Foot Reflexology Massage Benefits, Experience

It’s been ages, since I had been itching to try something on the lines of "pampering yourself”. Now, with amazing rejuvenating therapy centers like “Ayush therapy center” and the new spa "Body and Soul", near my home at Koramangala (Bangalore - INDIA), I was bound to be tempted to lay my hands on some of these experiences. Moreover, I never got indulged in any of the relaxing and rejuvenating services, except for my usual chore of meditation. I wanted to try something new (even though it meant spending some thousand bucks!). So, I booked an appointment at the nearest Ayush therapy center.

The appointment was made for the evening, so I spent whole day doing my research and anticipating what would be in store for me. At around 5 PM I received a call from the center, and the lady told me that their steamer had stopped working after the whole day's usage, so if I am interested I can go for the rejuvenation process without steam. I didn't want to do anything incomplete, so I asked her to schedule another appointment for the next Sunday.

I was a bit disappointed with this, and anyway I was ready to go out, so I decided to try something at the nearest "Body and Soul" spa. It lies on the 80 feet road, Koramangala, just above the Reliance Footprint showroom. The spa covers the next two floors above the Reliance footprint and looked quite promising to a newbie like me. They have opened this recently; hence don't have any website or reviews online. Still, I went ahead and asked the receptionist about the services they provide.

The booklet she showed me was all German and Italian to me. I could not understand even a single description written on it, except for the hair, eye, foot, body, weight loss and nails. I began to feel worried and a bit embarrassed about my total unawareness of such "beauty" and "spa" jargons. Since I was alone there, I felt it safe to ask her to direct me for any rejuvenating thing, which can be good for a rookie like me.

She suggested me to go for the Thai foot reflexology treatment. Earlier, I thought it to be some kind of mechanical treatment, where I might be placed in some machine or asked to do some weird poses. But, she calmly told me, that it is a rejuvenating massage of around 40 minutes, where the attendant would massage your feet till knees, with her hands and fingers, activating certain pressure points on feet, which would help in relieving pain, stress and any blockages. She gave it thumbs up and told me that it would be extremely relaxing. I sighed and gave it a go.

I was asked to go to the second floor, where I was greeted by a girl who looked quite warm and friendly. She looked someone from Thailand, and wore the traditional Thai dress. She asked me to wait for five minutes, during which time I browsed through the airbrushed magazines kept there, wondering about the lives of all those celebrities and models in them. They somewhat always look quite alien to me, as if belonging to some other planet.

After five minutes, the girl who greeted me, came to me and escorted me to a dark room lit with aroma candles, which looked extremely soothing. There was beautiful flute music being played at a low volume in the background. She asked me to sit on a huge couch, which she adjusted for me, so that I could lie down peacefully on it, and then she covered my eyes with a small white towel.

The next 40 minutes, were amongst the most blissful moments of my life. I was totally in peace, without any thoughts, without any worries. I could only feel the music, the gentle massage, acupressure points and some sort of hot and cold liquids being applied to my feet. I didn’t know what good that might have done to my body, but those 40 minutes were certainly something worth spending my money at. Below is the process, which I fairly remember:

1) She first wiped my legs from feet till knees with hot towels.

2) This was followed by the application of some gel or massage oil on my right leg. She massaged it with her fingers from feet to toe and then to the knee, pressurizing gently on the muscles and bones, which was extremely relaxing.

3) After doing the same thing on the second leg, she began to use some sort of pen like tool (which I later found out to be a rosewood stick, typically made for the reflexology process) to press certain points on my feet.

4) She then slapped my feet at various places and wriggled my toes.

5) After that she did some more massaging on fingers and feet and gave some round foot movements.

6) After the entire treatment, she wiped both my legs with cold towels and asked me to get up.

7) Next, she gave a gentle tapping massage to my head, neck, shoulder and back muscles - Amazing.

I came out of the room, thoroughly relaxed and feeling peaceful after much longer time. She asked me to sit on one of the chairs in the lounge, and brought me some hot Thai tea. It was sweet, aromatic and had some cinnamon and other herbs in it.

The experience was indeed good, and I was tempted to take their monthly offer which included other massages as well like Fish spa and whole body treatment like chocolate wraps. But, I somehow stopped myself from this instinctive expenditure, and thought of waiting for the Ayurvedic Rejuvenation process, I’d be going through next Sunday. Once, I experience the second one, I might be in better position to decide, which one should I commit to!! Experienced people are free to give me suggestions here. :)