Spa Canada Magazine

Twice in a blue moon

By Jim Carr

It’s not the legendary world of the Blue Moon – but Shangri-la’s Chi Spa in Bangkok comes close with its own magical world of sight, sound and rituals to take you to another time and place.

Moving shafts of light, the smell of scented incense, the ringing sound of Tibetan singing bowls and Tibetan artifacts throughout the spa combine to create a mystical other worldliness.

Light spills through a screen to create a temple-like atmosphere and as you go through each phase of your treatment, the lighting changes to enhance your mood. Even the bath creates a sensation of floating and weightlessness.

Chi’s therapies are based on ancient healing traditions, philosophies and rituals of China and the Himalayas.

The spa takes its name from the Chinese concept of Chi – the universal life force that governs our well-being and vitality. According to Chinese philosophy, the Chi must flow freely within your body to maintain good health. When blocked, “dis-ease” and illness follow. Chi’s treatments are based on these principles and are designed to restore balance and harmony to the mind and body.

“The Chi experience is a different experience … mystical, yet grounding … and in line with the Shangri-la legend,” says Vikki Aquino, director of spas for Shangri-la – Thailand.

“It’s about having time for yourself and the reason why we try to create the temple feel … so that when you come to the spa, it’s timeless … just as it was in Shangri-la.”

The spa’s concept and treatments were developed in collaboration with a team of recognized experts in traditional Chinese medicine and Himalayan healing arts. Its exclusive range of products under the Chi name is based on the five elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water.

To restore the balance of these elements, Chi Spa adopts a holistic approach to physical and spiritual well being. “It’s what sets us apart,” says Vikki, “and it starts when we welcome our guests and seat them at the Inner Sanctum and ask them to fill out our consultation form.”

The form asks a few medical questions as well as a brief, four-item questionnaire about the guest’s five elements.

At that point, the therapist will clarify any medical concerns and establish what the guest is looking for in terms of treatment before dealing with the element questionnaire.

“The questionnaire is crucial because it enables us to match the massage and essential oils that will be used to balance the guest’s dominant element.” According to Chinese and Himalayan healing traditions, everyone has these five elements with one or two dominant.

“The dominant element is usually your knee-jerk response and we explain to the guest how it affects their body or thought and the practical way to balance it,” adds Vikki.

Wood, for example, is the element of dynamism and wood people are naturally competitive and adventurous. As the first element in the cycle, wood people are particular about being the first to know, the first to finish or the first to have. This element also symbolizes birth and growth – so wood people are always on the move, eager to learn or explore. Wood people also have a tendency to walk or talk fast or both.

“We also explain the benefit of the treatment chosen or recommended and how it will help balance their element – and their yin-yang energy.”

The guest is then introduced to the therapist who escorts her to the treatment suite. The names of the suites are derived from James Hilton’s Lost Horizon, the concept inspiration of Shangri-la Hotels and Resorts.

In the treatment suite, the guest changes into a spa robe and rings a silver Himalayan bell when they’re ready. The guest is then seated and given the spa’s signature foot ritual. The protocol is the same in every Chi spa around the world – but the products used are local.

“In Thailand, we use lotus flowers and Thai herbs; in the Philippines, coconut milk is used, and in China, Chinese herbs.”

While the feet are soaking, Chi’s Tea Ceremony begins, in which a specific blend organic element tea is used. “We want the guest to feel regal and we do this by sewing the tea in a jade tea cup on top of a copper stand.”

Why jade? Because in olden days, arsenic and mercury, the main poisons used then, the royal family ate only out of jade cups or bowls because jade changes color when exposed to these poisons.

From the footbath, the guest is taken to the Himalayan bath – if included in their spa journey. If not, they are brought to the treatment table, where the sounds of a Tibetan Singing Bowl are used for energy clearing followed by a body or facial massage. The grinding sound of the tingsha – a pair of cymbal-looking set of bells, representing the yin and the yang – signals the end of the treatment.

After the treatment, the guest retires to the spa’s resting area, where their specific element tea awaits, again served in a jade cup. After this, the guest is escorted back to the inner sanctum or to the spa boutique and given a five-element bookmark. The spa also emails the guest a thank you note for their visit on the following day.

Tibetan philosophy, she adds, always seeks the middle path – balancing the yin and yang. “Finding that balance is always at the root of our treatments. Our essential oils, also based on the five elements, are blended in such a way that if you’re wood energy, for example, the essential oil we would choose would be the one that would balance your wood energy.”

When most travelers get to their destination, says Vikki, they’re usually pre-occupied by two things – when are they going to start their tour; and how much shopping can they do. If it’s a business traveler, it’s when will they get to their meetings so that they can hit the town and experience the city.

“What you want them to experience when they enter the spa is to forget about everything else and just focus on themselves.”

Chi’s signature key treatments help them do that:

The Chi balance massage includes acupuncture, an energizing massage to stimulate yang energy and calm yin energy, using pure Oriental oils to harmonize Chi flow.

The Himalayan Healing Stone massage uses a special set of stones – Tibetan river stones – carved by Buddhist monks. Each stone has a special symbol. There are eight stones in Himalayan philosophy, representing the auspicious things in life. When applied in the massage, they represent the mind-body connection.

“We believe strongly in the exchange of energy in treatments,” said Vikki. This ancient massage was inspired by the healing rituals of the Hor region of Tibet and uses a combination of hot stones, heated in oils and herbs to ground the body and restore vitality, and cool stones to balance stress.

“The beauty of the Himalayan healing stones – what makes them so special – is the origin of the stone. They are prayed over and then laid out in the light of a full moon to get energy.”

In this treatment, the stone becomes an extension of the therapist’s hand, so that when the therapist is working on an individual, he/she cannot tell whether it’s the stone or the hand of the therapist.

Mountain Tsampa Rub is a barley scrub, also from the Himalayas, used to encourage skin rejuvenation while removing dead skin cells. The body feels refined and the skin tone and texture, revitalized and refreshed.

Chi’s journeys range from a 150-minute Enchanted to a 280-minute Serenity package and include Chi’s signature bathing and cleansing ritual, which uses ingredients based on a 1,500-year-old healing tradition of the Himalayas. The ritual starts with a salt scrub, which takes place on a warmed stone plinth. The salts have their own special history. They are gathered by nomads from the ancient Tethys Sea, found at 15,000 feet in the Himalayas and believed to be 250 million years old.

“It’s the purest salt of its kind available,” says Vikki, “and when combined with aromatic herbs, the salt has a detoxifying effect.”

Next, the application of Himalayan red mountain mud mixed with silagit, a rare mineral extract from the Himalayas, coveted by maharajas as a rejuvenator. The skin releases toxins while absorbing the minerals through osmosis.

The mud wrap is followed by a Himalayan head and shoulder massage to calm and cleanse the mind and then a soak in the Blue Moon Spring Bath – a subdued lapis blue light, much like the cleansing rivers of the Himalayan plateau. And finally, a few minutes in the spa’s color therapy shower, where the body is bombarded by the gush of warm and cool water and then a full body massage or facial.

Key massages include the traditional Thai massage; Swedish massage; a reflexology foot massage called Asian Bliss; Inner Balance, which combines a Thai massage and a reflexology foot massage, using pressure points to stimulate all major body parts and organs; Yin/Yang harmonizing massage, specially created for couples in the same room; and Sen Chi, a detoxifying treatment that massages the internal organs with deep pressure to flush out stagnant toxins.

Chi offers four types of facials – Chi facial, which uses aromatic herbs and oils to awaken the mind and body; regenerating facial, an intensive facial for skin in need of vitality; oxygenating facial, designed for fatigued skin’ and the Futuresse Caviar Deluxe treatment, rich in protein, which helps in cell repair.

In Nepal, where red earth is common, women smear wet red mud on the floors at dawn as a religious act of purification for the house. Red mud and minerals also have a long history in Himalayan pharmacopia. Muds from sacred pilgrimage sites are considered to have their own unique healing properties.

The mud wrap remineralizes the skin, helps to improve hydration, tone, refine pores and deep cleanse. With its anti-inflammatory properties, it also relieves joint, muscular aches and pains and eases fluid retention.

The Garden Suite, the largest in Bangkok (107 square metres), has a garden area with an Infinity bath set in a lotus pond and a private lounging area.

Each spa experience takes place in one of Chi spa’s nine private suites with their own “spa-within-a-spa”, complete with an Eternity light soak tub, herbal steam and shower, relaxing lounge and changing and vanity areas. All have incredible views of the Chao Praya River and private access to a secluded swimming pool and outdoor Jacuzzi in the hotel’s luxury Krongthep Wing.

Four spa suites, designed for couples, also feature the “spa-within-a-spa” concept. Another five are designed for couples.

Shangri-la has its own brand of products called the Chi Collection, created exclusively for Chi Spas. These products – massage oils, mists, body and bath products, including the five elements soaps – are available at Chi’s retail boutique.

Ingredients used are sourced directly from the Himalayan region and used since ancient times by indigenous people for healing and ritual purposes.

Chi Spas also uses Futuresse skin care products from Biodroga, Germany.

It’s not just the treatments or even the name that makes Shangri-la so special, adds Vikki.

“It’s the people and the centuries-old healing arts and wisdom that go into them. And unlike the Shangri-la in the book, you can always come back. Many of our guests do.”