On my first night at We Care Spa, beneath a deep black new moon, I slept for ten uninterrupted hours. When I awoke, the world felt sharper. The morning light bathed the pale desert in a soft, golden wash; roosters crowed in the distance; a roadrunner dashed past my patio. From the quiet comfort of my room, I watched rabbits dart and hummingbirds flit among the creosote bushes. My senses had begun to recalibrate, tuning to the natural rhythms around me. I felt as though I had been transported to another planet—one carved from soft desert light and silence.
My five-night stay in August was one of the most transformative and memorable spa experiences of my career. We Care Spa is aptly named: the staff, the program, the visionary founder, and her equally formidable daughter create an atmosphere of rare trust and genuine care. This intimate desert oasis invites guests to shed toxins and distractions alike, to relearn how to breathe deeply, digest fully, and listen closely to the wisdom of the body. It’s a place where detoxing becomes a shared ritual, where camaraderie unfolds quietly among guests, and where the timeless truths of spa are honored without fanfare.
A Mother’s Vision, A Daughter’s Leadership
Long before the words “wellness retreat” entered our cultural vocabulary, Susana Belen was quietly building a sanctuary in the California desert. Divorced, raising four children, and searching for answers to her own stress-related ailments, she turned not to conventional medicine but to the ancient world. Her quest led her to shamans in Peru, yoga masters in Thailand, breathwork in India, nutrition in Greece, and spirituality in Egypt. She absorbed timeless teachings from each place, weaving them into her daily life with striking results: her health improved physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Susy Lombardi and her mother, Susana Belen
An inner voice urged her to begin teaching yoga, and soon her desert home became a gathering place. Spare bedrooms turned into guest rooms, the living room became a classroom, and her kitchen transformed into a nutrition workshop. Visitors arrived seeking what Susana had found: a way to live in harmony with the body, to cleanse, restore, and reawaken. By 1986, this modest home had evolved into We Care Spa—a place rooted not in marketing strategy but in a mother’s deep desire to share what worked.
Susy Lombardi, Susana’s daughter, grew up immersed in this world. “Well, as a kid, I’d have friends come over and there was my mom making a smoothie out of kale and pineapple and hemp seeds—and it was unlike anything they had ever seen!” she recalled with a laugh. “They’d always ask me, ‘Hey, what is your crazy kooky mom doing now?’ But to me it was normal—and what a gift that was. To be exposed to such forward-thinking ideas about health and nutrition at such a young age, and decades before the world caught up with them—that was central to my path and who I am today.”
Those early experiences shaped her path in ways she couldn’t yet imagine.
As a young woman, Susy carved her own path across the Atlantic. A business and fashion student in Paris, she would return home to California for restorative visits, each time greeted with freshly pressed juices, colonics, yoga, and desert serenity. Her turning point came in the late 1980s, when a cancer diagnosis forced her to choose a path of healing. She placed her trust in her mother’s program—and emerged healthy, renewed, and committed to the mission.
Mother and daughter eventually joined forces, blending Susana’s holistic wisdom with Susy’s business acumen and design sensibility. Together, they transformed the original three-room retreat into a 28-suite desert oasis—yet the heart of We Care remains unchanged. At 87, Susana still teaches multiple classes a week. She walks an hour each day. She has never taken an aspirin. Her radiant energy and unwavering philosophy are the living, breathing proof of what she teaches. Her new book, Healthy and Free, distills decades of wisdom into daily wellbeing practices, health insights, and more than 100 recipes—an inspiring testament to her lifelong mission.
The Program: Gut Health as the Gateway
At its core, We Care Spa is about gut health—and by extension, about the health of the entire being. Through its signature We Care Cleanse, guests embark on a nutritive fast that combines a thoughtful progression of teas, fresh-pressed juices, shakes, soups, and pure water with colon hydrotherapy, a cornerstone of the program. By giving the digestive system a complete rest and supporting the body’s natural elimination processes, the cleanse frees energy to turn inward—to combat toxins, repair tissues, and reset its natural rhythms. The effects are both subtle and profound: heightened clarity, sharpened senses, and a sense of lightness that is as much spiritual as physical.
The communal kitchen of sorts, located off of the lobby
For Susy, the program isn’t simply a philosophy, it’s a way of life. “I grew up with We Care before there was a We Care,” she said. “Back then it was just ‘My Mom Cares,’ I guess! But a real turning point happened in the late ’80s when I was given a cancer diagnosis. I made the decision to work through it with my mom as my guide and her program as my medicine—and ultimately that’s what saved me. To this day, the program is part of my life: I practice gratitude and meditation, I don’t shy away from colonics, I use our enzymes with every meal and probiotics every morning. When you follow the program, whether for a week at the Spa or a lifetime like I have, it’s hard to ignore the obvious good and healing that happens.”
Over the course of the program, guests attend a series of daily classes that are as inspiring as they are practical. Taught by a brilliant roster of instructors, these sessions explore breathwork, nutrition, digestion, mindfulness, and the often-overlooked art of trusting one’s own body. “Breathwork is magical, free, and underrated,” says Bridget Becker, functional nutritionist, therapist, and We Care’s Program Ambassador and Educator. “Trust is a huge word. For most people it’s an active experiment, a practice—whether or not we can trust ourselves. Our bodies hold wisdom and our intuition knows us.”
Susana has been teaching these principles for decades—long before breathwork became fashionable. Her message is disarmingly simple: “Your body is not a trash can. Why are you putting trash in it?” In class, she emphasizes the transformative power of conscious breathing, thorough chewing, fasting, sauna, and detox bathing. “Good digestion and good health are the same thing,” she reminds guests. At 87, Susana remains the embodiment of her philosophy: vibrant, medication-free, and teaching with the same clarity and passion as when she began.
There’s a long-standing tradition at many destination spas to conclude a stay with a “Take It Home” class—often involving writing a letter to oneself, envisioning good changes to come. These letters are sealed, addressed, and mailed back months later as gentle reminders. Over the years, I’ve collected a small archive of these letters in my desk and journals. I stopped opening them because, time and again, they contained the same hopeful intentions—followed by my inevitable reversion to old patterns.
We Care does not ask you to write yourself a letter. Instead, it gives you knowledge—tangible, applicable, and rooted in ancient wisdom—that you can integrate the moment you step foot off the property and return home. The program’s brilliance lies in its clarity and accessibility: no gimmicks, no lofty promises, just a disciplined, nurturing approach that allows your body to do what it was designed to do.
We Care is an outlier in the best sense—a living reminder of what the spa world once was, and what it can still be.
People & Place: The Human Thread
Every great spa has a heartbeat—and at We Care Spa, it’s unmistakably human. From the moment I arrived, I felt wrapped in an atmosphere of genuine care that extended far beyond protocol. It’s in the way a team member with a knowing smile makes sure you’ve had your morning shake, the way an instructor’s words land softly but powerfully, the way fellow guests exchange quiet nods of recognition after class. Here, vulnerability isn’t a liability; it’s the shared language. Everyone is detoxing together, and with that comes a sense of camaraderie that is both tender and unspoken.
Mari, one of the extraordinarily gifted instructors, leads a guided labyrinth meditation.
The staff is extraordinary, a tapestry of seasoned professionals and devoted practitioners. There’s Nancy, the 67-year-old esthetician who has been in the field since she was 17. She spent a decade at The Oaks at Ojai in its heyday under Sheila Cluff—a touchpoint in spa history—and her Lemongrass Scrub transported me straight back to that era’s no-nonsense, results-driven spa culture. Sapphire, who performed my System Recovery treatment, wrapped me in castor oil packs and rosemary-scented scalp massage with such intuitive precision that time seemed to dissolve. Jesse was a gem—his BioResonance session was a genuine eye-opener. The technology behind it is fascinating. Using real-time brainwave monitoring paired with harmonic sound frequencies, the treatment offers immediate feedback to help recalibrate patterns linked to stress, anxiety, focus, and mental clarity, while deeper scans reveal potential sensitivities, heavy metal toxicity, and other key internal markers. Aforementioned Bridget, with her radiant energy and clear nutritional guidance, embodies the next generation of Susana’s teachings. And Chase, during a black moon ceremony, reminded us that “when you bring light to the dark, that is the essence of transformation.”
“You wouldn’t believe how many walking canes, knee braces, and reading glasses end up in our lost and found,” Susy shared. “People spend a week rebuilding their bodies from the inside out—and they don’t need these things anymore when it’s time to leave.”
At the helm of operations is Jim Root, who joined We Care as Managing Director in May 2024 with a clear mission: to steady the ship after a period of turbulence and reconnect the team to what he calls “the timeless truths Susana represents.” A seasoned spa leader with deep respect for sense of place, Jim is less interested in trends and more in cultivating authentic spirit.
His leadership has been felt palpably. He’s fostered a renewed sense of unity and enthusiasm among the team. “The vast majority of the people who were here when I arrived are still here—and they’re smiling,” he said.
A comfortable, sunlight-filled Club Suite.
The physical environment, too, contributes to this sense of belonging. My room, serene in its chic minimalism, opened onto a desert tableau alive with rabbits, hummingbirds, and the sound of early-morning roosters in the distance. One morning, sitting outside as the sun rose, I heard the distinct, rhythmic sound of wings overhead and looked up to see a crow climbing steadily into the morning sky, its wingbeats startlingly loud against the still air. It was as if my senses were being finely retuned.
The property is beautifully landscaped with bougainvillea, creosote, statues from Hindu and Buddhist traditions, and tucked-away spaces for contemplation. Look closely, and you’ll discover delicate feather and leaf weavings—collected, crafted, and placed by Jim—gracing the foliage along many of the pathways. The setting is elegant, but not ostentatious—more home than resort.
And it’s precisely this home-like intimacy that amplifies the bonds among guests. Here, you might share a detox tea after class with someone who, hours earlier, underwent their first colonic. You might sit together in silence, watching the desert sky shift from pink to indigo. There’s no dining room chatter—there isn’t even a dining room table—no performative wellness. Instead, there’s a shared reverence for the work everyone is doing—body, mind, and spirit.
Timeless Spa Culture vs. Trend Cycles
In today’s spa and wellness landscape, where the conversation is dominated by longevity protocols, biohacking gadgets, injectables, and shortcuts like Ozempic, We Care Spa stands apart—not by chasing trends, but by quietly holding steady. It’s an outlier in the best sense, a living reminder of what the spa world once was, and what it can still be.
A number of spa treatments unfold outdoors, where nature becomes part of the therapy.
Jim put it succinctly during our conversation: “We Care doesn’t fit into today’s spa world. It fits into the timeless spa world, where people opened their homes literally to share a lifestyle. Deborah Szekely and the Professor did that at Rancho La Puerta, Sheila Cluff did it at The Oaks, the O’Donnell family at Miraval, Mel Zuckerman at Canyon Ranch. All of these places were born not of business plans or design teams, but of a sense of purpose. They weren’t over the top in design—they were over the top in intention.”
This sense of purpose is what We Care has never lost. Even as the property has expanded from three rooms to 28 suites, the “caring point,” as Jim calls it, has remained 28 guests. “It’s not how many you can bring in, but how many you can bring in and do it right,” he explained. “Bigger isn’t always better.” In an era when many spa destinations are driven by scalability, influencer buzz, and rapid expansion, this commitment to staying intimate is a quietly radical act.
Jim is realistic about the trends swirling around the industry. “Before some of these shortcuts appeared—Ozempic and the like—people flocked to spas because they knew they had to invest time and energy into themselves. Those drugs have worked for a whole bunch of people, but they also haven’t worked for a whole bunch of people. And now, we’re seeing the after-effects. People are coming back. This timeless truth stuff still works. As long as we stay true to who we are and what the program is—and we don’t get swayed by what’s current or trendy—we can be that bright constellation in the sky that you know is always there.”
It’s a powerful metaphor: We Care as a fixed star, a dependable point of reference in a wellness galaxy often caught in orbit around the newest thing. In Jim’s view, the future doesn’t lie in abandoning spa culture for the next shiny model. It lies in returning, again and again, to the foundational practices that work—fasting, breathwork, education, ritual, and care.
Integration: Taking We Care Home
Evening light glows from a tent where private sessions unfold beneath the desert sky.
During my five nights there, I didn’t need to write to my future self—as I mentioned earlier, that familiar ritual of sealing a letter with good intentions felt unnecessary. I already knew what to do—and I knew inherently that I would do it. The classes, the rituals, the fasting protocol, and Susana’s and Bridget’s timeless teachings had already taken root.
As Susy told me, “Everyone is going to pick up a handful of tips or tools—the importance of chewing your food, not drinking during a meal, how to read labels—but the overarching theme is that you have the ability to take control of your own health. There are dozens of small choices we make every day that paint a picture of our health. You have the power to make those choices.”
Back home, I found myself slowing down at meals, chewing my food “until it was liquid,” as Susana instructed. I was less quick to stress, more aware of my breath, taking my long walks with renewed vitality, and—perhaps most importantly—trusting my body’s wisdom in a way I hadn’t before. The experience didn’t dissipate when I left the desert; it followed me home, alive and integrated.
On my last night at We Care, I stood outside my room beneath a sky dense with stars. The desert was still; the sky, vast. I thought of Jim’s words about being a “bright constellation in the sky.” That is precisely what We Care Spa is: a fixed, luminous point in a shifting wellness landscape—a place to return to when you need to rest, reset, and remember.
Mary Bemis
Mary Bemis is Founder & Editorial Director of InsidersGuidetoSpas.com. An advocate for all things spa, Mary forged a vocabulary for spa reportage that is widely used by those who cover the issues today. Recently honored as a Top 30 Influential Voice Transforming Wellness by Medika Life, Mary is an inaugural honoree of Folio’s Top Women in Media Award. Her spa media roots run deep—in 1997, she launched American Spa magazine, in 2007, she co-founded Organic Spa magazine, and in between serving on the ISPA and NYSPA Board of Directors, she was on the launch teams of Luxury SpaFinder and New Beauty magazines. Named a "Wonder Woman of Wellness" by American Spa magazine, Mary was honored by the International Spa Association with the distinguished ISPA Dedicated Contributor Award. She is a special advisor to the non-profit Global Wellness Day.
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