How having luxury massages can improve your career - The Australian Financial Review

[massage]

Surrender to the Hypnose massage at the Lyall Spa in Melbourne. Supplied
by Helen Hawkes
You are floating effortlessly in water heated to a soothing 36 degrees, swirling and gliding as if you were a child in the womb.

You are in the exclusive Watsu suite, at the Golden Door Spa and Resort Elysia in the Hunter Valley, your own private sanctuary in which you can relax your body in ways that are not possible on land.

The masseur gently moves your spine and pulls your body through the water as you experience the therapeutic art of shiatsu in a luxurious aquatic setting.

Fifty minutes and $200 later, you will feel as good as newborn, your postural imbalances, stress, and aches and pains gently eased away.

Lomi lomi massage at the Mandara Spa, Honolulu.

Welcome to the new world of touch, where massage has been elevated to an indulgent and increasingly therapeutic art form. Here, treatments - from hot stone massages to the rare Watsu created by Harold Dull according to the principles of zen shiatsu taught in his school at Harbin Hot Springs in California - are regular wellness appointments on the agendas of those who understand the physical and spiritual power of hands-on therapy.

Considered a complementary and alternative treatment in healthcare, massage services are now part of Australia's $3.5 billion – and growing – industry, and with good reason.

For stressed-out executives, holding unnecessary tension in muscles can cause discomfort, poor posture and fatigue that impinges on peak performance and long-term health.

Having a relaxing Swedish or vigorous deep tissue massage not only reduces stress, it calms the entire nervous system even as it increases blood flow to overworked muscles and organs.

The treatment suite for the luxurious Watsu water massage at The Golden Door Elysia. Supplied

In fact, a growing body of research suggests massage therapy as an evidence-based therapeutic modality for managing subacute and chronic low back pain, and anxiety and stress, according to the Australian Association of Massage Therapists.

Founding psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm Reich and Fritz Perls all understood that touch also has a psychotherapeutic effect beyond simple support and relaxation. Being touched by another human being stimulates endorphins, or feel-good chemicals, that boost immune function and mood. Touch is both pleasurable and sublime. It can boost spirits, as well as mood.

So many choices


Ironically, the choices on how to remove energy-sapping stress from every centimetre of your body now pose the real challenge. What should you opt for when so many indulgent and relaxing treatments keep popping up at salons and clinics in Australia and around the world?


At the Lyall Spa in Melbourne, a favourite with those in the know is the Hypnose massage, $250, a treatment that combines a magical cocktail of elixirs and Ayurvedic spices, including Indian saffron, neem, poppy and sesame, that simply melt into the skin, balancing energy levels to correct and ease stress. The result: total surrender.

Or why not submit all your senses to the award-winning Kitya Karnu treatment, $225, at Aurora Spa at Melbourne's Prince Hotel, where, in your own private steam room, your skin is exfoliated with aromatic body oils and pure mineral salts before a rich and creamy walnut and wattleseed cream is applied?

After a nourishing hair treatment – the scalp being the centre of nerve endings that can become tense perusing balance sheets – a hydrating facial is performed before a cool river stone ritual designed to clear and revive energy centres.

At Sydney's popular The Day Spa by Chuan at the Langham Hotel, it's all about oceanic indulgence: self-heating tiger clam shells that generate heat through contact with gels derived from sea kelp, Dead Sea salts and natural minerals are used to help melt muscle tension in the exotically named Warm Lava Shell massage, $185. Think of it as a variation on the popular Hot Stone.


Further afield, and ideal for those who like to maintain wellness while jet-setting for business or pleasure, the Como Shambhala Estate Bali's Taksu massage involves surrendering your stressed body and mind to a strong and invigorating treatment that increases blood circulation and helps you let go of deeply held patterns of stress. In Balinese, "taksu" means the magical transference of energy between two people who connect.

For the Royal Ayurvedic traditional massage at Kamalaya Thailand, warm oil is poured over your whole body, followed by a combination of tapping, pinching and kneading to increase circulation.

Both massages are recommended by www.healthandfitnesstravel.com.au.

Other international favourites include the Ayurvedic massages at the Somatheeram Ayurveda Resort in Kerala, the Ananda in the Himalayas in Uttarakhand, the Devaaya Ayurvedic Retreat in Goa and The Leela Palace in Udaipur.


Ayurvedic massage incorporates an aromatic combination of oils prepared with herbs warmed and blended to your dosha type and Ayurvedic techniques that work along the energy channels of your body.

The sensual Lomi Lomi, a traditional Polynesian technique in which the masseur uses palms, forearms, fingers, knuckles and elbows and even knees to persuade tension to recede, is offered at the Mandara Spa in Honolulu.

No doubt it is our growing enthusiasm for therapeutic touch as a route to wellness that has prompted Massage Envy, a 14-year-old company that offers affordable massage and skincare memberships at 1100 locations in the United States, to expand its "Total Body Care" concept to Australia.

It opened its first Australian stores in Sydney's Lane Cove and Paddington in May, the first in a 100-unit, 15-year deal between Massage Envy and Australia-based Collective Wellness Group.


You simply buy a monthly membership that allows you to use and view massage and skincare services as a regular part of your wellness routine, rather than as a luxury or only on special occasions.

With the variety of massage services on offer, It's never been more tempting to abandon your Apple Mac at lunchtime and discreetly indulge in a touch treatment, the benefits of which will extend to greater serenity of both body and mind.


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