Pure and Complete Relaxation

Let me start by saying I have some of the most wonderful friends a guy can ask for. I may not be dating the love of my life or live on a mansion one the side of golden gate park, but my friends are just the best. For a late birthday gift J decided that for the guy who has everything including a stressful job, a day of pampering was in order at the Nob Hill Spa. Yes she bought me a day at a spa, a new and strangely unfamiliar experience for me. For the guys out there like myself I will try to reveal some of the closely guarded secrets inside these exclusive houses of luxury.

The entrance is benign enough, directly next to a posh hotel, with two striking ladies waiting behind a counter with bright smiles on a Saturday morning. We give our last names and after a couple of quick waivers reminding us that Jacuzzis and saunas are hot places we were hand walked into the garden of Eden. There were a couple of alcoves on the way identified as tranquility sitting areas with perfectly arranged Japanese tea sets on a wooden tables surrounded by luxurious brown leather chairs. We then went down a wide circular staircase into the heart of the spa. Locker rooms awaited us with soft carpeting and hushed attendants walking around in slippers and quiet smiles. A quick change into a bathing suit and bathrobe and we slip out to the common pool/Jacuzzi area. Although both calm pools designed to not have a single lip but instead seamlessly blend from patio to water looked inviting we instead circumnavigated out to the patio for the first non-rainy day in many weeks. A couple of glasses of ice cold water with lemon or cucumber helped begin to relax the mind as we gratefully sank into super plus lunge chairs overlooked downtown San Francisco. A couple of hours catching up with a close friend is never a waste of time especially when spending that time soaking up some rays from a long awaited sun.

But then the time comes and without a whisper a woman comes out to the patio and calls our respective names. We are individually led to the massage room. You enter a narrow room filled with soft indirect light no brighter than a darkened movie theater. Soft tones fill your ears, not from any known song but electronically compiled collections designed to be both pleasing and just as quickly forgotten. Candles are lit along a couple of the corners basking the room with faint shadows that dance to the random movement of the music. A sink along one wall and a massage table fills the majority of the space inside. My personal guide to the garden is Liz, who quietly closes the door, welcomes me and bids me to make myself comfortable on the table while she steps outside. It takes me a minute or so before I realize that this a clue to strip off the bathing suit and return to my birthday suit under the soft sheets of the table. Laying face down with music and smells of massage oil filling the air the pull to sleep begins to overcome my body. She returns with a quiet knock and a quick question if there any particular places she should focus on. I mumble a general, ‘everywhere will be great’ and she quietly begins. Now this I can not describe, for the next 50 minutes passed like a blur interruption only by her requesting I turn over to my back. Sleep or a state of deep meditation overcame my senses a number of times. I only remember a couple of particulars like when she wrapped my feet in warm washcloths while massaged the tissue underneath. Or the sweetly organic smelling oil that she rubbed deep into my body. By the end of the 50 minutes I was in pure paradise. Once complete she again stepped outside providing me a little privacy to get up and return my swimsuit. A complete head rush ensued with even lifting the body into a half sitting position. Walking was completely beyond me for a couple of minutes. Finally I shuffled out to find her waiting just on the other side of the door with a glass of ice lemon water to help refresh the body. I was led by another attendant back into the locker room where I quickly moved into the sauna to simmer out any residual toxins still in the body. 20 minutes lying down on the oak benches with a cold cucumber soaked washcloth brought on a comfortable sweat to mix with the oil, followed by a refreshing ice cold shower. Dressing and returning to the fore mentioned tranquility seating area to replenish the body with some fruit and tea completed the day. Never before have I ever felt so invigorated and ready to take on the world. There was absolutely no pain anywhere in the body and mentally awake and alert. This ladies and gentleman is what relaxation feels like. Thank you J for a fabulous birthday gift.

The beautiful part of this gift is that it was unknowingly perfectly timed for this week was one of my most stressful in recent memory. With all types of executive leadership fire drills and more initiatives that one can shake a stick at we were all busting to complete our deliverables and help each other. I don’t think I had more than 20 minutes between the hours of 7am and 6pm any day last week where I was not on the phone in some meeting or talking to some team member in a far flung location like Israel or Amsterdam. Thankfully next week I simply have one day in the office and then home to Baltimore to spend a few days with family for Passover. More on that later, for now need to catch up on some emails as clearly yesterday was not a day for work.