If the road – it’s a lane actually -- leading to Mystic Salon & Spa is a disaster, the therapy, which lasts for the next one hour, is just the divine intervention that’s needed. It’s a place that doesn’t disappoint. It’s a spa centre that ensures you a very polite staff, a gorgeous ambience and a luxurious setting in the midst of a maddening, bustling lane. It helps that the windows are close to 80 per cent — if not more — soundproof, it certainly helps that the rooms are plush, complete with a very Zen-like feel and immediately inviting. In short, it’s clean, rich without being overtly opulent and very, very inviting.
Having gone there just a few days ago, I found myself gazing at the vast menu of therapies that the spa offers. I took another 30 minutes to make up my mind; wondering if I should opt for Ayurveda, Thai massages or just stick to reflexology. The centre also offers other regular salon services, by the way.
I decided on the traditional Swedish massage, a heady therapy, which, according to one of the staff members at Mystic, was the best. Decision made, I was then led to the first floor of the spa where, after getting served a cool bottle of mineral water, I was staring at one of the most beautiful rooms of the space. A special mention about the interiors of the place: It was large and spacious with spectacular wooden flooring that broke into little pebble-stone islands. There were faux palm trees, a bamboo plant (to further add to that Zen-like tranquility), Jacuzzi area with luxurious Grohe fittings, a therapy bed on which – unfortunately — a wilted carnation greeted me.
Anyway, Maria, my therapist, got down to the business of kneeding different points which, in my case especially, are inflicted with stress knots. What she used was orange-flavoured oil, which had extracts of – what else – orange and what I suspected, even a hint of pepper. This feels warm on your body and is especially suited for those who are prone to dry skin. Actually, I was impressed that Maria, looking at my skin, could immediately tell it was dry. However, I do wish spa therapists – in different centres, and not just Mystic – specifically ask clients if they’re at all allergic to certain oils.
The massage felt blissful but my only concern was the Maria’s hands, though deft and soothing, were very soft on the massage. No, it felt right but considering the bundle of knots and draining energy filled inside the body, a good, firm massage was really what I’d needed. She slid and grasped and twisted and turned – gently, very gently – different parts of my body that one almost felt the rhythm in her hands. Working her way from head-to-toe, which is the main aim of this therapy, Maria tackled the neck, arms, shoulders, legs and feet and the soles of my feet, back with unequivocal ease. I even muttered, “Bless you” a dozen times, I think.
Smelling like one large, humungous orange, Maria, with her gentle smile, rounded off the 45-minute therapy with a head massage. “It’s complete,” she said finally while I struggled to rise from the most blissful stupor. In 45 minutes of surrendering myself for the massage, I’d journeyed into luxury and a state of calm, all at once. A quick shower and change and a steaming cup of frothy cappuccino with no one, just silence and a room where a faint fragrance of the orange essential oil filled the air, I was geared to face the madness of the outside world all over again.
45-minute Swedish massage treatment. Price: Rs 2,800
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