For the massage, Saini chose dhanwantram oil for me, to help balance the vata and pitta doshas. It promises antioxidant effects with its cocktail of roots, flowers, herbs, oils, and spices, as well as cow’s milk. My therapist, Constance Nicolas, used confident, medium-to-firm strokes to work the oil in and then pressed the oiled elakizhi bundles into my back. My elakhizi contained a cooked mixture of fresh Moringa and fenugreek leaves, lemon slices, turmeric, rock salt, and grated coconut and were ingeniously nestled in a Crock-Pot, where they lay warming in dhanwantram oil. The aromatic vibe was more Indian restaurant than spa, and the bundles felt warm and squishy as they were pressed into my skin. They squelched and frankly felt a bit unappealing but worked almost instantly. I floated off into that space between sleep and wakefulness, where I remained till my treatment ended. My muscles felt less tense, and a sore spot on my shoulder had vanished, so you wouldn’t have caught me caring about the fact that I smelled a bit fenugreek-y on the way out.
The Well New York
I’ll start by saying The Well is the exact opposite of a traditional Ayurvedic spa—the minimalist, modern retreat in Manhattan’s Union Square is a luxe oasis offering a variety of wellness modalities. The treatment I got wasn’t strictly Ayurvedic either. It was, in fact, a Swedish massage, but what drew me in was the Marma Point Scalp Treatment, a 10-minute experience that can be added on to any bodywork treatment. Similar to acupuncture points, the 107 Marma points are key spots on the body, and Ayurvedic medicine believes activating them can benefit the body and mind. Head massages, both with and without oil, are vital therapies in the South Asian beauty and wellness canon, and I wanted to see how The Well would interpret them.
Really well, it turns out. My therapist, Krystel Laudante, started with the Swedish massage using sesame oil, and by the time my hour was up, my hunched shoulders that had rigor mortised in the vicinity of my ears had descended to their anatomically correct position. The head massage was just as restoring. With warmed coconut oil, Laudante gently massaged my head and worked on several points on my forehead, face, and scalp. It was a gentle touch with no more pressure than a caress, but at the end of 10 short minutes, I was floaty. My experience here might not have been truly Ayurvedic in practice, but it definitely was in spirit.