Treatments at the Meera Spa at Gili Lankanfushi, Maldives

Posted on 03/05/2013 by singlespy

During my enchanting time at Gili Lankanfushi, I began most days with early-morning yoga with on-site specialist Devendra Pokhriyal, sometimes in the spa, sometimes in the outdoor yoga pavilion near the beach, where you can feel the sea breeze and hear the birds call in the trees. Devendra was very gentle and encouraging, even when my tree pose was more like the shape of a shrub. As well as early-morning yoga (every day except Sunday), you can also try afternoon meditation three times a week; Devendra also carries out traditional ayurvedic therapies such as abhyangha in the spa. On full-moon nights, you can book full-moon yoga, too.

Ingredients for a foot ritual at the Meera Spa

Most treatments in Meera Spa begin with a foot ritual including a salt scrub and scented essences to soften and soothe your barefoot limbs: excellent if you have fully embraced the resort’s “no news, no shoes” approach, as your feet do get rather dusty from all that white sand.

My introductory experience was the champissage massage — which I chose because it focuses on the areas where I love massage most: back, neck, shoulders, scalp. What could be better than a massage you love? A massage you love with a view of tropical fish. Glass panels in the floor underneath the treatment tables allow you, when you are lying face-down, to gaze at the brightly coloured marine life just below you in the impossibly transparent sea-water. Baby sharks, rays and parrot fish don’t feature too often in a UK spa menu.

My therapist, Eka, had a good touch — not too firm to be painful but strong enough to untie knots. I chose the Meera oil for my massage, which contained sweet-smelling basil. Afterwards, I sipped ginger tea and nibbled almonds and apricots on the tranquil upstairs verandah, watching the flying fish.

I also enjoyed the Meera signature massage treatment in the “Senses” outdoor spa area by the beach, under the coconut trees. I asked for the music to be switched off so I could listen to the waves. My therapist (Eka, again) combined lomi lomi strokes with Thai stretching, and shiatsu pressure point therapy. She paid lots of attention to my shoulders and scalp, smoothing her hands over my skin with virgin coconut oil, and virtually demanding the tension to depart. I could feel myself unwind in the cool breeze.

The "Senses" outdoor spa area at Gili Lankanfushi

Spa under the coconut trees

My final spa experience was a Voya seaweed wrap from the Voya Ocean Therapy range. Your therapist slathers you with a seaweed scrub, which you wash off in the shower (with Voya “squeaky clean” wash — a pleasurable experience in itself). You return to have actual warm hand-harvested seaweed applied to your skin. First, across your back as you sit upright on the treatment table, then you lie down to have the thick bladderwrack seaweed strands wound around your limbs and across your stomach and shoulders. While the seaweed was fairly leaching minerals into my epidermis, my therapist gave me a strong head and scalp massage, applying a hair mask as she went. Bliss. Afterwards, my skin would have won prizes in a Smooth Skin competition.

Other treatments on offer at Meera Spa include Sodashi facials and body treatments, a variety of massages (including a Tibetan Singing Bowl massage), soothing and healing complementary therapies, as well as a steam room and sauna. There are treatments specifically for men, for mums-to-be, detox journeys and couples’ rituals. The new spa manager, Sophon O-in, may introduce new delights. We’ll keep you posted.

Discover more about the Voya “Organic beauty from the sea” range, the Sodashi pure skincare products, and the Meera Spa at Gili Lankanfushi, Maldives.

Beaming and Barre Training at Ragdale Hall

Posted on 22/04/2013 by studentspy

Fed up with stepping up in step aerobics? Bored with the belly dancing? Then BEAM yourself up to a new exercise experience at Ragdale Hall Health Hydro and Thermal Spa in Leicestershire.

Yes, there is an actual beam involved. It’s five feet long, six inches wide and two inches high, with softly bevelled edges. The cushioned beam provides a reactive surface on which you exercise barefoot, going through a range of movements which involve walking, standing, sitting, kneeling and lying down. As Ragdale’s fitness consultant, Dean Hodgkin, comments: “It’s such a simple piece of equipment yet it allows for an incredibly wide spectrum of balance, toning and flexibility exercises, leading to all-round improvements in fitness.”

You can have a whole-body workout that focuses on your core muscles, but one that stays mentally invigorating rather than rep-repeating mind-numbing. Because the BEAM isn’t named after the beam. No! The BEAM is named after the key elements of the programme, which aims to engage both body and mind: Balance your body, Engage your core, Align your spine, Move through life.

The BEAM is suitable for all ages, and is particularly worth looking out for if you want to increase both your strength and stability.

But the BEAM isn’t the Leicestershire retreat’s final exercise frontier: at something approaching warp speed, Ragdale also plans to offer Barre training. Barre (fast becoming a celebrity favourite) combines Pilates, ballet, yoga and sports conditioning in a session set to high-energy music. The programme aims to build stamina while increasing flexibility (and attacking that waistline) in a fun atmosphere, again in a class that can be tailored to suit individual ages, abilities and fitness levels.

The award-winning Ragdale Hall is a great choice of retreat spa for fitness fans. The range of classes on offer is enormous — choose from yoga, tai chi, aqua-toning or cardio-splash — or head outside to the landscaped gardens for country walks, tennis, cycling or croquet. Naturally, Ragdale also has a gym and 25-metre pool for serious swimmers.

For full details of the fitness facilities and classes, visit the Ragdale Hall website.

Don’t know which class to try? Read more about fitness classes at The Good Spa Guide.

Hilltop Fusion with Yi-King at the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles

Posted on 15/04/2013 by singlespy

My final treatment at The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Seychelles was a new one to me, using the indigenous Seychelles brand Yi-King — a Chinese name which means “pathway” or “divination”. The range consists of eight natural and organic oil blends, classified according to your Master Element, which is determined by your date of birth. The elements are not congruent with those of the more familiar Western zodiac so that while there I am a side-wise scuttling crab, in the Chinese-based Yi-King scheme, I am a rather more uplifting Sky. (The other elements are Wind, Water, Mountain, Earth, Thunder, Fire and Lake.) The treatments are a mix of Traditional Chinese Medicine, phytotherapy and aromatherapy, using plants biodynamically grown in Seychelles.

The 60-minute Hilltop Fusion Massage — one of the most popular treatments at the spa — delivers a treatment tailored to you. The treatment uses your Yi-King specific essential-oil blend and, as each element has a prescribed focus for massage, concentrates on that area of your body, too. If you are of the Wind element, your massage with lavender and rosewood might focus on your solar plexus; if you are a Water, your massage with spruce and bergamot would focus on your adrenalin glands. I was pleased to learn that the focus for us Skys is the head, as that is where I find my massage most soothing.

Like many treatments at The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Seychelles, we began with a foot ritual, a soothing foot-bath of salt and cinnamon leaves (the leaves picked from outside the door). My therapist, Elirose, started the treatment proper by walking her hands up and down my body for an initial letting go, then delivered medium to firm pressure throughout the massage. I asked her to go deeper on my shoulders, on which she concentrated as that is where I carry most tension. The scents of the Sky oil were uplifting — mint and laurel in a base of coconut– and, in the pleasant, sunny room, with its expansive wooden floors, I felt myself relaxing deeply.

Lighting at the Spa at Four Seasons Seychelles

The natural world is never far away in this spa…

The founder of the Yi-King range, Coralie Mouge, told me over lunch before my treatment that the guiding principle of the Sky element is “Energy through movement”. It is true that I often need to get moving to think out a problem: to walk, to swim, to throw myself into some sort of activity to come up with an answer to a question. I am pleased to report, however, that my afternoon with the Yi-King treatments was spent almost entirely INactive yet it was an energising, harmonious treatment from head to toe. The scalp massage for my element was particularly delightful.

The Hilltop Fusion Massage was a great way to end my all-too-short a time on an idyllic coral island. It felt very natural to experience in Seychelles a treatment inspired by, and developed in the islands. The local sourcing of products is a sustainable and admirable option. I left the sweet-smelling Yi-King products on my skin and wafted onto the plane smelling of coconut oil and mint — how all holidays should end, in my opinion.

Top tip: If nothing else, take home with you your personalised Yi-King aroma-roller. When you’re back in your everyday life, just a dab of this tiny but potent blend of essential oils will remind you of the sunshine and frangipani, and take your heart-beat down just a notch.

Find out more about the Yi-King elements.

The Vaishaly Experience at the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles

Posted on 10/04/2013 by singlespy

One of the reasons The Good Spa Guide was invited to the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles was to try the recently launched Vaishaly Experience. Building on her renowned work in London as a facialist, Vaishaly has created this treatment to live neither in the facial nor the massage section of a spa menu, but as a stand-alone experience in its own right.

The treatment involves cranial sacral therapy (CST), a complementary therapy based on the idea that manipulation of the bones in the skull (the cranium) can unblock any restrictions in the flow of cerebro-spinal fluid — the fluid that pulses around the brain and spinal cord. The therapist gently feels the scalp and neck to test the rhythm and ease of motion of this fluid, then uses soft-touch techniques to release any restrictions in the tissues. While many are sceptical as to the benefits of CST as a medical treatment*, there is no doubt that CST given as a “massage” can be both relaxing and enjoyable. I am a devotee of any form of head massage — just a gentle touch on my scalp seems to ease tension — so I was looking forward to the “experience”. My therapist, Soma, is just one of a small group of therapists personally trained by Vaishaly in the technique.

The treatment began with a foot ritual then I climbed onto the treatment bed. The room was darkened, with music playing in the background. This is a treatment where you have to trust your therapist. Soma placed oil on her hands and held them very close to my face. I could smell the warming scents of the product and also feel the warmth from her hands; this proximity generates an intimate sense of closeness between you and your therapist.

Soma held my head in a variety of positions; sometimes face-up, sometimes to one side. Some people report rocking their body from side to side during this part of the treatment; while I did not, I could feel a gentle rhythm in Soma’s hands. While Soma massaged my scalp, my face, shoulders and neck, the delicious scents from the Vaishaly products — lavender, geranium, ylang-ylang — helped me drift away from the world. I had a series of meditative dreams that lifted me up and away from my tensions.

Sunset from the rooftop of the spa

However, everyone’s reaction to this memorable treatment will be personal. I was with a group of journalists and we had varied tales to relate: one cried — happy crying, she said — with a complete out-of-body experience. One simply found it profoundly relaxing. I found it relaxing, too, but perhaps I needed a few days’ run-in to make the most of the interaction. You may find it the perfect opening to your de-stressing Seychelles stay, and certainly the resort itself offers an ideal environment for any further relaxing you wish to do; on the other hand, like me, you may prefer to experience this treatment as the final touch of your stay, so that you leave Paradise with a profound sense of calm, with your spirit lifted and your mind balanced.

Top tip: Ask your therapist to turn off the in-room music so that you can enjoy this gentle treatment with only natural sounds: the wind in the leaves of the hibiscus trees, the birds settling for the night, the distant shush of waves upon the shore.

* Research has concluded that there is no evidence for the therapy’s medical effectiveness: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2042-7166.2012.01174.x/abstract

The ila Kundalini Devi treatment at the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles

Posted on 06/04/2013 by singlespy

Stand by for a series of briefings from the Indian Ocean! The Good Spa Guide was recently invited to join a group of journalists on a discovery visit to the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles. The resort itself is dreamy with blue waves, white sand, and a serene hilltop spa. You can read more about the resort itself on The Good Spa Guide, but I also wanted to let you know about some of the treatments.

The beach at Four Seasons Resort Seychelles

Designed exclusively for the spa at the Four Seasons Resort Seychelles by British brand ila, the Kundalini Devi massage draws on the rich blend of healing practices in Seychelles, and is billed as “Your Seychelles awakening”. It’s certainly a great treatment to choose if you’ve just arrived on the coral island of Mahe and need help to start relaxing. A bit of vocabulary to ground you: In Sanskrit, “ila” means “earth”, and the organic skincare range uses natural plant and mineral ingredients. In Hinduism, “kundalini” is the word for the dormant divine energy which, it is said, lies like a coiled snake at the base of your spine. When awakened, this energy travels upwards through your chakras, increasing your vitality and awareness.

Whether you subscribe to the kundalini as being the fount of spiritual enlightenment or not, I can report that the Kundalini Devi treatment itself is heavenly. Full stop. It focuses on your back and is extraordinarily relaxing. The treatment starts with the burning of sage smudge sticks followed by exfoliation with Himalayan salts, which smell delicious. Once you have showered off the salts (in a shower room itself so divine I had to tweet about it), you return to the treatment bed for a short (well, two-hour) journey to Nirvana.

The shower room looks onto jungle

My therapist, Diya, gave me a light-to-medium massage and touch pressure, not too painful across my straitened shoulders, along the marma points across my back, and up and down my legs. The massage uses the ila body oil containing juniper berries and rose geranium, which means you have further celestial scents, and you also enjoy lots of head massage (a treatment for which I have elsewhere declared my undying love). The application of hot Himalayan salt and marigold poultices along the spine, on your neck and on the top of your head completes a profoundly de-stressing experience.

Top tip: The Kundalini Devi treatment is both relaxing and soothing. I recommend it as a true “Seychelles awakening” at the beginning of your holiday, enabling you to leave the cares of your everyday events behind and start enjoying the laid-back life in your hillside retreat.

Discover more about the ingredients in ila products: and The Spa at Four Seasons Resort Seychelles.

The Spa in Dolphin Square to host [comfort zone] Skin Regimen launch event

Posted on 03/04/2013 by studentspy

On the 9th of April The Spa in Dolphin Square in Pimlico, London, is hosting an all-day launch event for the innovative new Skin Regimen range from spa brand Comfort Zone.

Join one of five hour-long workshops and you’ll be able to try the Comfort Zone Skin Analysis machine, which will scan and analyse the layers of your skin. The resulting report gives you the biological age of your skin. The Comfort Zone team will then teach you how to correct the appearance of the signs of ageing, and you’ll receive personalised skincare and lifestyle recommendations based on the your own individual results. You will also be given a specially selected product sample just for you.

The five hour-long workshops are free to attend, but places are limited — the maximum is ten people per workshop, so book now!

How to book

The hour-long workshops take place between 11am and 8pm on 9th April 2013. To book, email rsvp@dolphinsquare.co.uk with the subject “Skin Regimen Launch Event”.

For more information on spa treatments and facilities, visit the The Spa in Dolphin Square website.

ESPA LIFESTAGE launch evening at The Day Spa at Whittlebury Hall

Posted on 20/03/2013 by studentspy

This exclusive evening event at The Day Spa at Whittlebury Hall in Towcester, Northamptonshire, is for the launch of the new ESPA LIFESTAGE range – a new high-performance, age-enhancing skincare range.

Beginning with the launch of the limited edition NET8 Serum, the range is designed for women 45 and over, and works with the skin’s biological age rather than its chronological age allowing long-term, and instant results.

The launch for this intriguing new product range takes place at Whittlebury Hall on 3rd April 2013. The evening includes drinks and canapés on arrival, the chance to try the new ESPA range, and you can learn more about the new ESPA Cellular Renewal Enzyme Peel, and other exclusive treatment offers.

This is the perfect opportunity to get a sneak preview of the exclusive ESPA LIFESTAGE range and take advantage of the fantastic overnight offers at Whittlebury Hall. Why not book yourself in for the night and spend the following day in the spa?

Whittlebury Hall has a whole host of heat and ice experiences to try, including a crystal steam room, Sanarium, sauna, ice cave, Roman salt-steam room and a centrepiece hydrotherapy pool. As well as ESPA treatments, you can also try therapies from Elemis, Clarins, and luxurious Jessica manicures.

To book: The ESPA LIFESTAGE launch event is on 3 April 2013, starting at 7pm. You can book your place at this exclusive event by calling 0845 400 0001. A £10 booking fee applies, which is redeemable against any ESPA purchase made on the night.

For more information on Whittlebury Hall’s events, visit www.whittleburyhall.co.uk

Behind the scenes with the Good Spa Spies

It's always nice to have a bit of a lie-down