Last week I had the most amazing visit to the Thai Square Spa in central london for a traditional Thai massage.
Whenever I am stressed, I hold it in two places - my jawline and my shoulders, the latter which aches and can make me grimace as I carry my rucksack too and from work, lift anything slightly heavy or stretch. So I was really looking forward to it.
The spa itself is absolutely stunning, taking in an eclectic mix of Thai, Roman, and Turkish spa décor. As you walk in there is an instant feeling of relaxation as you leave all your stress at the door and are submerged into the most wonderful scents of Jasmine that fill the air. The building itself, based on Northumberland Avenue, did in fact used to be a Turkish Bath and those features have been kept to really give it that feeling of luxury.
Inside the spa there are Four Traditional Thai Massage treatment rooms, seven Ritual Massage rooms and one vast VIP suite treatment room with private relaxation zone and steam room. The changing rooms which are the most wonderful vivid red decor have everything you need to get changed into your provided massage clothing - in my case because it was a traditional Thai massage, this is done over clothing, rather than directly onto the skin.
The traditional Thai massage is described as being both exotic and unique with the treatment bringing together a traditional Thai massage with deep tissue, pressure point and ancient stretching techniques. Designed to release tension, increase vitality and flexibility as well as to create a wholeness of the mind, body and spirit. If you’ve ever had a Thai massage before, you’ll know that the therapist will get into all those nooks and crannies to release pressure and tension, so it isn’t the massage you would choose if you want a thoroughly relaxing experience, instead this is the massage you choose to release all that built up tension, rid your body of aching shoulders, tight muscles and soreness.
The treatment starts with the washing of your foot, which a good friend of mine told me is done to bring purity and leave bad luck at the door - whatever the reason, it was delightful, and I say that as someone who hates feet or anyone touching mine. The next part of the treatment is to take your place on the massage table, the instructions on how to lie down and relax are clearly given and then my therapist, a simply wonderful lady who constantly checked the pressure she was applying was okay - it can get quite intense if there is some tension that needs to be released by the way. Throughout my massage, she worked on my feet, lower and upper legs, my arms, my back and my shoulders, which even with the slightest bit of pressure was painful, until magically she did something to release the pressure and the pain simple evaporated - a week later and still no shoulder aching or back pain. Once my therapist had finished, I turned over and she continued with the massage on my head (heavenly), the front of my shoulders, arms, legs and this time ankles before the final part of the treatment. At this stage you sit up and the stretching begins of absolutely every muscle you have in your body, or at least that is how it felt, and again that tension had all disappeared and with it, came the reminder from my therapist that as I hold my stress and troubles in my shoulders, I need to do my stretching every single day to help manage it, even if it’s just five minutes of my time.
After the treatment, I was taken to the most relaxing lounge where I sat and enjoyed herbal tea in absolute silence and comfort, on my own with no phone pinging or ringing, no emails demanding my attention. Utter bliss and I could have sat there all day.
Alongside the Traditional Thai massage, there is a whole host of other treatments on offer to choose from and I’d gladly make my way through each and every one of them, such is the feeling of being made to feel truly welcome as though you’re the most important person in the building.
