roots, attachment, ignorance and aversion – and meet them with compassion. He embodies the union of wisdom and love, offering a medicine far deeper than any prescription.

“Following a massage, a facial, or a guided meditation, people enter a state of openness and release,” Jones added. “In this space, contemplation naturally arises about who they are, where they are and what truly matters. I have come to believe that luxury, when paired with intention, becomes a vehicle for deeper purpose. And wellness, when steeped in truth, becomes a pathway to wholeness.”

The spa has partnered with Hydrafacial to use its Vortex-Fusion technology, as well as with Medik8 and Australian brand Epictetus.

Signature rituals at the property include:

• New Moon Renewal – A detoxifying treatment for release and new beginnings.• Full Moon Bliss – A meditative oil ritual built around the practice of Shirodhara.

• Celestial Glow – A head-to-toe therapy combining lymphatic massage, facial therapy and crystal energy healing.

The spa has a range of Ayurvedic therapists, dermal clinicians, remedial and relaxation massage therapists and holistic skin specialists.

Ayurveda Village

It took nearly 10 years for Jones and her husband to find the right location to create the rural sister business Ayurveda Village, which is in the Adelaide Hills.

“After years of offering Ayurvedic treatments in the city, I realised that true healing, of the deepest kind, required a very different environment. One surrounded by nature, stillness and the spiritual essence of the land. The city, with all its noise and pace, simply wasn’t conducive to that.”

Jones now plans to expand its facilities over the next five years.

It is currently a guesthouse for four people with two treatment rooms, a meditation/yoga room and extensive gardens.

Within the gardens are walking paths, Balinese-style huts, a dam for reflection and plants of spiritual significance to the indigenous Peramangk people. There's also a Heart Labyrinth within the healing gardens, with quotations from nine major religions about self-realisation along the paths for contemplation.

Jones is again working with DC Architecture and Interior Design again to transform the space so it will include nine pods, seven for accommodation and two for treatments.

There will also be more room for treatments, plus a multipurpose building for yoga, teaching and community events.

The gardens will be expanded to include a pond and a wildlife sanctuary.

“For eight years, we worked with the local council, planners, lawyers and engineers to secure approval to expand the facility,” Jones said. “This was a major challenge as there was no zoning for retreat-style wellness spaces in the Adelaide Hills at the time."

When asked why she is expanding the facility, Jones responded: “More people are seeking authentic, spiritual and nature-based healing. Our expansion ensures we can support them fully.”

Katina Jones, the founder

Katina Jones has worked in education, health, philanthropy and human rights for more than three decades. She founded Equals International, a tertiary education provider for vocational and higher education in Australia, in 1991.

She founded Aspects of Healing in 2006, combining allied and complementary health services and established the Equals Foundation in 2012, which supports humanitarian and development initiatives, including building a free school in Nigeria for underprivileged children.

Ayurveda Village in the Adelaide Hills was set up in 2014, following Jones’ trips to India where she learned Ayurveda from a Vaidya (teacher) in Tamil Nadu, whose lineage traced back through generations of Ayurvedic doctors.

Her husband and four children now work across all the businesses and charitable ventures she has set up.