There are days when a mere massage won’t cut it. You know, those times when you’re feeling so run-down and short on inspiration that you just want to spend the day being pampered. (That’s you too, fellas. Even if you’d never admit it.) Next time that feeling strikes, head straight to an all-in-one healing spa. They’ll look after you better than even your mother could.
Verita Advanced Wellness
Opened earlier this year, Verita is a wellness haven that truly goes the whole nine yards. Here, you can customize a program to help you achieve your personal health goals, like reducing fatigue, weight loss, boosting your immunity and digestive tolerance levels and managing stress. You can treat pretty much every aspect of your wellness using Verita’s natural healing therapies, most of which also encourage relaxation. If you’ve got respiratory and skin conditions like asthma, bronchitis, sinus and eczema, you can opt for halotherapy, a salt air exposure therapy thats popular in Eastern Europe ($60, for 60 minutes). There are two man-made salt caves here, covered in Dead Sea salt to maintain a highly anti-bacterial environment. During the session, all you need to do is sit in the cave while pure sodium chloride is dispersed into the air using a nebulizer. Once inhaled, the salt particles are said to help clear the respiratory tract and break down mucus. They also allegedly help to repair skin and stimulate skin tissue growth. For some intense stress relief, try their flotation tank therapy ($80 for 60 minutes), which involves floating on the surface of water highly saturated in Epsom salt in a chamber that’s been removed of all stimuli (sights, sounds, temperature and even gravity). You’ll float almost immediately as the solution is 10 times more buoyant than sea water, and you’ll be exposed to 15 minutes of music followed by 45 minutes of silence, to allow your body to enter a peaceful and meditative state.
308 Phoenix Park, 6737-2377.
Wayan Retreat
The Balinese are known for their traditional healing methods, one of the reasons why some say a trip to Bali can haunt you for the rest of your life. If you want to relive the elaborate long strokes of a traditional Balinese massage, Wayan is the place to go. There is the Rural Kampung Urut ($68 for 60 minutes) here, using fresh ground ginger and onion, as well as the Balinese Boreh ($38 for 30 minutes), a scrub that uses a jamu-based (Traditional herbal or organic medicine) mask made of spices like pepper, nutmeg and cloves. You can also try their Javanese Lulur ($38 for 30 minutes,) a full body scrub filled with the scents of turmeric and other essential spices. If you’re so inclined, another must-try is the Wayan Kempis Perut ($138 for 60 minutes), an award-winning tummy trimming treatment that includes a slimming massage and a couple of minutes bound in a Balinese wrap cloth while you undergo a relaxing face massage.
61 Bussorah St., 6392-0035.
Ayurlly Ayurvedic Spa
Ayurveda (Traditional Hindu system of healing that focuses on diet, herbal medicines and yogic breathing) has been practiced in ancient India for centuries to help relieve bodily aches and pains. Ayurlly’s one of the more informed ayurvedic spas here, with energizing treatments using herbal oils, blended powders and even medicated food. For instance, if you’re suffering from sports-induced pains, you might want to try their Navarakizhi ($110 for 60 minutes), where hot medicated rice pudding in cloth bags are applied throughout the body to supposedly help level your physical consistency and nerves, and calm your throbbing muscles. Guests suffering from conditions affecting the head such as insomnia, headaches and even facial paralysis can try the Shiro Vasti ($108 for 45 minutes), where a proprietary blend of oil is held over the head with a special leather cap. There are also treatments for stiffness in the neck and fingers, as well as arthritis.
#05-11/13 The Verge, 2 Serangoon Rd., 6737-5657.
Aramsa The Garden Spa
There are quite a few “outdoor spas” in town—we’re not called the Garden City for nothing. But one that stands out is this award-winning hotspot for relaxation that not only encourages the use of nature in its treatments, it also encourages the raw food diet, exercise (there’s a Pilates studio here) and customized holidays (we like!) as part of the healing process. Complimenting their botanical theme, the spa uses only natural, herb-based products in their treatments, which include the oxygenating Swedish Recharge ($98-138), the stimulating Thermal Earth hot stones massage ($158) and specialized massages concentrating on tension-relieving, acupressure (Chinese treatment of symptoms by applying finger pressure to specific pressure points on the body) methods as well as quick and focused anti-stress rubs. Start afresh with their detox therapy package ($98), which includes exfoliation with ginger cream, a therapeutic ginger rub and a firming and contouring abdomen massage. There’s even a detox ear candling option ($58), accompanied by manual lymphatic drainage on the face and neck. We’re also fans of their Australian eatery Canopy and The Green Room Café, which offers vegetarian cuisine. Signature dishes include gado gado and baked mushroom brown rice—perfect accompaniment to the treatments here.
Bishan Park II, 1382 Ang Mo Kio Ave. 1, 6456-6556.
