Wellness through Happiness | The Freyja Story
Former corporate cat Donna James-Jansen recently opened a brand new day spa and wellness centre in White River. Although many people were quite surprised, Donna admits that those who really know her well would have known it was actually always in her cards.
By Benno Stander

Owner of Freyja Holistic Wellness and Day Spa, Donna James-Jansen
Donna is known among her friends and family as the one always offering all sorts of health advice and she usually has a natural remedy for every ailment. When it comes to beauty her philosophy is simple, beauty comes from wellness that comes from happiness.
“I’ve always remembered my father’s advice to never put all my eggs in one basket. I have had many interests over the years and studied many different fields including hotel management, computer science, marketing, homeopathy, aromatherapy and herbalism,” she remarks.
In the 10 years she worked at Coca Cola she learned much about marketing and building a brand and has built up a wealth of business experience. She feels it is only natural that the next step would be to have her very own business. When Wellness@ Casterbridge closed down Donna saw the opportunity to start her own version of a spa and it wasn’t very long before the keys were in the palm of her hands and Freyja Holistic Wellness and Day Spa was born. The spa offers everything you would expect but with some unique additions and a natural twist.
The name Freyja comes from Nordic mythology where Freyja was the Norse goddess of love, beauty, wellness and health. “She is however also the goddess of war,” remarks Donna with a grin, but adds that, “…this I choose to interpret as war against negativity.”

Hand made poultices that are used in some of the massages at Freyja
Only the good stuff
“We are very particular about selecting spa products that are natural and don’t contain any harmful ingredients. We also won’t stock any products that are tested on animals in any way and we try our best to stock as many local and South African products as we can.”
“Two out of three of our products are South African and although Dermalogica was founded outside the country it is now produced locally.”
“Theravine is one of our very popular new ranges and comes from Stellenbosch where it was founded 10 years ago by a South African couple. It has won some major awards and even though it is not well known around here it really is a wonderful natural local product.”
Kalahari is an amazing range of products that make it possible for you to choose the details of your journey to beauty. It is truly a spoil and clients who opt for this range of treatments get to choose their custom selection of scrub textures and fragrances. It’s more pampering than treatment but well worth your time and dime.

Anke van der Westhuizen of Freyja is a qualified Somatologist
Not just skin deep
“Freyja is a fully functional day spa offering facials, massage therapy, manicures, pedicures, all grooming, makeup, nails and more. We also do corporate events with our MobiSpa that brings the Freyja Day Spa to you. We recently did an event where we were able to take care of some 137 ladies,” explains Donna.
But apart from all that you would expect, Freyja also offers a range of alternative therapies. “We have therapists and specialists like Dr Joanne York who is a homeopath, Janine Knoxx who does body stress release therapy and Wendy Jacobs who is a reiki master who all consult from Freyja on a weekly basis. We also have Julie Mostert, who is a kinesiologist, and is available for consultations at Freyja by appointment.
There is definitely a lot going on at Freyja but according to Donna it is just the start. Her face suddenly lights up as she starts talking about her plans for the future. “My ultimate vision is my Patch Adams Project,” she pauses, thinks for a second and then says, “but it’s still early days so don’t say too much, just allude to it.”
Find out more
Fore more details go to the Freyja website or visit them at Casterbridge Lifestyle Centre in White River