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Self-care is more than just a wellness buzzword. In today’s hectic world, where productivity equals success and the grind has become the norm, it’s easy to let self-care fall to the wayside. You may have mentally reserved treating yourself to something nice for some time further down the line—when the kids get older, when you’re […]
Self-care is more than just a wellness buzzword. In today’s hectic world, where productivity equals success and the grind has become the norm, it’s easy to let self-care fall to the wayside. You may have mentally reserved treating yourself to something nice for some time further down the line—when the kids get older, when you’re making more money, when you have more free time—and may even consider taking time for yourself as overly indulgent. But self-care isn’t selfish—it’s essential to our physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
Self-care doesn’t have to involve some over-the-top multi-step skincare regimen or hours on the treadmill. It could be a poolside vinyasa session followed by a healthy snack. Or finally seeking treatment for anxiety or depression. Or even straightening your smile.
Thankfully, San Diego County is full of opportunities to put yourself first. Here are three of our favorite.
One of the most efficient ways to take care of yourself is a membership to a one-stop wellness shop like AquaVie Fitness + Wellness Club. This four-story, 40,000-square foot luxury facility adjacent to the downtown Westgate Hotel offers fitness, wellness, and spa services, plus a sauna, steam room, and cool plunge.
It’s only fitting that a place whose name translates to “water of life” have a luxe pool. AquaVie boasts a serene rooftop sanctuary with a Junior Olympic-sized pool, hot tub, and a sun deck that’s perfect for soaking up the rays. And it doesn’t stop there. AquaVie’s rooftop is the heart of the establishment. Aside from the sparkling lap pool and the sweeping views of downtown San Diego, the club rooftop features fire pits to keep you cozy once the sun goes down, refreshing cocktails delivered pool-side, and decadent dining options prepared by The Westgate Hotel’s culinary team. Don’t miss the sustainably sourced bluefin tuna tartare or the plant-based protein-packed Maqui superfruit smoothie.
The rooftop is also equipped with free weights, strength training equipment, stationary bikes, and a running track for those looking to take their fitness training to new levels. AquaVie offers poolside yoga and group exercise classes, and even has a workspace area for when the occasional work emergency interrupts your me time.
The rooftop is just the beginning. The modern, state-of-the-art club has a spacious fitness studio that offers in-demand group exercise classes, such as Pilates, spin, core, and cardio sculpt, in addition to more than 200 high-end cardio and strength machines from top brands like TechnoGym, Iron Grip, Precor, TRX, and Peloton. AquaVie’s expansive gym floor and group fitness classes allow members to tailor their workouts to their individual goals and customize their workout routine to fit their lifestyle and schedule.
If grueling workouts aren’t your thing, a spa membership at AquaVie includes access to an array of results-driven skincare and body treatments in a luxurious, yet tranquil setting on the third floor of AquaVie Fitness + Wellness Club.
Feel the tension melt away with a AquaVie’s signature elevated wellness massage, or really dig into those problem area with a deep tissue therapeutic massage. Or make your wellness session a date with a couple’s massage for you and your partner.
Shift the attention up to the face with a custom facial that’s designed to target your skin’s specific needs. AquaVie Spa practitioners use all natural actives to rebalance the skin, combat environmental damage, purify the pores, and restore a youthful glow. Take your experience up a notch with high-tech add-ons. Microcurrent technology lifts and tones and on-trend LED light therapy enhance AquaVie’s offerings and take already effective treatments to new heights.
Finish strong with a full-body ritual that promotes ultimate healing. Aquavie offers two to pick from: the Ocean Dew Magnesium Muscle Recovery detoxifies and relaxes muscles, while Prickly Pear Age Defense restores skin health and hydration. Each includes a full-body scrub, wrap, and foot massage.
AquaVie offers three membership tiers that provide different levels of access to the club’s amenities and benefits, with options to upgrade with lockers and valet parking.
234 Broadway
San Diego, CA 92101
aquaviewellness.com


For some, self-care can become a lifeline. LGBTQIA+ individuals often face unique challenges that can impact their mental and emotional well-being. Many members of the LGBTQIA+ community experience discrimination, intergenerational trauma, complicated family dynamics, and barriers to accessing inclusive health care. Element Q Healing Center in Kearney Mesa was founded by practitioners within the LGBTQIA+ community who deeply understand systemic and social concerns experienced by clients and tailor each treatment to meet them exactly where they are in their individual healing journey.
Element Q Healing Center isn’t your average treatment center. Element Q Healing Center’s caring and compassionate staff leverage their lived experience to empower clients to find their own voice. At Element Q Healing Center, LGBTQIA+ individuals can find hope and healing from a range of conditions that intersect with social determinants of health.
The center’s practitioners approach mental health through a lens of holistic healing and evidence-based care. They combine traditional clinical therapy with alternative medicine practices, such as acupuncture, reiki, art therapy, and trauma-informed yoga, to support sustainable mental wellness. Mental health and wellness in the LGBTQIA+ community requires comprehensive care that takes into consideration an individual’s identity and personal journey. Element Q Healing Center is committed to providing identity-affirming care that’s rooted in both compassion and clinical research. Providers balance symptom management with embracing the whole person.
Conditions treated at Element Q include trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder; depression; anxiety; addiction; bipolar disorder; borderline personality disorder; gender-identity challenges; neurodiversity; mood disorders; relationship issues; domestic violence; disordered eating; and more.
Element Q Healing Center offers several treatment options, ranging from visits with providers trained in queer-specific health care to more intensive outpatient treatment that includes case management, individual and group counseling, and psychiatric medication management. Outpatient treatment helps patients address trauma, mental health, and addition issues while building community and maintaining their day-to-day lives. LGBTQIA+ providers create a welcoming environment free from judgement and the stress of having to explain identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.
Element Q Healing Center also operates a partial hospitalization program for those who need a higher level of structured care. The program provides intensive daily support and is grounded in evidence-based modalities designed to promote sustained stability. Partial hospitalization is ideal for people who need more support than outpatient therapy can provide, and those who are leaving a residential care facility or inpatient treatment and would benefit from continuing to heal while transitioning back to living at home.
Each incoming patient at Element Q Healing Center receives neuropsychological testing and a comprehensive assessment to evaluate cognitive and behavioral health, ensure proper diagnoses, and guide future treatment planning. Clinicians work to ensure that each patient receives the level of care required for sustainable recovery and success.
The benefits of undergoing treatment Element Q Healing Center include healing within a community of people that celebrate diversity, improved resilience and self-awareness, reduced feelings of isolation, and authentic expression and empowerment. Inclusive health care is not a privilege, it’s a right.
3750 Convoy St., #310
San Diego, CA 92111
elementqhealingcenter.com
While many view self-care as working on the inside, improving the outside can dramatically improve a person’s well-being and self-esteem. Since 1956, Chula Vista Orthodontics has been helping San Diego County residents keep their teeth healthy and achieve their ideal smiles.
Chula Vista Orthodontics’ caring staff personalizes care to each individual patient. Dr. Lauren Frisch and her highly skilled team work to straighten and refine patients’ smiles using traditional braces and invisible aligners.
Dr. Frisch is certified by the American Board of Orthodontics, and is an active member of the American Dental Association, California Dental Association, San Diego County Dental Society, San Diego Association of Orthodontists, Pacific Coast Society of Orthodontists, and American Association of Orthodontists. She was also awarded a Global Oral Health Fellowship and Schweitzer Fellowship, under which she conducted research and dental care in underserved communities around the world.
The dental “dream team” at Chula Vista Orthodontics provides a continuum of comprehensive care. Orthodontic issues, such as crowding, over- or underbite, and protrusion, can develop in childhood. Chula Vista Orthodontics offers an “early interceptive treatment” to address these issues early on—as early as age 7 for certain patients—when a child’s permanent teeth are beginning to come in. The focus at this age is not a perfect smile; clinicians aim to prevent development problems that may lead to irreversible damage.
When older children or adults have orthodontic issues that need correcting, they have options. Chula Vista Orthodontics combines traditional treatment with emerging technologies to ensure each patient achieves their desired results.
Dental braces have been the gold standard for teeth straightening for several decades—and for good reason. Traditional braces have proven to be effective in treating common issues like an overbite, underbite, or crooked teeth, and to reposition the jaw. But braces have come a long way from the clunky metal hardware of yesteryear. Today’s braces are smaller, sleeker, and more durable. And though the process of moving the teeth using gentle pressure remains the same, modern braces straighten teeth in an average of 18 to 24 months.
The staff at Chula Vista Orthodontics understands that traditional metal braces aren’t for everyone. Invisalign clear aligners are available for patients who prefer a less noticeable and removeable option. Dr. Frisch is an expert in Invisalign and has more experience than most—she even worked on the research and development team at Invisalign’s manufacturer, Align Technology, while completing her dental training in San Francisco.
Once patients are satisfied with their smile, they’ll need to wear a retainer to keep their pearly whites from shifting. Chula Vista Orthodontics offers ultra-durable Hawley retainers made from acrylic and metal wires, that hold teeth in place, and Essix retainers, which are similar to a night guard. Essix retainers cover the surface of the teeth and absorb the force of the patient’s bite. Vivera retainers are similarly made from clear plastic and come in a pack of four, which is ideal for forgetful patients prone to losing their appliances. Fixed retainers, which are bonded to the back of the teeth, are also an option.
Chula Vista Orthodontics offers free consultations and flexible financing options.
321 I St.
Chula Vista, CA 91910
chulavistaorthodontics.com
A customized memory-filled explosion gift box is a creative way to show someone you care
Finding a gift that feels truly personal can be surprisingly difficult. In a sea of generic options — flowers, gift cards, candles, and the like — Xplosion Box offers something more lasting: a customized keepsake built around the photos, messages, and memories that matter most.
Founded by Southern California entrepreneur Jay Vijay, Xplosion Box LLC creates fully customized explosion gift boxes that arrive professionally designed, printed, assembled, and ready to gift. Each box opens layer by layer to reveal personal photos, heartfelt messages, pull-out albums, origami-style photo pockets, and hidden notes, turning a simple gift into an emotional reveal.

The brand was built for people who want to give something meaningful without spending hours printing photos, cutting paper, folding cardstock, or assembling a DIY project. Customers simply choose a box, upload their favorite photos, add personal messages, and the Xplosion Box team transforms those details into a polished keepsake that feels thoughtful, personal, and beautifully made.
Xplosion Box offers personalized gift boxes for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, graduations, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, proposals, bridesmaid gifts, long-distance relationships, and thoughtful “just because” moments.

Customers can choose from flexible customization options starting at $27. The Mini Surprise Box includes 10 photos, three message cards, and one hidden secret note, while the Mega Surprise Box offers a fuller keepsake experience with 40 photos, three message cards, and one hidden secret note.
What sets Xplosion Box apart is its high level of customization combined with convenience. Filled with personal photos, custom text, decorative details, and layered surprises, each box gives customers the freedom to create a gift that feels one-of-a-kind — without having to make it themselves.
At its core, Xplosion Box helps people turn favorite photos, stories, and words into something tangible: a keepsake that can be opened, revisited, and remembered long after the occasion has passed. asion has passed.
It’s a Self-Care Summer. Because your best self is our favorite self.
If you’re anything like us, it can be easy to get so caught up in taking care of everyone else, that your own needs get lost in the ether. But while this may be a cliché, that doesn’t make it any less true: You can’t give your best self to other people unless you’re taking care of yourself.
Sometimes, that looks like stopping in for your regular acupuncture or chiropractic appointment. Other days, it means giving your body the fresh, organic fuel it needs to truly feel and function at its best. And some other times still, it involves leaving your responsibilities behind for a weekend to pamper yourself at an incredible resort and spa.
Only you can decide what your truly need. We’re just here to help you find the best ways to get it.

Island living meets desert luxury at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa in Indian Wells. When you step onto the 11-acre property, you’ll be surrounded by sweeping view of the Santa Rosa Mountains with olive trees and fragrant citrus groves decorating the grounds. In other words, everything about this relaxed but refined resort is primed to help you let go of the stress from home and enjoy easy sun-soaked days and gorgeous starry nights.
The rooms blend calming, woven textures with Tommy Bahama’s signature tropical prints and feature private lanais, making it easy unwind the moment you walk in the door. If you book one of the four Villa Suites, you’ll be treated to exclusive Tommy Bahama furniture and unique personal touches to further that feeling of instant ease.
At the award-winning Spa Rosa, the expert team will help reset and recharge your body and mind using methods and rituals inspired by the desert. The 12,000-square-foot retreat includes outdoor soaking pools, eucalyptus steam rooms, and outdoor cabanas, as well as massages, facials, and body masks—all aimed at creating a day dedicated to you. We’re particularly partial to the Day Long Escape, an indulgent all-day affair of CDBs soaks, renewing scrubs, life changing massages, and transformative facials.
Following your treatment, continue the experience with a meal on the patio at Grapefruit Basil. We love the Hamachi Crudo, a light, citrus-forward dish featuring premium yellowtail, house-made ponzu, creamy avocado, and fresh seasonal garnishes.
Whether you’re strolling the gardens, relaxing beside its saltwater pools, or indulging in a restorative treatment, you’ll be able to escape in style and relax in luxury at the Tommy Bahama Miramonte Resort & Spa.

There’s no shortage of ways to stay active in San Diego—but if you really want to enjoy everything the city has to offer, you’ve got to make sure you’re giving your body its tune-ups. Enter: Healcove Chiropractic. The board-certified chiropractors and wellness professionals at Healcove are experts at addressing that stage where you’re not injured, exactly, but you’re not at 100%, either. Maybe you’re feeling a bit tense or stressed out. Or it could be that you’re not quite moving the way you want to. Sometimes, it’s just that the accumulation of days, weeks, or even years of daily strain is starting to take a toll. No matter what stage you find yourself at, the Healcove Chiropractic team can provide integrated, preventative care centered on long-term, science-backed approaches that ensure you can always stay active and live the life you want to live pain-free.
This starts by providing truly individualized care. Every patient can expect a thorough 60-minute consultation session that includes a posture and movement screening. This allows the team to develop a completely personalized plan. That plan might include chiropractic care, acupuncture, or massage therapy, as well as functional fitness training, vibration and sound therapy, and Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization, a clinical rehabilitation method that retrains the body’s stabilization systems. Whatever the team recommends, you can be sure that it’s tailored to meeting your body’s needs today and the future.
There’s a reason that San Diego Magazine named Healcove the “Best Chiropractor in San Diego”—don’t wait until you’re struggling with an injury to find out why. Book an appointment today for holistic, integrated care that helps ground and heal your body before it reaches a crisis point.

West Coast wellness culture meets the community feel of Southern Appalachia at Juice Holler. Juice Holler’s menu consists of made-to-order smoothies and smoothie bowls, as well as grab-and-go cold-pressed juices, wellness shots, salads, and more. It operates from the blissfully simple premise that fueling up with food and drink that’s guilt-free and good your body should be simple, accessible, and, above all else, delicious. And if you haven’t yet made it out to the Encinitas café, which opened just this year, let us be the first to tell you: Juice Holler delivers on each and every of these fronts.
We love the Supercharger smoothie, a mood-lifting and body-fueling option made with banana, almond butter, blue spirulina, maca, grass-fed whey protein, raw cacao nibs, medjool dates, and coconut milk. We’re also partial to the Thrive Alive smoothie bowl, where avocado, mango, sea moss, spirulina, mint, coconut milk, and agave are mixed and topped with coconut, chia seeds, strawberry, mango, and chocolate drizzle. The wellness shots include the Detoxifier, a cleansing blend of kale, cucumber, lemon and spirulina, plus a shot specially designed to fight inflammation (named, fittingly, Anti-Inflammation). Probiotic overnight oats, lemon turmeric bars, and strawberry shortcake chia pudding are other standouts on the grab-and-go menu.
Much of the vibe feels beachy North County chic—think green tile with orange and pink accents, grounded with greenery and natural wood—but Juice Holler founder Kelly Sergott, a longtime Encinitas local, has also enfused the space with her Kentucky roots. In Appalachia, a holler is small valley between hills and mountains, where nature reigns, community is king, and nourishment comes right from the land. At Juice Holler, Sergott has created a holler for the busy modern times, using local ingredients to create a spot for people to come together and enjoy fresh, fast, feel-good fuel for their day.

We’ve all had that experience with a medical professional where we’ve felt rushed, ignored, or misunderstood—and ultimately, like we didn’t get the answers that we needed. But at Everwell, the holistic acupuncture practice located in Solana Beach, the care team wants to transform your understanding of what healthcare can look like.
Patients at Everwell experience care rooted in intentional listening and radical empathy—and trust us, those aren’t just corporate buzzwords. This place actually puts those ideas into practice. You will always be given the time you need to tell your story— initial in-take appointments are two hours long—and you can rest assured that your story will be believed. Every single question and concern will be addressed by a dedicated practitioner who wants to find the specific solutions that work best for you, and you’ll receive care that’s aimed at healing the body, mind, and spirit.
Everwell’s highly trained, doctorate-level practitioners blend evidence-based acupuncture with the practice of classical Chinese medicine. (If you’ve never tried acupuncture before or aren’t sure if the team will be a fit, we’d highly recommended Everwell’s complimentary 20-minute consultations.) Research shows that by stimulating specific points on the body, acupuncture activates a natural healing response in the body, helping to restore balance, regulate the nervous system, and improve overall wellbeing. This allows the practice to address an incredibly wide range of conditions from chronic pain and autoimmune disorders to digestive issues, from stress and burnout to headaches migraines, fertility and postpartum struggles, hormonal imbalances, sleep concerns and more.
At Everwell, you can expect to feel heard, trusted, respected, and cared for. This is a space that doesn’t want to be just another healthcare provider you visit; it wants to provide patients with dedicated partner who will be there for their entire health journey.
The Unconscious Moderation app is helping health-conscious professionals take an honest look at their drinking, without pressure, and without quitting as the only option.
San Diego runs on optimization. Early mornings, clean eating, training logs, sleep scores. The people here take their health seriously and the results usually show. Most of them also have two drinks most nights, not because anything is wrong, but because the day was long and the glass is right there and it has always been right there.
That routine doesn’t get the same scrutiny as the rest of the stack. It doesn’t feel like something to examine. It feels like a reward.
Which is exactly what your brain has decided it is. When something reliably moves you from one state to another, your brain files it under things to repeat. Do it consistently enough and the cue stops requiring a decision. It’s 6pm, the laptop is closed, and some part of your brain has already placed the order.
Most habit-change tools work on the number. They count drinks, set weekly targets, send check-in texts. That’s useful for seeing what the pattern looks like. It doesn’t tell you where the pattern came from, or change it at that level.
Unconscious Moderation works underneath the habit. The app uses guided hypnotherapy sessions, structured journaling, and daily movement to address the subconscious associations that make reaching for a drink feel like the obvious next thing. The journaling isn’t a diary. It’s built to surface what your brain is actually reaching for, so you can meet that need directly rather than through a substitute.
The program runs 90 days. At day 30, you choose your own direction: cut back, drink more intentionally, or stop altogether. The app treats both as equally valid outcomes. The point isn’t to follow a rule you set on a Sunday. It’s to understand the pattern well enough that whichever path you choose, you’re choosing it clearly.
The people who tend to get the most out of it are not in crisis. They’re the ones who have tried tracking apps and found the count drifting back up regardless. They know exactly how much they drink and why. The awareness just hasn’t moved the habit. At some point, the work needs to happen somewhere the count sheet can’t reach.
San Diego’s wellness culture already knows that surface numbers tell only part of the story. What you eat matters, but so does why. How much you sleep matters, but so does the quality. The same logic applies here.
Learn more at um.app, or download the Unconscious Moderation app on the App Store or Google Play.
Innovative treatment could offer cancer patients new options with fewer side effects
Chemotherapy and radiation have long been considered gold standards of cancer treatment, but they can cause severe side effects. A promising new approach called theranostics—a combination of “therapeutics” and “diagnostics”—could offer patients with certain types of metastatic cancers new hope. It’s a two-step process that uses a drug that binds to specific receptors on cancer cells. Advanced imaging detects this radioisotope, allowing doctors to then use a second radioisotope that binds to the cancer cells and destroys them. Click here to learn more about how specialists at Scripps Cancer Center are using theranostics.
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Discover San Diego’s Top Lawyers — the region’s most trusted legal professionals across diverse practice areas.
Daniel A. Kaplan is a founding partner of Panakos LLP with more than three decades of civil litigation experience in both state and federal courts. Mr. Kaplan pursues and defends legal claims on behalf of companies, entrepreneurs, and business owners in high-stakes disputes. He focuses on business disputes including breach of contract, unfair competition, trade secret theft, securities disputes, fraud/misrepresentations, and employment matters.
“The best advocacy combines preparation, perspective, and a client relationship built on trust and candor.” — Daniel A. Kaplan
His clients include real estate investors, private and public corporations, and individuals seeking sophisticated legal counsel. Known for practical judgment and strategic advocacy, he works closely with an experienced and diverse legal team to protect, enforce, and defend his clients’ interests.
555 W. Beech Street, Ste. 500, San Diego, California 92101
619-8000-LAW
Panakos.law
Discover San Diego’s Top Lawyers — the region’s most trusted legal professionals across diverse practice areas.
At Naumann Law Firm, PC, William Naumann and his team have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in damages litigating construction defects, insurance, and government claims. Mr. Naumann has spent his career fighting for people in their hardest moments, from winning $7 million for homeowners after landslide damage to advocating for victims of 9/11.
“We always believe in working as hard as we can to maximize the recovery for the client.”
— William Naumann, Esq.
Combining a personalized approach with a results-driven strategy, he’s helped homeowners associations, property owners, and individuals win against the largest developers, builders, insurers, and municipalities. His commitment is to secure the best possible results efficiently, whether through settlement or at trial.
10890 Thornmint Road, Suite 200, San Diego, California 92127
858-792-7474
naumannlegal.com