What to expect in a Spa & Massage center and how to get best out of my massage?

Visit Spa regularly for healthy lifestyle

 

It may sound as cliched as ‘What to expect in a joy ride’ but as all roller coasters are different, so are all Spa and Body massage centers. You may get promise of world class Spa but may land up in a massage parlour if you dont do your homework properly. Hence, through this article, I attempt to explain what you may expect in a Spa and how to choose a Spa depending your requirement.

Beauty Spa or Wellness Spa – Does any body care?

Spa are known by different names – wellness center, Spa, body massage center, body massage parlour, therapy center but to me all essentially mean the same thing and ‘attempt’ to deliver the same benefit. Few years ago, when Spa industry was nascent and beginning to spread its wings, we were at the cross roads and had two choices in front of us. First option was to make Blue Terra Spa a beauty destination offering different kind of beauty services like Body scrubs, Pedicure and other Salon services. Second option was for Blue Terra Spa to become a wellness destination which could offering preventive and curative treatments for lifestyle disorders. I must admit that both these options of taking either beauty route or wellness route were very enticing and attractive, but we were clear that we need to decide and adopt clear path rather than traversing aimlessly. As we have always been passionately inclined towards Ayurvedic therapies and magic they bring in our lives, we chose latter option of making Blue Terra Spa a wellness Spa with Ayurvedic clinic. This is also aligned with history and evolution of massages where Deep Tissue massage was invented to cure paralysis of legs and Ayurvedic therapies and treatment were used by sages and practitioners to reverse their Body Age.

Body Massage to cure paralysis of legs….Yes, it has been done in the past!

Massage for Back Pain

Once we finalized therapeutic route as way forward for Blue Terra Spa, we studied ayurvedic therapies with clinical precision. With the help of Ayurvedic doctors in our panel & feedback from customer, we combined these Ayurvedic treatments along with Spa therapies to create fusion therapies like Back & Body Massage, G5 Neuro stimulation therapies, Roller Therapy that could offer not only relaxation treatment but also offer relief from Pain and stress to our customer. Now we solicit guests who are looking for not only pampering, but those guests who treatment massages as an integral part of their lifestyle or who treatment wellness as pillar of their life. And I shamelessly admit that it is also linked to business motive and we seek to invite and bring to our Spa everyone but none:)

Choose your Spa & Body Massage wisely

Select a Spa
How to select a Spa

At Blue Terra spa, we dont boast of swanky interiors or location in fancy mall, but we do promise a professional spa experience where you could proudly visit with your family and get Spa from trained and well groomed therapists. At the reception, you will find a spacious & comfortable seating where you could study and discuss with manager on most suitable therapy for you. Just a ready reckoner for you so that I dont get lost in our 24 pager menu book:

What I am looking for? What do I expect massage to do for me? Recommended Massage
Soft to medium pressure massage General relaxation Swedish/Aromatherapy Massage/Abhyangam
Medium to hard pressure massage Pain Management
Stress Management
Balinese Therapy or Back & Body Therapy or RMB therapy or Ache Alleviation therapy or Insta relief therapy
Medium to hard pressure massage Stress management Shirodhara Therapy/ RMB Therapy or Balinese Therapy
Gift Voucher Personalized Arrangement Ask our team for option of massages and special arrangements

 

Above table is only a ready reckoner and our manager at front desk shall be happy to suggest a therapy of your choice or therapy most suitable for you.

Once you select a therapy, you will be allotted a room and a therapist. Your room is comfortable enough to house a Spa bed, cupboard to keep your belonging and a steam/shower facility where you could get refreshed post massage. Your therapist shall be able to guide you and make you comfortable inside the room

Eating Soup with a knife – Dos & donts at Spa

Image result for soup knife

Massage is an intimate activity where therapist has huge responsibility to make you feel N times better than what you were feeling before the therapy. We encourage you to fill pre therapy form which will help therapist understand problem/focus areas and pressure requirement. Therapist will also seek your comfort regarding pressure or focus area during the massage therapy and perform the massage accordingly. What could you help us to deliver a better Spa experience to you

  1. Please keep your mobile phones off or on silent mode while in Spa vicinity
  2. Please reach in time for your Spa appointment. Incase you are getting late, please keep in touch with Spa manager for rescheduling and availability of next Spa slots
  3. Please don’t be in rush to get your therapy completed. Allow sufficient time for therapist/manager to perform their duties like massage, serve of green tea etc which will help us make your Spa experience better.
  4. Please fill pre-therapy and post therapy form which will help us to improve on our service delivery
  5. Respect the dignity and professionalism of therapist by not asking for undue favors during the massage
  6. Keep use of Steam and Shower to stipulated period of 30 min to avoid inconvenience to other Spa guests

I, personally thank you in advance for adhering to these Do’s and dont’s of Spa that will immensely help us. While we don’t claim to be czar of Spa industry, but we do believe in what we do and effect it could have in our guests day to day life.

Transition from Heaven back to earth

Image result for back to reality

Who wants to leave luxury and comfort of massage and get back to word of stress, dirt and pollution. Guess, none of us have a choice and need to face harsh realities. Post massage and complimentary steam and shower session, do enjoy Green tea which is served with dry fruits and honey.  I call this Green tea time a transition hour where body acclimatizes from comfort of Spa room, heat of Steam room to external environment which is full of noise, pollution and other unhealthy elements. My personal request and advise is not to be in hurry to leave the Spa and budget enough time. There is a selfish motive on why we insist on guests having green tea as Green tea is our inhouse made tea and pet project of our inhouse product development tea. Three Green tea – Rose Green tea, Lemongrass tea & aniseed green tea – are sourced directly from Assam Tea gardens and contains finest quality of Loose tea leaves. These are significantly better than tea dust contained in most of tea bags available in the market.

Spa in my experience is a complex process and there are more than 50 things which could possibly go wrong. And they do actually. While we put in our best effort and try not to leave any stone unturned, but we do make mistakes and have no shame in admitting that. Through our processes, we attempt to minimise these incidences of error and hope to deliver immaculate Spa experience to you and your family. However, if you still face unpleasant experience, we would be most happy to correct and rectify it.

 

Authored by cofounder of Blue Terra Spa 

Amongst top Spa of Delhi

Happy Fitness transition from 5 min brisk walk to marathon in sub 2.15 hr

From Arm Chair to Active sportsman
Armchair sports

I have always been a sport enthusiast but have never been a sporty person in my life! I follow many sports, but play none! I am the perfect armchair sports enthusiast. I am one of the billion captains on Indian Cricket Team.

Since my college days I have been in company of some tough sportsmen. Best of my friends were all star sportsmen, lording over football field, cricket stadium, basketball court, squash court to the boat club. Evenings at time use to be lonely affairs as all sports men would be sweating out in their fields while I would be lazing around the canteen.

Not playing sports
Regret in life

I tried a few times but could not get into the groove of sporting culture. I hardly have any regrets in life, but this one is the big one. I was really fortunate to have gone to a college with fabulous sports infrastructure. At the same time I was the unfortunate one who never took advantage of the facilities available for free! And I do not blame anyone else for that, except myself.

Life has been kind to me that I never put on weight despite having an inactive lifestyle for most of  my adult life. I always felt I was fit enough and never felt the need to indulge in active sports or physical activity. I did fine in day-to-day life, liked walking and hiking and felt fit. So far so good…

Active lifestyle
Lifestyle diseases due to sedentary lifestyle

During a routine blood test, I discovered my triglyceride levels to be abnormally high. On further investigation the root cause for high triglyceride levels was found to be high TSH levels which meant an underactive thyroid gland, a condition known as hypothyroidism. The doctor put me on synthetic thyroid hormone medication which slowly brought TSH as well as Triglycerides under control. That’s when I felt the need to trade my sedentary lifestyle for an active one.

Around the same time I came to know about Gurgaon Road Runners which is a fitness group run by indomitable Sidharth Choudhary who has an immensely infectious passion for running and fitness. As I started running with Gurgaon Road Runners, I felt a rush of positive energy running through my body day in and day out. After ages I felt release of endorphins due to physical activity. Not only did my physical health improved, I could also experience lot of emotional positivity.

Marathon Runner
Practice for Marathon

As the physical activity level increased, I was suggested to undergo body massages to reduce muscle tension, muscle stiffness and fatigue. I started undergoing a rejuvenating full body massage at Blue Terra Spa in Gurgaon. The regular massages helped me a lot in relieving muscle tension, alleviate pain and faster recovery from injuries and niggles that any sportsman must endure, irrespective of the level!

Stiff Muscles after exercise
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

As I increased the intensity of my exercise levels, I understood the concept of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), which is muscle pain experienced several hours post exercise, especially if the exercise in unfamiliar. Regular body massages really helped me sail through painful effects of DOMS which many athletes face on a regular basis. Realizing the importance of sports massage in helping the recovery of muscles after strenuous exercise or run, I increased my frequency of spa visit to once a week. I realized that integration of body massage by a professional therapist into a weekly training regiment helped not just to avoid DOMS but also helped me revitalize my muscles.

 

regular Spa massage once a week
Spa massage for muscle or Joint pain

Regular visits to spa for massage was a great way to manage physical stress that body was experiencing due to increased physical activity levels after years of inactive lifestyle. Spa massage was also a great way to unwind mentally from day to day stress of life. Due to release of neurotransmitter endorphins, a good massage also led to the same high as a good session of exercise, helping mind relax in a true manner.  

As I completed my ADHM in sub 2.15 I felt regular body massage at the spa was a great help to me in keeping me injury free and helping me recover faster between my practise runs.

After having tasted the elixir of physical activity, I recommend everyone to undertake a fitness activity. If you don’t like it does not need to be an intensive activity like running but can be something like walking, or hiking. You may want to explore a sport like badminton, tennis, volleyball…anything that fancies you. It is never ever too late.

And when you take up a physical activity, you are highly likely to experience some kind of injury or niggle. Do not let that set you back. Take care of your body. See a physiotherapist, know your weak points. Always allow your muscles to recover, take regular body massages, get rejuvenated and hit the road again. Happy fitness to you!