Sleep is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. But as life becomes more hectic, sleep tends to get short shrift. Now a spa brand believes it has the answer.
They call it “Mindful Dreams” – a spa treatment from popular Canyon Ranch SpaClub designed to help the restless get a good night’s sleep.
Tossing and turning? Forget the Melatonin or a brandy nightcap. How about 75 minutes of sleep-inducing massage using organic essential oils of lavender and rosemary?
On a weekend cruise to nowhere on board Celebrity Solstice, it seemed like the perfect way to ensure I was well rested.
My masseuse is a young, strong Balinese girl called Wayan. She says she’s been specially trained to offer this new treatment when it is rolled out on Celebrity Solstice later this year. It debuted on Celebrity Equinox and Celebrity Summit in America in August.
Wayan explains that the treatment starts with a sugar and seaweed scrub to help circulation. I had to be naked, but was discreetly covered with a sheet while Wayan worked her magic hands giving me a thorough body scrub.
Initially, the scrub seemed a little harsh and, at times, a bit painful. But when I showered, my body felt thoroughly cleansed as if the dead skin cells have been scrubbed away. I was ready for a massage.
And it was one the best body massages I have experienced.
For more than an hour, Wayan systematically gave me an invigorating body massage using her hands and elbows. She started with my legs, arms and back before turning me over and continuing with the process.
I must have been relaxed, because I felt myself drifting into sleep. Good news, right?
Wayan then gave me a facial massage, working on 16 pressure points all over my face to help circulation. This was followed by a stimulating head massage
At the end of the treatment, I felt I could easily curl up and sleep. Alas, it was only 6pm and I had a dinner appointment at Celebrity’s fabulous Sushi on Five.
“Sleep is no luxury,’’ says Param Dedhia, director of sleep medicine at Canyon Ranch. “With a restorative night’s sleep, you nourish your mind, body and spirit.”
So Canyon has combined nutritional seminars on the best food choices to aid sleep. There are also lectures and classes to promote the holistic approach on how to achieve mindful sleep.
Ideally, before and after the treatment, I should have spent sometime relaxing at the Persian Garden – the amazingly beautiful warm rest-beds and steam rooms next door. This helps foster a feeling of serenity.
Sadly, the Persian Garden was full on the day I had my treatment.
The lack of sleep is one of today’s hottest wellness topics. Many Australians regularly have difficulties either getting to sleep or staying asleep.
Studies have showed people who sleep well, enjoy better moods, have higher energy levels, better attention spans and faster reaction times. On the other hand, sleep deprivation has often been linked to anxiety, mood swings, irritability, forgetfulness and foggy thinking.
Princess Cruises recently introduced a new bed designed by a “sleep doctor”. They are proving so popular, the line is selling them to cruisers so they can continue to enjoy them at home.
But the biggest test of the Mindful Dreams treatment was whether I would have an exceptionally restful sleep that night.
As it turned out, it was a fairly rough night on the Pacific. My sleep pattern did not alter much.
It continued to be interrupted and the expected more than six hours of blissful rest eluded me.
Perhaps, my body needed not one but several Mindful Dreams massages. I’m happy to return to give it another try!
