The Café: A Healthy, Tasty Place to Relax

Whether you're seeking to relax quietly with a book or socialize with friends, the Omega Café, perched above the garden as you enter the campus, exerts a tantalizing pull. Open from early morning until late in the evening, it offers a panoply of coffees and teas, tasty baked treats, full meals, locally made Jane’s ice cream, a generous outdoor deck, and an air-conditioned retreat from the summmer heat. 

With an ongoing emphasis on local ingredients, 2019's menu offers a playful and healthy approach to meals and snacks, according to the Café’s new manager Pria Saferite, who was previously assistant manager at the Café. With Pria and her assistant manager Fidel Hernandez on hand, longtime manager and baker Tim McGuire, who has been producing great recipe videos for members, will focus most of his energies on creating the treats that mesmerize hungry guests from the bakery display counter.

In addition to expanded meal options for those on paleo and grain-free diets, the snack menu will include Omega classics such as vegan brownies and cashew cardamom balls, the raw nut and no-refined-sugar-based treat that continues to spawn new and different varieties, such as goji berry and cacao.

This season, the Café will also focus on continuing to take steps toward sustainability, with food service practices that reflect our goal of zero waste throughout the campus. These include reducing the amount of single-use waste products by, for example, making trail mixes and roasting nuts on site and eliminating all containers that aren’t recyclable or compostable. Café goers can also find a selection of reusable mugs and water bottles to aid Omega's and their own zero waste efforts. 

The Store: Stocked With What You Need & Want

When you're done relaxing at the Café, you can stop in at the Omega Store where longtime manager Jean LaPlante has collected an ever-changing selection of clothing, crystals, books, jewelry, and sacred objects for the wide range of participants who come to campus. With an eye toward stocking as much as possible from sustainable and fair trade sources, Jean and her identical twin sister Joan, who is the assistant manager and clothing buyer, offer everything from essentials like toothpaste and sunscreen to affordable and even higher end items in an effort to meet individual needs and preferences.

Following a winter spent sifting through inventory from the previous season as well as researching new items, Jean and Joan and their staff, including supervisor Christopher Carlson and assistant buyer and bookkeeper Janice Gray, moved back into the freshly cleaned space to create all the displays beginning in early April. Doors open for business on May 3.

“I love creating a beautiful space for people to come into,” Jean said. “We have so much that it takes a certain touch, a way of looking at things so it doesn’t feel overcrowded and messy.”

Some of the most popular items in the Omega Store include:

• An ever-expanding selection of crystals (currently more than 80 types) includes all the basics—rose quartz, amethyst, aventurine, citrines, florite—as well as more esoteric varieties, such as celestials, moldavite, lepidolite, azurite, kyanite, danburites, and mookaite.
• Jewelry that is primarily gemstone based, and displayed so you can easily try it on.
• Clothing that features mostly loose, flowing styles in a wide variety of sizes, to suit all ages and genders.
• A central book display that changes every Friday and Sunday to reflect publications by teachers currently on campus.
• A section for and about children that offers books and games that focus on yoga, mindfulness, creative play, and current issues.
• An increasing selection of sacred objects, such as singing bowls, meditation cushions, statues, and malas, many of which are made by Omega staff members.

The Wellness Center: An Extra Special Touch

After eating and shopping, you can head up the hill for a relaxing treatment at the Wellness Center. The Wellness Center offers approximately 45 services in massage, body therapies, skin care and facials, energy work, wellness, and other special services to support your on-campus experience.

Read more about our regular offerings here, and look for weekly specials when you arrive on campus. Some specials, such as Shamanic Reiki and chakra balancing, which were introduced and well-received in previous years, have made it to this year’s regular menu. Other seasonal specials, such as a pumpkin latte or honey facials, make only occasional appearances.

Last season, clients booked approximately 7,000 sessions and the Wellness Center is preparing to meet that level and more this year. The Wellness Center’s 12 rooms—with annex locations around campus and hours that run from morning through evening—offer many options and make it possible for guests to book simultaneously with a partner or friend. Manager Kelly Amour nonetheless emphasized the necessity of scheduling in advance whenever possible.

“Scheduling all of our services and providers is like a huge jigsaw puzzle,” she explained. “A lot of people wait until the last minute, so I encourage everyone to book as soon as they know when they’re going to be on campus to ensure that they can get the services they want when they want them.”

Don't Forget to Use Your Member Discount

Whether you visit the Omega Cafe, Store, Wellness Center, or all three, remember your member discount applies to many of the items and services you will experience. Enjoy!