The Dead Sea, poorly named but with redeeming qualities

Out of the blue I thought about the Dead Sea yesterday. No idea where it came from, except that I’d been in the Dead Sea, which is actually a lake, in 1997 when I visited Israel. I’d heard so much about how, because of the high salt content, you can sit in the water like you would an armchair and be buoyant enough to read the newspaper without getting it wet. You’ve seen the pictures like the one on the left, no doubt.

They don’t tell you how oily and skanky the warm water is. I had a minor freak out when I first got in; there were so many dead bugs floating around me and, since the water is not the clearest, I kept thinking god-knows-what is under there. Fish and other aquatic plant organisms can’t survive but microbial fungi and bacteria can. But I was determined to float and I did, alà BarkOlounger, though sans newspaper—they were all in Hebrew anyway! (I was there the day Diana died in the car accident and I went crazy trying to get details in the press, though, fortunately most people on the street spoke English.)

I also did the mud baths. You know, everyone slathers him and her self with mud and then takes pictures to show back home. Except that like most vacation photos when you excitedly try to get friends to looks at them there’s always that I-guess-you-had-to-be-there moment.

I did the same thing when I was in Sicily with my family and we took a day trip to the volcanic island of Lipari and threw ourselves into the sulphur baths. We looked like ghosts in the photos and smelled like match sticks for a week. Big fun.

So what are the health benefits of these DIY treatments? Research suggests that as for the Dead Sea, between the high mineral content in the water, the absence of pollens and allergens in the dry atmosphere, the solar radiation that emits reduced levels of UV and high atmospheric pressure can all have salutary effects on respiratory conditions and even cystic fibrosis. So without actually going there, do those packaged Dead Sea Salts have any benefit on skin conditions? Maybe, but I’m betting on as much.

When I was visiting Israel, I saw nothing that looked remotely like a spa (though I could have missed it). Today, however, there are several to choose from. This one, which calls itself The Living Dead Sea looks nice. Anyone every been?

Just Thai Massage (because I can't think of a catchy tag that hasn't been overused, like Thai One On)

The first Thai massage I ever had was with an American named Paul Fowler who, after quitting his job as a school teacher, took off for Thailand and just sort of wandered. In the northern city of Chiang Mai he heard about a Thai massage teacher, Pichest Boonthumme, and decided to study with him for three months. He later completed his formal training at the Cortiva Institute Chicago School of Massage Therapy

As Paul put it, Pichest was “revolutionizing the practice” by bringing body awareness into the mix. Before him, Paul said, Thai massage could be a rather rote encounter. Pichest “brought a more thorough understanding of energy and how it flows through the body, and he has an amazing ability to use the body in the most ergonomic way possible so there’s no strain for the person giving the massage.” That's good because Paul says sometimes Thai massage "cannot be very thoughtful to the giver."

Pichest is considered one of the premier and respected teachers and according to Paul, almost all American and even Thai massage practitioners have trained under him—and he’s still only in his 40s.

Is a brief description of Thai massage in order here? The study and practice of Thai massage, known as nuad boran, is a two-person experience between practitioner and client. Clients are fully and comfortably clothed as the practitioner stretches, applies pressure and manipulates clients to release energy and restore balance and harmony. As a client, you must be vocal about how deeply you would like your practitioner to go. Part of this is taken care of, since her or she will feel how you are or are or are not relaxing into the movements. But flexible people should be self aware at all times.

Styles, however, differ. In the north, which is the style Paul learned and practice, is more yogic and flowing while, in the south the technique involves more pressure-point work.

Because of all the variances, and because like all ancient healing practices that have been ushered into the 21st century, the Thai massage world is in the process of creating a professional organization called the Thai Healing Alliance to educate, professionalize and embrace all types of Thai massage.

I was sort of weepy after that first Thai massage. It was a combination of an extreme sense of well being, utter gratitude that Paul offered it up to me and a true sense that I was leaving somehow elevated by the experience.

Dragon-slaying advice

The other day, before yesterday’s post, I spoke to a consistently excellent massage therapist that I go to whenever I can during the family’s yearly X-mas trip to Long Boat Key, FL. His name is Lito Nacua. Lito, who describes himself as “high touch, low tech” does not have a web site, but his business’s name is St. Armands Therapeutic massage, 310 John Ringling Blvd., Sarasota, FL. He was both trained in his native Philippines and also at the prestigious Paul St. John Institute here in the U.S.

Lito talks about the value he’s gleaned from both East and West training and approaches. Between the two he’s created a fantastic style that takes equally into consideration client need and his skills. Lito says that in the Philippines he was trained in the popular technique called Hilot. It employs the traditional (read old, he later came to find ) anatomical sequence chart, and to learn to work intuitively (his instructor was blind).

When he came to the States he enrolled in Paul St. John Institute and, as he said, he not so much forgot what he knew but he learned a lot to add to his toolbox, as it were.

Asian practitioners commonly emphasize visceral massage, something they call surrounding the dragon, which says that if you heal the muscles above the organ, you will heal the organism. It's commonly used in acupuncture as well. Surround the Dragon. Get it? Poetic.

What he loved when he got to St. Paul’s, is that their applied neuromuscular technique, scientifically bore out what he’d learned intuitively by his master teacher. He learned step-by-step protocols for all his actions and between the two now feels his training is complete.

When I asked him how a spa goer could ensure they’re entering a relationship with an adequately trained therapist he responded, “Ask them where they got their training from.”

That’s a good start. Try it. I’m going to.

A head scratcher

It was bound to happen. The myth had to catch up to reality. But when the New York Times writes a story about it in their Sunday Business section it’s clear that the spa-goers are taking a stand in favor of across-the-board higher standards.

The story, entitled “Beyond the Body Wrap: What Makes a Spa Stand Out?” focuses on how spas—all 15,500 of those in the U.S. to the tune of $9.7 billion dollars this year alone, not to mention exponential users and revenues worldwide—have arrived at a day of reckoning.

I don’t mean to sound ominous about it, but like all industry phenoms, the spa industry, due in large part to its spectacularly quick and astronomical ascent, is finally being given the magnifying-glass test by being asked to reconcile their consistently steep prices with not-so-consistent services.

The article quotes users who say they’re disappointed how treatments can vary wildly from spa to spa but the one thing that remains consistent is the large fees. The most egregious are the resort and fancy hotels who think nothing of charging several hundred dollars for some treatments and, though anyone rarely complains about the fancy amenities, they often complain about the middling services they receive.

Can some kind of standards be set up and upheld? That was the question, and it’s a tricky one, especially since not even all of the states in the U.S. require working therapists to have licensing of any sort.

Susie Ellis', the prez of Spa Finder, suggestion is that when calling the spa to make your appointment you should not do what most of us do and ask who is the best therapist—they will only vexingly respond that all the therapists are great! No, instead, she says, you should ask who the most popular therapist is. I’m still thinking about that as a viable solution; after all winning the popularity contest could mean a lot of things, not least of which is that your appointment will probably not be tomorrow—or anytime soon. I'd rather ask who has the most training, or the most experience.

On the other hand, the senior VP of the Four Season’s Asia-Pacific operations, Neil Jacobs, maintains that high cost vs. low cost does not dictate quality. He suggests that getting a $5 massage on a beach in Thailand will fetch you just as good quality as their $150 version. So why don’t they just go to Thailand, recruit the best and charge something closer to $5?

I’m needling ol' Neil, of course, and I have a mind to call him. But come on! In the article I found one response simplistic and the other kind of patronizing.

Since I’ve been using up lots of brain cells lately trying to suss out how to cope with East vs. West training and styles, and especially how to make each spa experience the best ever, this article has only created more questions for me. You?