after committing myself to a week of nightly yoga sessions, stretching and curling myself to poses the unitiated eye would surely shy away from looking, i decided to have a massage in a spa that a gym buddy and fellow yoga enthusiast mar suggested to me some months ago. well what to blog about in a spa visit, something noteworthy thats not been the subject of a thousand blogs devoted to spas and everything spa-like, you dear reader might think? the serene environment? the fixtures maybe? the different massage techniques or the oils used perhaps? hmm.. so many things to write about but since my blog is anything but a follow-the-fad-be-in-the-now thang, i am writing about how steve my masseur 'bugbugated' (hehehe, a butchered tagalog word which translates roughly to 'tenderized'?--think of tenderizers used in barbecue marinades so strong that even the most unyielding of meats would come out feeling like marilyn monroe, sweet and ready to purr at the slightest of touch) me by way of deep tissue massage.
when i go for spa treatments, its usually the traditional swedish massage. in the philippines, we've come to know this massage as something resembling 'hilot' because of its use of oils and the similar strokes used. but of course, 'hilot' is a different breed on its own as its more target-specific unlike swedish which covers the entire body. well, steve was talking most of time during the session which lasted for more than an hour, something close to our just-discussed different massage types and their benefits. imagine that passionate hour-long speech coupled with strong kneeding and pressing of specific pressure points (ouch, really) and you get the sense that you've just entered twilight zone hehehe. in fairness to him he was asking me from time to time if the pressure is not causing me pain to which i answered 'its tolerable'. he later on added that massages shouldn't just induce you to sleep right when you are being massaged. its the after-effect we are after. and true to his word, when i got home i had the intense wanting of just going to sleep and making a raincheck on all my planned activities for the night. i was supposed to be having sun salutes, some chaturanga dandasanas and inversions for my yoga but because of the relaxing after-effect of the intense session i had with him, all i wanted to do was sleep. and sleep i did til about 630 in the morning today; nearly got late, thank god i didn't hehehe.
well. that covers my 'wellness' experience yesterday. :)
when i go for spa treatments, its usually the traditional swedish massage. in the philippines, we've come to know this massage as something resembling 'hilot' because of its use of oils and the similar strokes used. but of course, 'hilot' is a different breed on its own as its more target-specific unlike swedish which covers the entire body. well, steve was talking most of time during the session which lasted for more than an hour, something close to our just-discussed different massage types and their benefits. imagine that passionate hour-long speech coupled with strong kneeding and pressing of specific pressure points (ouch, really) and you get the sense that you've just entered twilight zone hehehe. in fairness to him he was asking me from time to time if the pressure is not causing me pain to which i answered 'its tolerable'. he later on added that massages shouldn't just induce you to sleep right when you are being massaged. its the after-effect we are after. and true to his word, when i got home i had the intense wanting of just going to sleep and making a raincheck on all my planned activities for the night. i was supposed to be having sun salutes, some chaturanga dandasanas and inversions for my yoga but because of the relaxing after-effect of the intense session i had with him, all i wanted to do was sleep. and sleep i did til about 630 in the morning today; nearly got late, thank god i didn't hehehe.
well. that covers my 'wellness' experience yesterday. :)
note : marlyn monroe image by larlu84 on photobucket.com
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