Travel Tuesday: Spa Treatments to Fight Jet Lag

June 12, 2012 | By

Medically referred to as desynchronosis, jet lag is a physiological condition which results from alterations to the body’s circadian rhythms after rapid long-distance transmeridian (east–west or west–east) travel.

Jet lag may last several days until one is fully adjusted to the new time zone, and a recovery rate of one day per time zone crossed is typical. The symptoms of jet lag can be quite varied, depending on the amount of time zone alteration, time of day and individual differences. They may include the following:

  1. Migraines and headaches
  2. Fatigue, irregular sleep patterns, Insomnia, grogginess, irritability
  3. Dehydration
  4. Body aches, swelling and pain
  5. Constipation or diarrhea

Luckily, spa treatments are a fabulous remedy for jet lag, so now you have the perfect excuse to head straight to your hotel spa after landing. Here’s our guide to the best jet lag spa treatment for you:

1. Migraines and Headaches:
The symptoms of migraine headaches are debilitating: stabbing head pain, nausea, stomach cramping and migraine auras. This can leave a sufferer feeling weak, tired, and depressed long after the migraine attack has subsided. While a migraine attack can last for days, the psychological aftermath can be perpetual. Migraine ranks in the top 20 of the world’s most disabling medical illnesses and about 36 million people in the United States suffer from migraines. There are numerous methods used to try and help ease the unbearable symptoms. Conventional medicine and prescription drugs offer little relief from the condition some people cannot rely on pills, like pregnant women. Many are turning to alternative methods of treatment in order to manage the pain. Massage therapy is often used to complement other traditional medical migraine treatments or other alternative treatments. Tense muscles and stress can aggravate migraine headaches. Visiting a massage therapist for a massage while a migraine is in progress can reduce muscle pain and tension.


2. Fatigue, insomnia, irritability:
There is a simple correlation between sleep and massage: insomnia is associated with a lack of serotonin and massage increases serotonin levels. Studies have demonstrated the necessity of serotonin for healthy sleep. Serotonin is a precursor to the body’s rendering of melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone released by the brain to quiet and reset the part of the brain that directs your body to prepare for sleep. Many over-the-counter drugs have melatonin in them, but why not encourage your body’s own production? The chemistry of sleep is relevant to massage because massage can directly influence the body’s production of serotonin and, in turn, melatonin. Massage therapy can improve the quality of life by not only relieving the pain; it can also impact mood and induce positive sleeping patterns. By relieving the pain that keeps you up at night tossing and turning, your body will get the much needed time it craves to restore and to heal. Additionally, lowering anxiety and improving mood can help a person get their life back in order. Massage therapy offers both immediate results, as well as long term.

3. Dehydration
There are two ways to fight dehydration at the spa: one is to hydrate your through your skin with water treatments, the second is to infuse rejuvenating oxygen into dehydrated cells on a nuclear level. Water treatments: A Vichy Shower is a unique aquatic therapy that invigorates your body while laying flat under powerful water jets, inspired by treatments used in the French city, Vichy. Watsu, short for Water Shiatsu, is a massage performed in a warm, shallow pool.  The water gently cradles the guest so the massage therapist can work the full 360 degrees of your body and your skin reaps the benefits of being saturated in water throughout the entire treatment. Oxygen treatments: Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber Therapy, which dissolves oxygen in the blood plasma and all body cells, tissues and fluids at up to 10 times normal concentration—high enough to sustain life with no blood at all. Oxygenating facials are also increasing in popularity, as oxygen continues to secure its reputation as the #1 skincare essential.

4. Body aches, swelling and pain:
Massage can eliminate muscle tension and improve joint mobility by stimulating the flow of synovial fluid. This also helps to free adhesions, break down scar tissue and decrease inflammation. As a result, massage can help to restore range of motion to stiff joints. Massage also brings in fresh nutrients and helps in purging the body of toxins accumulated due to long periods of stress and tension. It causes more oxygen to flow in the body, which helps the body to revive and rebuild itself. With this flow of fresh oxygen and nutrients to the entire system, the immune system is strengthened. Additionally, massage clears your mind of exaggerated anxiety and makes you capable of thinking with an unclouded mind. When you are bodily and mentally relaxed, you are capable of taking a more balanced and fresh perspective of your life situation.

Another spa treatment option to target swelling and aches and pains is Electro-lymphatic drainage (ELD), which uses gentle electric currents, massage, and heat to increase circulation and stimulation along the body’s lympathic pathways. The lymphatic system helps clear excess fluid from the cells and distributes powerful immune cells which work 24/7 to heal and repair your body. ELD treatment boosts immunity, relaxes the whole body and mind, reduce pain, evens skin tone, and increases energy.

Acupuncture was developed 3,000 years ago and is based on Taoist philosophy. Like the treatments above it focuses on energy meridians and permits the body to “heal itself.” It does involve inserting fine needles into key points of the body that relate to different organs in order to relieve muscular, neurological and arthritic problems, cure disease and relieve pain. Acupressure has been practiced in China for centuries and is believed to improve the flow of chi (energy) throughout the body. This massage releases muscle tension and promotes healing by applying pressure to “energy points” or “meridians” in the body. Pressure is applied to these points with the finger for a deep tissue feeling.

Cupping is a healing therapy that uses suction on the skin’s surface to “suck” stagnant blood from deep beneath the surface, mobilizing blood flow and delivering a range of benefits. Bottom line, it greatly improves circulation—the holy grail of spa benefits. Similarly, Gua Sha offers holistic healing, but is different in method and strength. Unlike the scraping technique of Gua Sha, traditional Ancient Chinese Cupping employs a glass dome that becomes a suction cup after a flash of fire. Scraping mobilizes blood just beneath the surface, while the mighty suction of cupping is able to stir up blood deeper within the body.

5. Constipation or diarrhea
The idea behind a colonic is that food enters the intestine and a lot of it doesn’t get flushed out (especially if you’ve overindulged on food and alcohol while on vacation), causing toxins to accumulate, which can result in illness. Especially in today’s world, where we’re breathing polluted air and consuming pesticides, our bodies are overwhelmed trying to get rid of it all. So a little “push” now and then from a colonic can really helps the digestive system do its job better. Colonics allow the nutrients and vitamins to be properly absorbed into the body again. If you have a sluggish colon (AKA are constipated often), a colonic gets the muscles moving, making your colon stronger and more effective at disposing healthy, solid waste. It is also believed that a clean colon helps your body fight disease, because instead of focusing on expelling built up toxins in the colon, it fights toxins elsewhere.

 

 

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Grae Therapy: The Massage That Changed Everything!

May 31, 2012 | By

For two and a half years, I’ve been pleading with you to GO!!! Go to the spa! Try that new LED acne-fighting facial. Treat yourself to that 90 minute Thai Massage. YOU are worth it!

So, as spa-seekers tend to do, you browse through Spa Week’s Deals or $50 treatments, you fall in love with a spa service or twelve (shea butter and hot stone have a sneaky way of doing that), you choose a lucky winner or two or seven, and you schedule your appointments. When your spa day arrives, you get dressed, get in your car, stop for a small bite to eat beforehand, get there, get in your robe, get undressed, get spa’d, get back in your robe, get dressed, drive home, get undressed, get back in your own robe. PHEW, that’s a LOT of dressing and undressing! What if things could just be… more luxurious?

ENTER: Grae Therapy, a full-service mobile spa company serving the NYC/North Jersey area, that delivers the full, incredible spa experience to your very own home. No dressing and undressing, no transportation, no ma’am! You can schedule your treatment in advance or call Grae Therapy on a whim, 23 hours a day. They are superstitious about the hours of midnight to 1 AM, however: “Something always goes wrong during that hour.”

This isn’t just a man with a portable massage table. OH, no, not at all. Aromatherapy candles, freshly made flavored spa water, spa tunes, a beautiful massage table, hot paraffin and smiling faces with an exquisite sense of hospitality arrive at your doorstep! You don’t have to move a muscle. In fact, they will literally move your muscles for you. Want champagne? Gourmet food made by a top NYC chef? Owner Tim Grae is the star of the show, and in his world, his clients get treated like royalty in their own surroundings.

Grae Therapy also does corporate spa days (it’s 100% tax deductable – tell your boss!) and spa parties galore. Are you a chef and need a massage right this second? Be careful what you wish for - Tim Grae will be at your restaurant in 20 minutes.

I was lucky to have the Grae Therapy experience and share it with my two fantastic roommates, Tracy and Jess, who work just as hard as I do. After work last Wednesday evening, we all got home around 7pm and by 7:30 our Alphabet City apartment was transformed into a dim, cozy, zen den with all the spa trimmings. We changed into our robes and most comfortable clothes. The Grae team filled our Brita and wine glasses with tasty fresh strawberry-orange-mint spa water. Spa music with an R&B touch filled the room with a calm coolness.

And the night-o-pampering began.
THE MASSAGES:

Tim Grae’s hands are a highly skilled and intuitive pair, and his personality is up there with his extreme therapeutic talent! There are some massages where you can tell that your therapist is going through a routine, starting with A and ending with Z. But Tim Grae went into our massages, each its own personalized mission to invigorate and respond to our bodies.

 

Jess, Tracy and I rotated I watched as Jess was stretched and twisted, but for me he spent more time kneading out the knots in my back. The communication between his hands and my back was seamless. He uses a mix of modalities, with Shiatsu being his favorite. He massaged me into a near-comatose state. WHOAH, did that really just happen in my living room?

Grae Therapy also offers a couples massage which includes instruction on “loving touch” and massaging your partner. Interestingly, one of the reasons Tim Grae became a massage therapist was because he realized that when a man touches a woman’s body, most of the time it’s for the man’s pleasure. Learning the techniques and shifting the importance to what feels good to a woman is one of the best skills a man can learn. (Hint hint, gents!)

THE MANICURES:

Like I said, Grae Therapy is full-service. They do scrubs in people’s bath tubs, and facials and beauty treatments that aren’t even on the menu. Danielle is their top manicurist, and wow is she a gem. She works with Deborah Lippmann on Fashion Week and special events and uses only Deborah Lippmann polishes and products – by far the best nail brand on earth.

She also comes with a portable hot paraffin wax machine and individual-use mitts; 10 or 15 minutes of no-hands relaxation is a beautiful thing! Especially when you’ve been Instagramming all night.

I was overwhelmed by the color selection (Deborah Lippmann, seriously… how do you do it!?) so I let Danielle play around and pick for me. She loved this idea. The only requirement was that the middle finger needed to be a different color. Voila! It’s I Know What Boys Like as the base color with Today Was A Fairytale as the sparkle.)

After a few indulgent hours, Grae Therapy cleaned everything better than it was to begin with, and left me on the couch in a blanket and towel cocoon, a happy-pappy grin on my face, unable to move. They saw themselves to the door, and I didn’t even feel rude – that’s just how it was intended. A little while later, I slipped into bed and fell fast asleep. Glorious.

That night was one of the best we’ve had in our apartment to date . There’s something so magical about transforming your apartment like that. Your home begins to take on pieces of spa personality. You can be sitting in your living room, remembering that magnificent massage that took place just feet away. You recall the aromatherapy candle burning slowly on your coffee table. It reminds you to burn candles more often, and to treat your home as your own personal sanctuary – all the time. It really changes things.

So, maybe I’m not a spa girl after all? Maybe I’m just a girl who loves to feel luxurious… right in her favorite place in New York City.

Grae Therapy now accepts Spa & Wellness Gift Cards by Spa Week! See the Grae Therapy website for prices and packages.

Disclosure – this amazing experience was complimentary.

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Happy Spa Week! Letter from The Editor

April 16, 2012 | By

That moment your body touches the massage table. The lights dim and your eyes seal shut, smiling still. The calming melody of spa music urges your mind to wander off to no place in particular. With every long, deep, sweet inhale, the aroma of fresh and powerful essential oils massages your insides from nose to toes. Your whole body begins to breathe, with no constraints, cozy and liberated under soft towels and spa blankets. As though a bouquet of colorful helium balloons is whisking you away on a perfectly secluded beach. Your shoulders and legs and feet and scalp tingle in anticipation. You taste bliss about to begin.

OH, how I love that moment. That feeling of longing. Knowing something so wonderful is about to happen and knowing you are going to feel so good for the next hour or two, and then even better in the long run.

It’s sort of like Spa Week. Today marks first morning of Spa Week Spring 2012! It’s that wonderful week where people all across North America get to experience moments like this in affordable abundance. We’ve been planning for months and months, but right now, it’s the calm before the calmer. And just like a good massage about to begin, I can’t wait for you to experience all the delightfully rich benefits of the spa lifestyle.

One of the reasons? Because in that delicious moment before your treatment, it just so happens your massage therapist is just as excited as you are.

“It is a very beautiful and powerful experience that I can create harmony and balance between my hands and people. I am exceptionally honored that I have this skill and can be rewarded every day for doing what I love.” — Soyoung Abbate, AVEDA Red Bell Spa in Hicksville, NY

It couldn’t be truer: All You Knead Is Love. Massaging hands come with passionate hearts. News broke earlier this year about massage therapy making the list of top 10 professions in 2012 (it’s the best job on earth!), so we celebrated with a blog series to celebrate the people with those magical hands. “What do you love most about your job?” we asked. The quote above was just one of over 50 we featured.

From combatting stress, migraines and insomnia to helping clients suffering from sciatica, cystic fibrosis and cancer, massage therapists share that they are all in this for one reason: To heal. To touch not just bodies, but lives. I strongly encourage you to read all 13 massage therapy blog posts if you haven’t yet. I have learned so much! These life-changing experiences are what make massage therapists as passionate about giving as we are about receiving.

What an incredible honor it is to be part of this industry. This week, savor every moment with your massage therapist or esthetician. Ask questions. Let them not simply pamper you; let them help you. Let them heal you. That’s why they’re here.

Enjoy, show your GRATITUDE (15%-20% of the original treatment price is standard Spa Week tipping!), and have a beautiful Spa Week.

Yours truly,

Michelle Joni Lapidos

PS. Tell me below what treatments you’re getting!

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Coping with Touch

April 10, 2012 | By

When faced with a terminal illness there are several dimensions of pain a person goes through. Besides from the physical pain, a person is faced with an equally challenging emotional battle. There is no easy way to deal with all the pain associated with a terminal illness and if your loved one is facing the final stages of life, it may be hard to know what you can do to help. Although someone may be accepting that death is near, this does not mean that they need to stop living.

A main concern for caring with someone with a terminal illness is to ease the pain. The quality of their days, not the quantity, really becomes the main focus. Holistic approaches are used as a way to help ease the mind, body and spirit. The physical pain needs to be acknowledged, but it just as important to treat the emotional pain. Massage therapy may have more power than we even know but here are some benefits of massage for a person who needs it most.

Behavioral Effect: When physical pain is eased, physical tasks are performed with greater comfort. Something as simple as being able to get dressed increases participation in a more active daily life. Doing normal things is one of the best ways to help you feel more like yourself.

Emotional Effect: Massage enhances positive feelings and mood. The ability to take a break from worrying and even smile can give the person’s mind a break from mental anguish. This cognitive effect, the interruption the cycle of pain and fear, can result in more positive thought patterns.

Social Effect: Touch and massage enhances the relationship between the ill person and the caregivers. Deeper relationships are formed and trust is established. Human touch creates a way for the dying person to interact and connect with others, decreasing feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Spiritual Effect: Human touch can enhance spiritual well-being. Feel like they had more of a desire to participate in life.

Massage’s capability to provide so many positive feelings in a person with a negative outlook is invaluable. Regardless of the condition of the body, the mind has control of the quality of life and massage can help encourage the mind and spirit.

“Several years ago, a tall quiet man in his late to mid 50s came to Bella Sante in hopes he’d escape from his worries or at least as long as the massage session would go. He wanted to feel human and have a safe place to himself. A place he would lay peacefully and be taken care of. The man just wanted his sore muscles to relax. He mentioned that he had a terminal illness and there weren’t many more days he would live. I mentioned to him that I will do my best to relax him. So I worked on him with gentle hands just as he wanted and spent extra time making him comfortable. And from what I could tell, he was. At the end of the massage, he thanked me with a hand shake and kindness in his eyes. A year later, a woman approached me in the spa lounge. She introduced herself as the man’s girlfriend and asked me if I remembered him. I mentioned to her of course, he was someone that I’d never forget. She also mentioned in our conversation before her boyfriend passed on he wanted her to come back to the spa and bring his twenty year old son. He wanted son to see me because I was his dad’s angel. From that day on, once a year and sometimes twice the son comes in for a massage with me.” — Ann-Marie Sevigny, Bella Santé in Lexington, MA

 

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Oh, The Nerve! Massage Therapy for Sciatica

April 5, 2012 | By

The sciatic nerve is the longest nerve in the body. This nerve is also a source for a lot of discomfort in a lot of people. The nerve! Sciatic nerve pain, known as sciatica, can create pain in the lower back, buttocks and down the back of the leg. This pain is variable and it can be sharp or dull, constant or intermittent, isolated to one area or it can run all the way down. The type and severity of pain depends on where the pressure takes place on the sciatic nerve.

Massage is both a natural and effective way to treat nervy pain. Massage can improve circulation and decrease inflammation in the body. Massage can help relax tense muscles that may be putting pressure on the nerve. A lot of treatments for sciatic include stretching and a massage may even serve the sole purpose of relaxing you muscles in order to stretch more efficiently. Plus, you’ll have a better range of movement, feel more relaxed, sleep better, and you’ll be in a better mood too!

Massage therapist Dexter Cabasug of Rio Spa and Salon in Las Vegas has had a lot experience treating pain associated with nerves.

“An older woman came to see me for low back pain and sciatica. The problem started in her late 20s. She had seen several doctors and specialist but nothing was working. She had been diagnosed with scoliosis. Her muscles on the left side of the spine just above the hip bone is much larger the opposite side. I found that the key was her psoas muscles are very tight. I worked the psoas and used stretches plus relaxing the surrounding muscles. After five sessions her sciatica is almost completely gone. It took months to work through the scar tissue, but it was worth it because on the left side, the size was reduced a lot. She is working with a personal fitness trainer to build muscle on her weaker side. And now she is doing well without pain.”

In addition, Dexter also found the benefits of massage therapy for nerve damage in much the same way as treating sciatica.

“One of my clients came into the spa with pain in the palms of his hands. His doctor told him he had nerve damage, he was told there were nothing else that it could be done, and it will only get worse. He asked if I could help. One week after the first session he returned, held out his hands and said it helped a lot, because he can open his hand with little pain. After several sessions the pain was gone.”

You should not rely solely on massage to treat sciatica or pain associated with nerve. There could be important underlying factors that are responsible for back pain and sciatica such as muscle imbalances, poor posture, or other personal habits that may need to be addressed. Massage should be used in combination with other treatments.

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