BORACAY EDITION 2014 : Mandala Spa Boracay : Rejuvenation and Healing

Everyone deserves a little luxury sometimes, agree? This keeps us centered, balanced and well admittedly.. sane. For someone like me who wears many hats juggling from being a yoga/barre3 teacher , a resort owner, restaurateur/partner, a wife and mother, I most definitely need a break once in a while. My Boracay trip this time was not only to attend the wedding of a really good friend but also to spend some quiet time away from it all.

What better place to do this and spend quality "ME" time (yes! away from everything and everyone including the hubby! *wink*) than at the most prestigious, highly acclaimed and award-winning Spa Resort : MANDALA SPA BORACAY.  I was welcomed to try out one of their signature treatments called Shodhana Karma.



The place is a secluded area in Station 3 which gives you a different ambiance all together. The entire property is surrounded with a vast plethora of lush greens and is complimented with the sound of chirping birds and crickets which triggers an almost automatic sense of calmness and peace within... definitely my type of place.

I arrived at the Spa center late afternoon and was warmly greeted by their friendly front desk staff. I was offered ginger tea while filling up the registration form and waiver.



The SHODHANA KARMA is one of their award-winning treatments and is not your ordinary massage because it goes beyond relaxing your body but actually heals it in the process as well. It is inspired by the ancient Indian system of natural health care Ayurveda. It promotes healing and rejuvenation by removing toxins from the body and is divided into three different parts. Just reading through the description of the treatment gave me chills already, I was beyond thrilled to try it.

Clicking away through the scenes on my way to the massage villa. How could one resist?

My massage therapist guiding me to my personal massage villa. Yes, I got my very own villa all to myself! 

 Inside the huge massage villa

I was first asked to change into a special Mandala Sarong and remove all my clothing and accessories/jewelry to prepare for the whole ritual. Then it began...

PART 1 :  Signature Foot Bath & Body Massage 

The therapist bathed my foot with warm water and soaked it in a wooden basin filled with water and rose petals. 

The full body massage followed shortly after with the use of cold-pressed sesame oil and herbalized with Calamus root powder. The molecules of the sesame oil are actually similar to those of our red blood cells thus allowing the oil to penetrate the blood stream, attract the environmental toxins and consequently dislodge them from the body tissue. Similarly, the Calamus root powder improves energy and supposedly helps during times of emotional exhaustion. What was amazing the massage was the "gentleness" of my therapist. Her hands felt so light, just barely touching my body while she transitioned and positioned me throughout the massage. She asked what pressure I wanted and I replied "medium" since I'm not a fan of hard massages. And she did exactly that. She achieved the perfect pressure using gentle, soothing yet solid long strokes allowing my muscles to completely surrender and release all the tension from within. With my eyes closed and both body and mind thoroughly relaxed, I fell in love with her angelic touch that stroked each part of my body from the tips of my toes and fingertips all the way up to the crown of my head. 

Part 2. Swedana (Sauna Ritual)

After the massage, I was asked to proceed to the sauna room inside the villa to go through the Swedana which integrates several cycles (my therapist said that it's best to do it 2-3 cycles of about 10-15 minutes each then rest outside and rehydrate for about 5 minutes in between). Through perspiration and exposure to sauna head, the immune system is stimulated and the endocrine glands are regulated. This was perfect for me because of my history of hyperthyroidism so anything that stimulates and regulates the endocrine system is most welcome. They even use a special rosemary oil in the sauna water that also has an invigorating effect.

I did 2 cycles of 10 minutes each then ended it with a nice warm shower to prepare myself for the next part of the treatment. 

Part 3. Ubvartan Body Scrub

The treatment closes with the removal of impurities through a body scrub, a gentle exfoliation process using still Ayurvedic ingredients. The oils used balance emotions and restore mental and physical equilibrium. Sandalwood connects to our soulm geranium balances the emotions, cardamom alleviates hypertension and lemongrass is a kidney tonic. This was done in another part of the room where there is a specific massage bed covered with banana leaves that I lay on. The therapist used small circular motions to scrub the whole body and exfoliate the skin. The rinsing part also happened in that same bed through 4 showers that were suspended and hanging. I was not able to ask my therapist to take a picture since it would utterly disturb the flow of the ritual but instead posted the picture below which I got online.

Note : This is NOT me in the picture but I wanted to post how it looked like to give you a visual of how it was done. 

The massage ended with me taking a final shower and removing the remaining residue from the scrub. Believe me,  I didn't want it to end because I was thoroughly relaxed that I felt like I could already doze off to a goodnight's sleep ( and this was just around 7:30 pm!). 

What an ultra luxurious experience it was. It's something you'll have to experience yourself to be able to grasp how wonderful and enriching it is both mentally and physically. One of the best spa experiences I've had thus far! I am determined to come back and try the other treatments on my next visits to the island. 

MANDALA SPA BORACAY

Station 3, Boracay Island,

Malay, Aklan

Philippines

Tel : +63 36 288 5858

Email : reservations@mandalaspa.com

Website : www.mandalaspa.com

Facebook : www.facebook.com/mandalaspaandvillas

Life is good,
Pattie