Find Your Edge

Organic Edge, a new wellness center, will officially open in Water Mill March 15. It will offer three niche services — an infrared wellness pod, colon hydrotherapy, and targeted cryotherapy.

Infrared saunas aren’t new to me, but this was my first pod experience. It was like something out of a sci-fi film. I took off my clothes, stepped inside a thin, disposable bodysuit, and laid down. My head remained outside with two 6”x6” tiles of pink Himalayan salt near the intake fans, which blew both sides of my face to keep me cool. The Cocoon Fitness Pod uses various technology to raise core body temperatures. Its unique design combines dry and infrared heat, which can keep metabolism elevated from four to 12 hours after the session.

Temperatures could be manually adjusted to up to 192 degrees Fahrenheit; there was room for both hands to exit the pod. For the first 15 minutes, I set my temperature to high heat, considered middle of the spectrum. Since I was comfortable enough, the last 15 minutes I opted for the full 192 degrees. Thanks to the facial vent, I never felt overheated. I even fell asleep, thanks to the music playing in the background. The best part was the deep relaxing massage component, a dual-wave vibration system aiding lymphatic drainage. Vibration strength can also be adjusted, and there’s even a call button should you need assistance. Essentially, the pod acts as an entire holistic wellness experience, developing muscle strength and tone, and burning calories.

Organic Edge owner Shannon Conklin has managed facilities across Long Island and in Manhattan.

“Clients were begging to have a facility out east for them to access these treatments,” she said. “Organic Edge was truly reverse-engineered by the client, bringing them what they had been asking for.”

At 13, Conklin was diagnosed with chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. After a visit with a holistic doctor, she discovered she had a leaky gut, which later turned into a misdiagnosis of Lyme disease and the beginning of her career in wellness.

“Health to me is a journey,” Conklin said. “It’s listening to your body so you can help it heal itself. Most of us live stressful lives with toxins that we cannot escape.”

When she was 19, her father passed away of colon cancer, a month-and-a-half after diagnosis, at age 49.

“Colonics gave me this crazy boost on my health journey,” Conklin said. “It clicked for me at that moment that maybe my father had digestive issues that could have possibly contributed to his illness. I went to get certified.”

Conklin is foundation, intermediate, advanced, and instructor-level certified through the International Association for Colon Hydrotherapy as well as by the National Board for Colon Hydrotherapy.

I made my way into the colon hydrotherapy room. I was nervous, but the known benefits outweighed my fears. Colon cleaning aids in digestion, increases the body’s ability to absorb vitamins and nutrients, decreases risk of colon cancer, and aids in weight loss. Organic Edge’s colon cleaning is done with U.S. Food and Drug Administration-registered equipment in a luxurious, private setting. As I placed a small disposable nozzle about three inches up my bum, I sat back and let the machine do the work.

My attention went from watching Netflix to curiously seeing what was exiting my body, thanks to a little mirror placed near my feet. Eight gallons of purified water cleanses your body over the course of an hour. As someone with a healthy digestive system, I expected to breeze through the process without much residue, but to my surprise, I saw some unexpected matter halfway into the session. I couldn’t help but wonder how long that was in my system and the damage it’d do to my body the longer it stayed there. When I was finished, I had a mild sense of humility, and felt a weight had been lifted.

The room for targeted cryotherapy is unique because of the handle design used to sculpt any area, with the addition of LED color therapy handles.

“Direct contact of the color therapy on the skin increases the effectiveness of the treatment,” Conklin said. “It works by stimulating the production of hyaluronic acid, collagen, and elastin. It increases cell oxygenation and the exchange between sodium and potassium at a cellular and metabolic level.”

Amber is for skin regeneration, blue for inflammatory, pain, and acne issues, and violet for lymph drainage. Color is decided upon assessment.

“With a little help, we can bring the body back to its natural state of health,” Conklin said. “Our bodies are amazing, and capable of so much more than people know. I’m still on this journey and intend to help as many people as I can by learning as much as possible and trying everything on myself first. I have clients that I haven’t seen in 10 years, that have moved far away, that still contact me to ask my opinion on a holistic treatment or a supplement.”

Organic Edge is located at 2 Montauk Highway, Suite 2, in Water Mill. For more information, visit www.yourorganicedge.com.

nicole@indyeastend.com