The following is an e-mail message I sent to friends in June. A few days ago, I received a postcard from B+M announcing a sale: 15% off until August 30. The spa’s address is 31 S. Beretania St., and phone number 524-8588.
Several months ago, a place called Body + Mind Spa opened up across the street from where I live. I was curious about it, but never saw anyone go in or out (though once when I peeked in through the window, I did see a few people inside). Last month, I received a pamphlet through the mail, and a week or two ago, I finally decided to make an appointment. Went yesterday; to my surprise, the spa was open at noon on a Sunday.
A young Asian man came out and asked me to fill out a couple of forms, similar to the ones you get at the doctor’s. He then went into a back room. I was a little worried about sharing personal health information with a business, but ended up filling out the form pretty accurately. After I finished, another young Asian man came out, and I gave him the forms.
Then the first man returned and led me through a door and into a small (6 x 9?) room. A small bed stood in the center, and the room was illuminated by a few small ceiling lights and a candle. He directed me to sit on a stool, take off my sandals, and immerse my feet in a bucket with a bluish liquid in it. It was hot, but not as hot as he’d warned me it would be. He left while I soaked my feet. A few minutes later, he came back, lifted my feet out of the bucket, and wiped them off.
Then he told me to get on the bed. I did and asked him if I was to lie down (he had probably said to do this, but I didn’t hear it), and he said yes. Awkwardly, with all kinds of thoughts filling my head, I lay down. He came up to me and put a heavy towel across my chest.
He then left the room, and I lay there staring at the ceiling lights, the fabric panels draped under the lights to soften them, the ornaments decorating the wall on my left, and the dark curtains on my right. Everything seemed to be from Thailand or Indonesia.
I forgot to say a couple of things. He asked me if I wanted to keep my clothes on. I said yes, and he said that was fine since he was just going to massage my feet (I’d requested the Siam foot reflexology). Soothing Indonesian(?) music played throughout, at one point concluding in a chorus of bird songs.
A few minutes later he came back, sat on the stool I’d sat on when I immersed my feet, and put some kind of oil or ointment on his hands. For the next hour or so, he massaged my feet and calves. At first I was very nervous, but after fifteen or twenty minutes, I became so relaxed that I nearly fell asleep. I felt terrific when I left and decided to go back in two or three weeks.
Here’s the URL for the website in case you want to take a look: http://www.bodymind-spa.com/. The spa has both male and female therapists.
