SPA DOCTOR: Magic touch that got my neck moving again

SPA DOCTOR: Magic touch that got my neck moving again

I am a slave to my desk, too busy (or lazy) to even get up and make a cup of tea every hour or so. Even on lunch breaks I just dash downstairs to the cafeteria – via the lift, of course.

But a few weeks ago, my sedentary habits finally caught up with me. I felt a searing pain, like the stab of a thousand needles, from the top of my neck to my left shoulder blade.

Suddenly, rotating my head further than 30 degrees was sheer agony. 

Deep-heat cream didn’t relieve it, nor did three glasses of wine as I boarded a plane to New York the next morning to go to a wedding.

‘Blissful Marma’ treatment, at the New York Peninsula hotel spa, involves ‘Marma Therapy’, in which varying degrees of pressure are applied to 107 specific points on the body, said to calm the mind, stimulate blood flow and relax muscles

THE SOLUTION

Fighting my inner sceptic, I sought out ayurvedic treatment at the on-site spa at the New York Peninsula hotel.

Ayurvedic advocates believe that the mind and spirit (so-called ‘energies’) are vital for health and wellbeing, and that full-body healing can be achieved by stroking the skin and awakening the senses with various plants.

THE TREATMENT  

My ‘Blissful Marma’ treatment involves ‘Marma Therapy’, in which varying degrees of pressure are applied to 107 specific points on the body, said to calm the mind, stimulate blood flow and relax muscles.

An oily blend of jasmine, frankincense, brahmi herbs and Kewda flowers, when dripped over the body, is said to relieve muscle tension via inhalation.

Within ten minutes of soft, stroking of my shoulder, I feel a sudden release in my neck. 

Next comes a speedy facial using ashwagandha, shown in some studies to reduce inflammation. I then rest in a candlelit room, with unlimited chai tea.

As much as it pains me to say: it worked. My neck moved without any discomfort.

So was my spirit ‘reawoken’? Probably not. Was I bestowed the power of magic touch? Quite possibly.

• Double rooms at the New York Peninsula are available from £560 per night. The Blissful Marma Massage costs from £207. peninsula.com

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