A Los Angeles wellness destination is offering a “love it forward” service where guests can pay forward to donate a discounted massage to a friend, family member or stranger as an act of kindness.

The gifted massage voucher is delivered anonymously via email to the recipient and once they arrive for their treatment the giver’s name is revealed via a personalised handwritten message. Guests have the opportunity to “love it forward” again to continue the cycle of kindness, and track their cycle of kindness via the website to see how far it goes.

The service is offered at Lifehood in Los Angeles, a concept founded by former fashion designer Amy Krofchick who also co-founded The Now five years ago – a spa concept consisting of a collection of massage studios that she formerly oversaw.

Krofchick set up The Now following the passing of her husband due to brain cancer when she was 35 years old. Having witnessed how massage supported her husband through his journey, she was inspired to create the concept for The Now massage, choosing the name after she found a passage in his journal that read: ‘the next time should be NOW’.

Located at the Platform retail mall and designed by Brigette Romanek, Lifehood is a 1,600sq ft space featuring a treatment menu offering a range of 50- to 80-minute massages in private treatment rooms or express 25-minute seated treatments in a communal space.

The destination is described by its founders as a ‘wellness movement founded on the principles of kindness and gratitude, and loving it forward’.

Customers can choose to pay for a massage for someone else and themselves with the Give Good + Feel Good treatment, with prices ranging from US$85 to US$240 while individual massage prices run from US$35 to US$115.

Guests at Lifehood are also able to complement their treatments with a VR headset; offering beach, canyon, lake or forest settings, for US$10, CBD sweets for US$6 or listen to a guided meditation audio for US$10.

Lifehood is home to a retail area which sells a range of products by Jiva Apoha, Barratt Riley and The Wax Apples, as well as a selection of Lord Jones CBD products.