Currrent - Issue

SPAHHH
For the stressed out, the time pressed and the bone weary, a spa break is the trendy way to relax in a hurry. New Age gurus, take that!
                                                                                                                             By Vatsala Kaul
  You are lying down and your skin is being prepared for an experience in serious pampering. First it is scrubbed and exfoliated with Dead Sea salt, then wrapped in quantities of Dead Sea mud, rich in secret revitalizing minerals. Your body is gently warmed and, simultaneously, your face and scalp are massaged tenderly. Finally, a feathery application of Dead Sea Lotion restores moisture to your skin. Funny thing is, you are nowhere near the Dead Sea. In fact, you are nowhere near any sea. You are  in  the  state  of bliss,  in the state of Uttaranchal. As
the Ananda spa in the Himalayan foothills.

In the past few years, the everyday Indian traditions of tel maalish, champi And ubtan have expanded and transformed subtly and substantially  to
 align themselves with international wellness and spa trends. Seductively designed, immaculately equipped, these international spa spaces offer everything from exotica to escape, serenity to indulgence, medical care to meditation. For long a historical, cultural and spiritual magnet, now India-the fountainhead of alternative healing, vegetarianism, and yoga-offers a world menu of spa services to entice and bewilder you into surrender. "Spas are a very popular facility amongst our guests and we are seeing an increase in usage of spa facilities at our business hotels as well," says Geeta Singh, vice-president, corporate communications, The Oberoi Group of Hotels.

A SPA VACATION
Need to escape a stressful daily grind jam-packed with work schedules, e-mails and endless phone tones? Long for a piece of that elusive 'peace of mind' spiritual gurus offer courses and discourses on? Have a health concern that needs focused attention? Or perhaps you need just some TLC with the stops pulled out… A spa vacation can satisfy several needs you may not even realize. However, if you do realize the need, there’s all the more reason for a spa vacation. Many spas offer relaxation opportunities for couples, such as dreamy suites and massages for two, so you could get away as a couple, too. You can be eager to make a sea-change in your lifestyle, or you could be just wanting to have a fun-filled unwind; you could be young or old, fit or unashamedly out of shape…in a spa vacation, you can choose the place as well as the pace.

WATER TREATMENT
In the big pool at the Udaivilas in Udaipur
  A spa vacation in India becomes that little bit more exciting because you have several fabulous locations and levels of luxury to choose from, besides the type of treatments and therapies, of course. You could combine your spa focus with a royal experience in an 18th century restored fort, if you will, or choose a romantic getaway in the peaceful Kerala backwaters. Or perhaps your preference is miles of beachfront in a plush uber-modern five-asterisk hotel? Then again, maybe you would like to escape to a natural retreat in a thickly forested, scented mountainside… Well, there are a host of spa hospitality options to choose and use.

 
YOUR SPA TYPES
Choosing a spa becomes easier when you know what you want from a spa vacation. Think of what you’d like to experience or achieve, and choose one that enables you to do that.

Health / Wellness
Address medical issues and health problems; discover how lifestyle choices can lead to wellness

Fitness
Work out in fitness classes, enjoy rejuvenating body treatments, participate in outdoor sports and weight-loss programs

Beauty
Enjoy treatments that aim at repairing damage, and enhancing skin and body beauty

De-Stress
Learn relaxation techniques, how to manage stress, and other strategies to reduce tension and stay in control

Serenity
Introspection and reflect through meditation, yoga, tai chi, chi gong

Indulgence
Pamper yourself with massages, facials, mud or aroma baths

Different Strokes… and Scrubs and Wraps
The hospitality industry in India has built up on all its wellness resources to provide a spa network in every spa category. There are club spas and day spas for short-term daily use, hotel or resort spas to enhance their already luxurious experience, medical spas to  provide  medical  and  wellness  care,  and  even a different destination.
Ananda-in the Himalayas, which was first runner-up in the Best Overseas Lifestyle Destination Spa category in Conde Nast Traveller last year, offers a healing-heritage experience. Located in the palace estate of the Maharaja of Tehri Garhwal, it offers 20 lavish treatment rooms with a Himalayan view, hydrotherapy rooms, meditation areas, yoga pavilions et al. Take a chopper to its helipad, and choose the sensuous and soothing Chakradhara-a herbal oil poured over chakra points with a marma point massage, or go for an energizing dry Thai massage, from  
POT LUCK: Dhara treatment at the Tamara, Taj Malabar
amongst the host of Indian, European and Thai therapies available. All amidst Yantric art.In another part of the Himalayas, the recently relaunched Oberoi Hotels’ Wildflower Hall at Mashorba, near Shimla, is fragrant with cedar and pine scent. At this former residence of Lord Kitchener, you could give in to the joys of a wild lavender scrub and a geranium cream wrap, or a Hawaiian massage and a jasmine bath. In fact, all Oberoi Hotels’ properties feature Oberoi Spas by Banyan Tree, one of the world’s most prestigious spa management companies. In unlikely Punjab, and even more unlikely Amritsar, just seveneight months since their soft launch, Ranjit’s SVAASA has become a WelcomeHeritage spa.
  SVAASA, short for Sunny View Arya Spa, offers vaastu-directed boutique rooms, designer bathrooms and balconies with a view in an ancestral 250-year old haveli. "NRIs visiting Punjab wish to enjoy the old feel," says owner Vishal Chand Mehra. "They enjoy the heritage look and feel of this spa resort, its old furniture, thick walls, high ceilings, spacious rooms. "In Agra, amongst splendid iron gates, latticework, inlaid floors and mosaics, the Oberoi Amarvilas pampers you with all 105 guest rooms and sev>en suites having a view of the Taj Mahal.
Even rice becomes an instrument  of indulgence-with a massage usingrice, warm buttermilk, herbal and aromatic lotions. Or you could give in to the lure of the three-hour Noore -  Taj -  combining   an   almond

cleansing scrub, honey citrus wrap, Balinese massage and lavender milk bath.Right on the Golden Triangle, The Oberoi Rajvilas in Jaipur entices you with royal secrets such as the rose sandalwood wrap, or the turmeric skin purifier. Another perfect pick would be the "Spirit of Ayurveda" treatment that includes a sand bundle massage, shirodhara (where a stream of sesame oil is poured over your third eye), and a floral bath. You can follow up tiger-spotting in Ranthambor with the Oberoi Vanyavilas’ signature treatment-a guava scrub, a juicy orange wrap, a scented massage and a refreshing mint bath-in a fountain-studded courtyard. The spa suites at The Oberoi Udaivilas in the pretty city of Udaipur are an experience in repose-they provide you amazing views of Picchola Lake and the City Palace, while you are being spoiled silly by the application of sandalwood and turmeric scrubs, tomato wraps, a massage, and finally a milk and rose bath.
At the somewhat sepulchral floating Taj Lake Palace, the spa hands you over to the expert touch of Rajasthani ubtanis for unforgettable applications of lemongrass, jojoba, almond or lavender essential oils. Not very far from Udaipur, in the Aravali Hills, the 18th century palace of Devi Garh has a spa offering ayurvedic therapies using medicinal oils and herbal mixes to de-stress and delight. ake heart, if the metros are your holiday destination. At The Oberoi, New Delhi and Mumbai, you can erase the taut and tense with an array of 60-minute treatments comprising aromatic, Balinese, Hawaiian, and Thai massages, or half-hour marma point facials. 
THERMAL ON THE MOUNT: Soaking in the
wellness at Ananda in the Himalayas
 The Sonar Spa at ITC Sonar Bangla in Kolkata is a tranquil sensory retreat with lush greenery, gurgling gargoyles and placid water reserves. Amongst a range of facial and body therapies as well as a spa cafe, it offers the 110-minute ancient royal Javanese treatment using exotic flowers and spices to soften and smooth the skin. The Fort Radisson Resort and Spa, at Raichak close to Kolkata city displays a medieval fort theme in its 59 luxury rooms and two suites. At the Taj Fort Aguada Beach Resort, built on the ramparts of a 16th-century Portuguese fortress ogling at the Arabian Sea, you can enjoy a range of body massages, heat wraps and scrubs at the Spa Aguada. Then there’s the Mediterranean-style Taj Exotica on the southwest coast of Goa. The new Tamara Spa offers Ayurveda therapy to revitalize, relieve, rejuvenate and repair. Bangalore’s Angsana Oasis Spa and Resort spoils you for choice-the blended brush scrub with milk, honey, oatmeal, tamarind and watermelon? A sensual anti-jetlag massage? Or a tangerine and rice flour body wrap? Whatever be your elixir.
POOL WITH A VIEW:
Luxuriating at the poolside at Ananda
  The Ayurvedagram Heritage Wellness Center, an ethnic health resort has transplanted 125-yearold cottages from Kerala into 12 acres of herbal garden at Bangalore. It offers hardcore curative and therapeutic ayurvedic treatments. On the other side of the peninsula, in Chennai, the Spa Vyana at the Taj Fisherman’s Cove, offers a range of therapies utilizing every natural born revitalizer from seawater to hot stones.
In Kerala, ayurveda reigns supreme. The monsoon, they say, is the best time for the rejuvenating ayurveda packages. Amongst the many superior ayurvedic spas or centers is Somatheeram  Ayurvedic  Beach  Resort  on  the
Malabar coast, south of Kovalam. It offers yoga, meditation and  the  best  of  ayurveda  on  18  acres  of
of landscaped hills. In Cochin, the signature treatment at the two century- old Malabar House is kalari-a two therapist job with oils.
The Taj Malabar on Willingdon Island also offers ayurvedic treatments at its chic Tamara  Spa,  where   the
Ayushman Ayurvedic Trust provides expertise from its 60 years of knowledge and experience. In Kumarakom, the Taj Garden Retreat offers ayurvedic relief-and has played host to ex-PM Vajpayee.
What next? An exhaustive list of small and big spas in India would be very long and new ones would have to be added every few months. The spa trend, it seems, is here to stay and defy being a fad. The Mayfair Beach Resort in Puri has recently opened a spa, while the newly furbished Claridges in New Delhi also offers spa facilities. Spas are fast becoming standard issue at hotels. However, the services are not necessarily standard issue, as spas make an effort to differentiate themselves in terms of treatments, expertise and USP. The Imperial in New Delhi, for instance, has selected the Six Senses Spa for its garden spa. The spa will include 11 treatment rooms and a suite for traditional wedding preparations. Six Senses Spas have created a Sensory Spa Journey that will be showcased at The Imperial later this year-a variation of a four-hands massage, performed by two therapists. It begins with a rich and refreshing foot scrub, a facial refreshment and foot cleansing treatment. The piece de resistance is skin brushing and an aromatic body massage, synchronized with a cleansing facial and stress-relieving scalp massage. This two-hour simultaneous, sequential combination is said to take you on a journey through the five senses and beyond. Go on-give in.

 
SPAHHH SPEAK
Aromatherapy
The use of fragrant, natural, botanical essential oils from plants, leaves, bark, roots, seeds, resins and flowers to refresh and relax.

Detoxification
The process of cleansing the body of accumulated poisons often from over-taxation due to addictive behavior.

Fango body treatment
A body treatment that involves the application of highly mineralized thermal mud to the entire body in an effort to gently cleanse, release toxins, re-mineralize, nourish, and soothe the skin.

Herbal wrap
The body is wrapped in a warm cloth soaked in a herbal solution to eliminate impurities, detoxify the body, and induce relaxation.

Hydrotherapy
Water used as a form of treatment by way of jet massages, showers, and baths (Swiss shower, Thalassotherapy, Jacuzzi)

Pilates
Strength training movements involving coordinated breathing techniques developed in Germany by Dr Joseph Pilates during the 1920s.

Reflexology
An ancient Chinese technique in which specific pressure points — usually on the feet, but also on the hands and ears — are massaged in order to re establish the flow of energy throughout the body.

Shiatsu
Acupressure massage technique in which pressure is applied to specific points of the body to stimulate or release the meridians through which energy flows.

Swedish Massage
A classical European massage technique of the muscles with special oils by therapeutic stroking and kneading of muscle tissue to promote stress relief.

T’ai Chi
A form of Chinese martial art that combines mental concentration, slow respiration and graceful movements similar to those of a dance; "meditation in motion" Thai Massage
A technique that involves a unique combination of gentle rocking and stretching using range of motion and acupressure techniques applied through clothing without oils.

Thalassotherapy
The use of sea products used to detoxify, exfoliate, balance the skin’s pH, and hydrate.

Vichy Shower
A shower taken lying down on a table, usually in a "wet room" where several overhead jets release water of varying temperatures and pressures.