360 Degree Peace Is A Stone’s Throw Away From This Hot Stone Massage At Rixos The Palm Hotel And Suites
The Anjana Spa at Rixos The Palm and Suites will take you on a Turkish themed journey to total relaxation
When it comes to massages I tend to stick with what I know. Who wants to pay for an expensive treatment only to discover they are not a fan of the new approach? This is why I had always steered clear of the Hot Stone Massage – images of the stones found in a steaming sauna always came to mind. But a lingering cold and aching back, after multiple long-haul work trips, made me reconsider my opinion and so I headed over to the Anjana Spa at Rixos The Palm Dubai Hotel & Suites to discover if I had actually been missing out.
Inside an expansive underground treatment room – where two large massage tables, a massive lounging sofa for post-massage relaxing with tea and fresh fruits, and even a private roman bath are on hand – the stones are nowhere to be seen. In fact, they only come out of hiding well into the 60-minute massage. Acting like a kind of treatment palette cleanser, after some sigh-inducing deep tissue work doled out by the strong, slender fingers, forearms and even elbows of Gita, my masseuse.
The first hint of the stones’ imminent arrival is the clacking sound of the black volcanic rocks as Gita places them in her hands and then by each side of my head. Their heat radiated towards me as her, now warmed, palms massaged the length of my back. Then in a blink, the stones were in her hands and ribbons of soothing, healing heat streaked down my lavender-oiled torso.
Progressively some of the stones were used to work out the knots in my lower back, while others focused on releasing the tension in my shoulders. And as each stone began to cool with use it was placed like a mini heating pad along the length of my spine. This is where they remained while my limbs got their turn with Gita. And again the hot stones returned to do their job, finding final resting places on the bottom of a foot or the back of a knee.
Once the stones had fully cooled they were whisked away. Then I flipped over and the rest of the massage continued along a more traditional path. Ending with a face and head massage designed to be an energising final flourish to a restorative treatment that I felt down in my bones. The only thing left to do was make it all the way home before falling asleep – my muscles loose, limber and warm, my mind at peace.
Lead Image Courtesy/ @rixosthepalmdubai on Instagram