Can a Massage Replace Your Yoga Class? - Vogue.com

[massage]

Photo: Courtesy of Como Hotels & Resorts


Welcome back to the glorious, elastic-waistband stretch of time over the holidays that feels utterly free of responsibilities. Scrambling to complete a gift list is all but a distant memory, work emails remain at a standstill, and the sparkling Tetris game of possible New Year’s Eve ensembles has commenced. That glittering brainteaser doubles as its own fitness check and reminder that no matter how deep we dive into vacation mode, remaining nimble enough for a midnight dance party is paramount. For those who can’t yet muster the energy to work up a sweat before 2017, there is one holiday hack to help stay limber in the space between.

“I don’t think a massage can be complete without a stretch,” says Marcia Berry, the massage therapist at Mario Tricoci’s palatial Chicago spa and certified yoga instructor, who has gained a reputation for her bodywork on the table. Her take on the spa’s popular Women’s Athletic Massage mixes stretching, traction (steadily pulling limbs to loosen muscles and connective tissues), heat in the form of stones and electric weighted blankets, and deep tissue work for a customized experience. “I start assessing you when you walk in the door,” says Berry of her intuitive technique. “What does her skin look like? Where does she carry her weight? Are her shoulders tense?” A tailored routine follows, relying heavily on the assisted yoga postures of ancient Thai massage principles—which, even in this age of wellness mania, remain surprisingly under the radar. “Clients who prefer yoga and pilates as physical therapy love Thai massage, they just don’t know they’re getting it!” Berry says with a laugh. “In Thailand, it’s referred to as Lazy Man’s Yoga.”

Its moves consist of rotating the shoulders and hips across the midline (or spine), fanning out limbs in opposite directions, and decompressing your vertebrae through fluid motions that help to realign (that is, pop) your back. “They’re essentially the same poses you’d find yourself doing on your yoga mat,” says Berry. Her trick to making the most of time on the table lies in the length of the stretches she maintains, each lasting at least two minutes. “In a Yin Yoga class they [hold similar poses] for five to seven minutes, but we would have to make it a two-hour massage to mirror that,” she explains. “Most people are tight in their back, shoulders, and neck from sitting at a desk all day. An [assisted] plow pose, cobra pose, traction, and bam! Clients are already in better shape than when they arrived.”

Perhaps paired with aromatherapy and blood-circulating deep tissue manipulation, the roughly 50-to-80-minute routine delivers the sought-after relaxation of a day at the spa combined with the lithe, lighter-than-air feeling of post-Pilates bliss. Consider it a legitimate excuse to swap spandex tights for a plush terry-cloth robe this winter.

Mario Tricoci Hair Salon and Day Spa, 900 N. Michigan Avenue, Chicago, tricoci.com

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