Bali Kopi Scrub

If you swoon when you pass a city coffee bar, imagine that smell for a full 45 minutes while the most fragrant of blends is smothered all over your body. Admittedly this coffee body scrub was only recently invented to cater for our addiction to the aroma of freshly ground beans. In Indonesia, where this scrub is offered, people stick to drinking the stuff, less as an excuse to sit and chat and more to give them energy while they work.

This scrub, rougher than some and ideal for male skin, is offered at all Mandara Spas (at The Chedi, lbah, Bali Padma and Nikko in Bali), the Novotel in Lombok and Malaysia's The Datai) according to this recipe.

Ingredients
200 gms (6 oz) Balinese coffee beans, ground
40 gms (3 tbsp) kaolin clay (or cosmetic clay available at health shops)
pinch ground pumice stone (optional)
1/4 kilo (1/2 lb carrots, grated or blended
10 gms (1 tsp) gelatin, already set (optional)

Steps
1. Balinese coffee is the most fragrant of all Indonesian varieties, but you can substitute this for your favourite blend. Crush the dried beans quite finely and mix with the kaolin clay and ground pumice. Add a splash of water.
2. Rub over the entire body, later rubbing more vigorously so that the mixture sloughs off.
3. Rub the carrot, which can be mixed with the gelatin for easier application, into your body to replenish any lost moisture during the exfoliation process.
4. Shower and moisturize.

Papaya Body Polish

This erotic-sounding elixir has become synonymous with TheOriental Spa in Bangkok. Around the world people talk with titillation about their pureed papaya, smeared into all the body crevices which are left to sweat under a plastic sheet. Papaya contains certain enzymes, biochemically known as papain (it is used as a meat tenderizer) which soften and revitalize the skin when absorbed. The papain also settles the stomach, making it one of the best things to eat for all upset tummy. It is also perfect as baby food.

At home use ready-to-eat rather than unripe papaya (as the acid is too strong), puree it and spread it everywhere, without rubbing. Allow your body to sweat by rolling yourself up in a plastic for 20 minutes. Wash off and feel the results!

Just as Cleopatra used to bathe in sour milk to keep her skin smooth, tropical Asian women daub mashed, ripe around their eyes to keep their wrinkles at bay. Due to the fruit’s mild exfoliating properties, the skin loses a layer and wrinkles appear less noticeable. The enzyme contained in papaya works like an alpha hydroxy acid (a natural fruit acid that acts to remove the flaking cells on the skin's surface) without the tendency to cause skin irritation.

Coconut Body Glow for Sensitive Skin

Some 60-70 percent of women believe they have sensitive skin; if you fall into this category, try one of nature's treats: freshly shredded young coconut (rich in nutrients but not over-abrasive). The Mandara Spa at The Chedi in Bali offers this scrub using nutritious coconuts from Sulawesi.

Ingredients
half young coconut, freshly grated
1/4 tsp turmeric powder (or 1 cm tumeric root,grated)
1/4 kilo (1/2 lb) carrots, grated or blended
2 tbsp gelatin, already set

Steps
1. Mix the freshly grated coconut with the turmeric (the latter is used for its cleansing properties and high vitamin C content).
2. Gently rub the mixture all over your body.
3. Leave for- five minutes and wipe off with a wet, warm cloth.
4. Mix the carrot and gelatin and apply to the skin. This adds conditioning nutrients to the skin after the exfoliating process.

Mandi Kemiri for Mature Skin

If your skin tends to be a bit rough and leathery, you'll go nuts for a Mandi Kemiri, which literally leaves it glowing and feeling like silk. The pale, round keimiri or candlenut oozes so much oil that when crushed, it both exfoliates and deeply moisturizes the body. This luxuriant skin scrub is exclusively offered at jamu Body Treatments in Jakarta and Jamu Traditional Spa, Kuta, Bali.

Ingredients

10 pieces peeled candlenuts

a few shavings galangal (can substitute with ginger or omit)

Steps

1. Grind the nuts coarsely in a pestle and mortar and add the white ginger so that the mixture looks and smells vaguely like crunchy peanut butter.

2. Rub gently over the entire body and then rub harder with the palm of your hand. The nut oil extracts dirt from the skin's pores so that when the scrub sloughs off with rubbing, the granules, which started out as a taupe colour, have turned dark with dirt.

3. Rinse under the shower. If you like the oily feeling on the skin, which is neither heavy nor clogging, don't use soap. Enjoy the lingering nutty aroma.

Thai Herbal Wrap

Enjoy this soft and aromatic body wrap only in 'Thailand where the healing properties of the country's mineral-rich mud remain both a mystery and a secret. For a particularly seductive herbal wrap, which looks and smells more suitable for the dinner table than the body, visit The Oriental Spa, Bangkok. Here the hotel chef mixes a closely guarded recipe of white Thai mud, milk and turmeric, herbs and sesame oil which smells divine and feels soft and silky when applied to the skin.

Your body is wrapped in a plastic sheet, topped with towels while the creamy Thai mud concoction draws out any infection and impurities from the body and heals blemishes on the skin's surface. After perspiring gently for 20 minutes, take a shower, pat dry and feel the smooth, satin texture of your skin. There is no need to moisturize.

Alternatively the magic mud mixture used for the wrap at Chiva-Som (opposite) is dark and viscous like treacle. It feels warm and velvety on the skin and likewise is applied over the entire body, which is wrapped in a plastic sheet and covered with towels. This mud comes from the north of the country and is mixed with turmeric, marjoram and natural spring water.

Cucumber Wrap for Sunburnt Skin

Feel the heat seep out of your sunburnt body using cucumber and essential oils. The best Cucumber Cooling Wrap is offered at the spa at bali hyatt. here's their recipe.

Ingredients

2 kilos (4 lb) cucumbers, plus skin and pips, whizzed in a blender

2 drops lavender oil

2 drops tea tree oil

2 drops camomile oil

Steps

1. Cover your body with the cucumber mixed with the essential oils.

2. Wrap the body in a gauze or cotton sheet; leave for 30 minutes.

The cucumber feels cool on tender skin and you can sense the heat being drawn out of your body.

3. Cucumber leaves the skin soft, so moisturizing afterwards is optional.

Volcanic Clay Body Scrub for Cellulite

Sadly there is no quick fix for beating that orange peel look that decorates the thighs of 95 percent of women. Improved diet, drinking water, dry skin brushing, swimming and yoga all help. And luckily the volcanic island of Bali is home to mineral-rich clays, which seep into the skin to break down those fat cells that are packed in a mattress effect underneath.

25 gms (2 tbsp) Balinese clay (or any clay with purifying properties)
30 gms (2 tbsp) sea salt
water

Steps
1. Mix ingredients together, adding a little water to make a light paste.
2. Wipe cursorily over entire body. It leaves a thin, white film and feels prickly as it penetrates the skin.
3. Once the paste is dry, rub the skin so that it is sloughed away.
4. Shower and massage. The best essential oils for cellulite are nutmeg and rose. Add a few drops to a carrier oil or your favourite body cream, and apply liberally.

Traditional Lulur

The queen of treatments literally, this spice and yoghurt exfoliation and body polishing process has been practised in the palaces of Central Java since the 17th century. There, the pursuit of beauty has long been a daily ritual and the Javanese Lulur an integral step, leaving skin soft, supple and shining. Today, the Javanese Lulur (lulur is Javanese for ‘coating the skin') is more usually administered each day during the week prior to one's wedding day. This stems from the belief that a bride should be at her most clean and pampered in preparation for child bearing — her first and foremost duty as a married woman.

This lulur is on the menu at all Indonesian spas offering 'traditional' treatments; it includes a massage, a spice-wrapped and yoghurt-coated body blitz, and a blossom-filled bath. It is an aromatic experience and lovely for all skins, although, if you're having difficulty choosing a body treatment, this one responds best to younger skins. The turmeric content can turn skins temporarily yellow, but generally this is a favourite, all round body treat.

For a traditional lulur that really makes you feel like a princess, the Pita Maha Private Villa Spa in ubud, Bali, offers an hour and a half treatment using this recipe:

Ingredients

small bowl a favourite body oil

30 gms (2 tbsp) rice powder (finely ground rice)

10 gins (2 tsp) turmeric

5 gms (1 tsp) sandalwood

3 drops jasmine oil

splash water

500 gms (2 cups) natural yoghurt

handful a selection of fragrant flowers like rose, jasmine, ylang-ylang, frangipani... or whatever you like.

The rice powder, turmeric and sandalwood are ground together in a pestle and mortar or bought packaged as a powder.

Steps

1. Massage your body with your favourite oil.

2. Pulverize the spicy ingredients into a brown, granular paste, with a splash of water, and smear onto your body.

3. Once dry ,gently rub the paste off the body in order to exfoliate and polish the skin.

4. Rinse your body under the shower.

5. Splatter your body with natural yoghurt using your hand to cover all crevices. Yoghurt contains a form of lactic acid that restores the natural pH to your skill and moisturizes it.

6. After rinsing, soak in a warm, flower-filled bath. Petals float over your body and the scent envelops you in a floral haze.

Balinese Boreh

If you reach for the Vicks pot at a hint of a chesty Cough, this body scrub is for you. Out of all the oriental treatments the Balinese Boreh offers the most potent sensation an all-over deep heat experience. The scrub is purely and simply a herb and spice mix: It is a centuries-old village recipe using spices we more readily associate with curry, and is prepared to warm the body at the first sign of windy weather.

As a tropical people, the Balinese live in fear of the cold and the health problems it can bring, so the whole family has boreh both as a curative and preventative treatment.It feels really hot; it's good for fever, headaches, muscle aches, arthritis and chills. It increases the blood circulation and its exfoliating ingredients — cloves and rice — soften the skin.

The boreh is not recommended for pregnant women as the penetrative ingredients direct the heat away from the womb area to the body's extremities.

While most Balinese spas offer the boreh, this recipe comes from the Nusa Dua Spa
Ingredients:

20 gms (4 tsp) sandalwood

10 gms (2 tsp) whole cloves
10 gms (2 tsp) ginger
5 gms (1 tsp) cinnamon
10 gms (1 tsp) coriander seeds
10 grass (1 –2 tsp) rice powder (finely ground rice)
5 gms (I tsp) turmeric
10 gms (1 tsp) nutmeg
10 gms (1 tsp) lesser galangal water or spice-blended oil
3 large carrots, grated
The first eight ingredients are ground together in a pestle and mortar or bought prepared in powder form or dried in balls.

Steps:
1. Add a little water or- spice-blended oil to the herb and spice mix to make a thick paste. For those who cannot tolerate a strong heat sensation, mix a greater proportion of ground rice powder to reduce intensity.
2. Cover your body; leave for five to ten minutes; feel the heat!
3. Rub the skin vigorously so that the mixture flakes away.
4. Gently rub the grated carrot into the skin. This replenishes moisture after exfoliating.
5. Shower and moisturize.

Aromatherapy Bath

The bath is a perfect place to enjoy the sensual pleasures of aromatherapy oils. Simply drop one or a combination of essential oils into warm water and spuddle. Some of the oils' properties are absorbed into the skin while the rest evaporate into the atmosphere for inhaling, simultaneously soothing muscles and mind.

For calming use camomile, lavender, rose.

For detoxifying use ginger, sage, rosemary.

For passion use ylang-ylang, geranium, sandalwood.

For brain boosting use grapefruit, lemon, mandarin, peppermint, pine.

Floral Bath

For those of us born outside tropical Asia, the floral bath is the nub of the 'tropical spa experience. We can hardly believe our eyes when a bucket of vivid blooms is tossed into the water purely for our pleasure. It is a sybaritic moment when the velvety petals tickle our bare skin. Flowers —jasmine, gardenia, tropical magnolia, hibiscus, frangipani, bougainvillea, poinciana, rose, globe amaranth, alamanda and ylang-ylang — are chosen both for their fragrance and rich colours.

In line with tropical mores, Asians believe flowers are the tangible link to the forces of the spiritual world, representing a symbolic purge of our earthly impurities. In Asian spas, the Floral Bath is not Usually offered as a treatment on its own. It is often used as the finale to one of the many tropical body treatments on the menu. It becomes an opportunity to savour the cleansing, experience and relax for a further 20 minutes or so.

Ocean Bath

This bath focuses on the healing properties of unrefined sea salt harvested on the east coast of Bali. Although not strictly thalassotherapy, this bath relies on the nutrients in the salt to draw out toxins from the body. The benefit of sea salt is based on the premise that sea-water has practically the same chemical make-up as human plasma allowing the body to easily absorb its healing properties.

The Ocean Bath at The spa at jimbaran, Four Seasons Resort, Bali is altogether a more exotic affair. Not only are the pure sea salts mixed with Bali Sunset Oil containing coconut, vanilla and citrus blends to uplift the senses, this hour-long treatment kicks off with a scalp, neck, shoulder and back massage. As if that were not enough, it takes place in the privacy of your own villa, where the bath tubs have earned ail International reputation for their depth, size and comfort.

Mandi Susu

The tale of Queen Cleopatra and her milk baths is well known, yet do you know anyone who pours a few pints into the tub before climbing in? Trust the Indonesian people within their deep grasp of the good of the natural, to have their own form of milk bath. Known as Mandi Susu, it has soaked Javanese princesses for centuries as ail elixir of eternal youth. Milk, from a goat, sheep or cow, makes skin radically soft and pure to the touch.

Modern formulations of this popular ritual have eliminated the taste and shell of milk while maintaining its nutrients with softening proteins. The Mandi Susu is a sought-after bathing ritual at the St Gregory Javana Spa in Singapore where therapists leave you soaking in a cloudy white tub for 20 minutes and advise you not to rinse afterwards. At home, you can pour fresh or powdered milk in with the bath water. Or for superior baby-soft skin, try natural yoghurt or buttermilk, but be ready to hold your nose!

Body conscious

Long limbs and vital statistics are minor contributors to the beautiful body. Much more important is the state of mind that sits on top. While there is barely a woman alive who is content with her natural shape, every woman can improve her body by upping, the respect that she pays to it. This is achieved by taking time for herself – a vital part of life that most of us ignore.

The Asian approach to achieving and maintaining a healthy and beautiful body is a sensible one. For a start, it has no time for fad diets and punishing stomach crunches! Traditional body treatments from the tropics outstrip those from everywhere else in the world in number and variety and all of them rely on nature's own pharmacopoeia to produce results. Certainly not skin deep, they not only cleanse and soften our skin, but also draw out impurities from within. Their ritual of application (especially at the hands of dedicated therapists in a spa context) relaxes us, empties our minds and soothes our souls in an atmosphere of peace.

All this emphasizes the oriental philosophy that regards beauty as a holistic concept embracing both the inner and outer self. For example, there are everyday words in Indonesian language that are part of the more specific lexicon of body care which have no real equivalent in English. Indonesian women talk about having a lulur or mangir or mandi susu as readily as westerners talk of taking a shower. This chapter reveals some of the more exotic body treatments, be they scrubs, baths, wraps, heat treat­ments and polishes, for glowing skin... and improved self-esteem!

The elements of the asian spa

Whether you go halfway around the world to relax or create the experiences at home, you'll draw on the same basic elements water; air, fire, and earth.

Water fresh or saline- hot, warm or cool... water is restorative and purgative. Water has been the essence of a traditional spa since ancient times. lmmersion is the sum and substance of ritual purification in most religions, for water is the most powerful yet soothing element on earth. According to Hindu legend, tirtha or holy water is carried from the sea by a beautiful goddess and drunk to obtain immortality, Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of good fortune rose from the foam, and as she did, so the rivers changed course to flow to¬ward her. The Chinese Kuan-Yin, known is Kannon in Japan, is goddess of water and the moon; she is often depicted sitting on a lotus blossom, a pure, water-rooted flower that symbolizes enlightenment. Lakshmi and Kuan Yin are undoubtedly related to the Yoruba goddess Yemaya, ruler of the rivers and seas, and Aphrodite or venus, the Greco-Roman deity who was born of the ocean. In Botticelli's famous painting, the birth of venus, she rises up fully formed on a shell. After a long spa. soak, you may rise from the tub feeling something like that yourself.

Scenting the air is the easiest way to create a spa mood at home, for a fragranced atmosphere – whether from burning oil or incense – enhances your sense of well-being at the first moment you inhale. But taking a few moments to breathe consciously will allow you to really center and thus benefit more deeply from your spa experience. Conscious breathing is different from normal breathing. The latter comes instinctively. To breathe consciously you become aware of your rhythm: lungs fill¬ing with air, ribcage expanding, body filling with the energy of that inhalation; then the reverse, letting go but without losing that energy.

In Oriental philosophy, breath is synonymous with inspiration from the gods, so it is no wonder that mind-body activities such as yoga and meditation focus on conscious breathing. Air is breath, and breath is life. From yoga to tai-chi to chanting, conscious breathing helps us relax Into calmness as still as a lake or, conversely, helps us tap into the rushing rivers of energy. The chi of tai chi means "vital breath", as does the ki of aikido and the qi of qi gong. In yogic philosophy, it is prana, the life energy that unites us with one another and with the whole universe.

Fire is another of the primal elements and its benefits have been used in many different cultures for purification purposes. While roaring flames don’t figure into the spa experience, the pinpoint of light emitted by a burning candle provides a most effective means of centering yourself. More dramati¬cally, an array of candles in a darkened room can transform familiar surroundings, an effect heightened by the burning of fragrance. Don't forget the heat sensation from a poultice, such as the Thai Herbal Heat Revival, or even the warm comfort produced by the friction of skin against skin in massage.

Radiant skin and shiny halt- have been created from Asia's vast botanical heritage. On the Indonesian island of java alone 6,500 species of plant have been recorded. Malaysia lays claim to 3,600 species of tree, and other tracts of rainforest still wait to be discovered.

Many of the natural treatments that are now commonly used throughout tropical Asian countries trace their origins to the palaces of Central Java. From the 17th century until today, princesses from Solo,Yogyakarta and Surakarta have experimented with natural potions of their own making. Some remedies remain safely hidden behind palace walls. Others, such as the Javanese lulur, have found their way around the region, and even the world, This famous body scrub of rice, spices and splashes of natural yoghurt is a skin-softening elixir that eclipses the best commercially available body creams. In this book we also include treat¬ments composed from clay, mud and salt.

Then there are flowers. For all Asian people, flowers are part of everyday life, right down to ablutions. If a. rose-petal bath is impossible (and unfortunately urban plumbing may prohibit such a sublime sensation) you have essential flower oils to recreate the fragrance and luxury of a floral bath. Consider the blossom-based treatments of Balinese culture, and then rec¬reate them for yourself using the recipes in this book: a floral foot soak at the start of each treatment, a massage with flower-based essential oils, an aromatherapy scalp treatment, and finally live blossoms woven into the hair. Is there anything headier?

Food for the body, inside and out

What better way is there to appreciate the harmony of health, beauty and the natural world than by transforming flesh foodstuffs into natural treatments? Many of the spa ingredients in this book are easily found in your local supermarket, if they are not already in your cupboard, turmeric and ginger, honey and sesame seeds, for instance. Also, foods no longer need to be in season to be available. Tropical fruits such as avocado, papaya, coconut and lime are ^, easily found year-round. Hard-to-find items are often available from

specialist Asian grocery stores. Even in mid­size cities, you'll find such exotic items as lemon grass and galangal, a rhizome in the ginger family. Then there are the ingredients you can grow yourself, in pots on the Kitchen counter or in a small plot in the backyard: aloe and mint, for example. Your intuition will guide you as to what's right for you. It may be honey or mud, sea salt or clay.

Another pleasure of a home spa is the smell, taste and feel of your treatments - familiar foods with new and slightly exotic sensations. A trickle of cucumber pulp between the toes beats rubbing cream into your heels.

The heat of cloves and ginger smeared over your shoulder of the pungent smell of coffee bean wafting up from your cleavage elicits a sensuous shiver of delight. Moreover, the effect of some of these traditional whole food treatments is grounded in science. For example, the lulur or body treatment with its all over yoghurt body splash or the Papaya Body Polish pureed from whole fruit, contain mild acids that are akin to the alpha hydroxy acids (AHAs) we've seen touted on the pages of women's maga­zines at stratospheric prices. Milk and fruit acids loosen the bonds between dead skin and the live layer beneath it. Exfoliate with a loofah or terry towel and you'll reveal glowing skin with

a smoother texture and more uniform color The benefit of a whole-food treatment is that it is gentle and gradual. You will be unlikely to experience any irritation on contact with the skin as you may with the concentrated comercial product (just be sure to rinse off your treatment entirely before going in the sun). And, of course, It feels as luscious as it looks.

Sharing your spa experience

We began by suggesting you try a solitary spa experience, because with a schedule full of appointments and family obligations, some times all you want is a little bit of peace and quiet by yourself. But sharing your spa time –with a partner or a friend or even a small group can be. just as fun.

Spa therapists make their clients feel special through attention and touch. This is exactly what we do for our partners, and what they in turn do for us. Combining intimacy with therapy is a wonderful way to escape together. Not only does it give you tranquil time away from the bedroom, it expands the range of spa options, because now you have someone to rub your temples, massage your feet or, for-example, administer an Aloe and Lavender Wrap to every square inch of your body.

Traditional massage is one of the most important aspects of the Asian spa regime, because it embodies the essence of yin and yang. "Massage is a healing experience for the giver as well as the receiver, and life energy will flow between the two," says Khun Sutthichai Teimeesak, chief massage therapist at Bangkok's Oriental Spa. What's more, the time away from pressing concerns will strengthen the bonds between you both as it loosens your individual or shared tensions.

The communal bath has long been a feature of civilization, from the Roman therma to the Finnish sauna, theTurkish hamam to the. Japa¬nese hot tub. With that in mind, why not invite your closest girlfriends over for an afternoon of aqueous bonding and indulgent spa treatments? There may be more serene ways to experience mind-body healing, but they won't be as enjoyable. Besides, who else would be willing to spend three hours with you perched on the side of the tub wrapped in a towel? And who else would you permit to see you in a rice-powder mask? If you have access to a backyard pool or an outdoor shower, all the better.

You'll heighten the camaraderie with the scent of jasmine. Throughout Asia it is the fragrance of friendship and femaleness. You might also take a cue from one of Bali's top spas and break halfway through the afternoon with cool fruit drinks or herbal teas and a fruit plate prepared beforehand.

A spiritual retreat

The temple of well-being you create in a personal retreat is not only the physical space that encloses your body, but your body itself. Your personal temple Lakes shape from the inside out. You might, for example, spend a few moments just breathing. Exhale the ten­sions that have built within you,

allowing a cooler, calmer air to enter your lungs. The flame of a candle may help to focus your thought- or allow those thoughts to drift away - while a centering fragrance such as sandalwood may create just enough of a veil to separate you, if only for a brief period, from the rest of the world outside. True tranquility comes from a serene inner core, of course, but burning pachouli, vetiver or clove oils in your bedroom will create an atmosphere thick with calm. The scents themselves may affect you physically. That's the theory behind aromatherapy; it suggests that the limbic system – the most primal area of the brain responds to scent in a reflexive way. With a whiff of an invigorating scent such as ginger or peppermint, the brain releases endorphins to energize the body. With a calming scent such as vetiver or sandalwood, it releases serotonin, which tells the nervous system to slow down. It is no coincidence that sweet-smelling incense and flowers are abundant in places of worship, where you come to sit quietly and look inward.

But let's return to your- own personal temple. “To make the right choices in life, you have to get in touch with your soul. To do this you need to experience solitude,” says Deepak Chopra. While you're in the solitary place you have created, why not try chanting? A chant is a form of vocal meditation, a focused combi­nation of sound and breath that resonates in your chest and expands outward through your body, creating a vibrational ripple that extends into the universe. The simplest and most powerful chant is "Om", the metaphorical sound of the universe. Take a deep breath. On your exhalation, let sound and breath come together: You might say the word in three seamless syllables: ahhh from deep within in your chest, oooo as it rises into your throat, and mmmmmm

as the sound exits your mouth and your lips come together: Hold the chant for as long as breath and sound can comfortably travel together (You'll find that the more you chant, the deeper and longer you are able to do so.)

Those who chant regularly will tell you that sound stimulates the cakras, the energy vor­texes that exist in the body. The higher cakras — those in the chest, throat, forehead and crown — are particularly affected by the vibration of sound and breath. Another secret, then, is that new experiences offer different paths to relaxation.

Yoga is another such path. The benefits of its gentle twists and stretches are effective before, during or after your spa session. If you practice the classic Salutation to the Sun, a series of standing and bending asanas, or poses, you'll loosen your body in preparation for a soak or scrub. If you're feeling lethargic from a heat treatment, a bit of stretching will energize you. Conversely, if you find you're not as relaxed as you'd like to be during your spa session, mindful movement will help release tension. With the pliable muscles of a relaxed body you'll find it easier to extend into stretches that are normally difficult. If you're new to yoga, your spa-loose limbs will allow you to experiment with the poses more freely.

You will likely come away from even a few moments of chanting or stretchin^g with a fuller heart, a clearer head, and a body pleasantly free of tension. So cleansed, you may feel that a Honey-Cucumber Mask for your face or a Kemiri Nut Scrub for your feet is beside the point. But remember rupasampat wahya bhiantara. Why not complement the inner glow of meditation with the outer glow of exfoliation? It is easy enough to organize in your own home.

Creating the Asian spa experience at home

The essence of an Asian spa is tranquility. therapy and spirituality packaged in a tropical setting. To lay back amid lush vegetation, per¬haps cooled by an ocean breeze, is to let life's stress evaporate slowly from every pore. So you're not in a hut by the ocean? Be inventive, and imagine you are in Bali or Thailand. Substitute the background ebb and flow of the ocean with a CD which plays wave after wave of quiet and splash. You don't even have to get wet to feel refreshed! Should you choose to Lake a dip, immerse yourself in the bath. The sensation of floating weightless is primal and powerful. Water, after all, was our first home. To recreate that feeling of warmth, safety and isolation, fill the tub at just about body temperature, and take a relaxing bath .You can maximize its sedative effect with calming oils such as ylang-ylang or sandalwood, and a scented candle at one side. A hot-water soak quickens pulse and induces perspiration, allowing the kidneys to work more efficiently without working harder. Ginger or nutmeg oils enhance relaxation and purification. A hot soak is powerfully soporific, so after 15 minutes or so, you may want to inhale an energizing whiff of peppermint oil to help you climb out of the tub.

Alternatively when you take a shower the rainforest you produce in your own bathroom will ease your mind as well as your muscles. The sound of falling water can do that. Music will heighten your sensation. For an Asian mood try the xylophonic rhythms of the In¬donesian gamelan ,the meditative notes of the Japanese shakuhachi flute, trance-inducing gawwali chants, and the near hypnosis of sitar based Indian ragas .Their harmonics will soothe Your rough edges,flushing out the dissonance of tension and filling you with a deep sense of calm. (And, of course, for those deeply rooted in Western tradition, there's always Mozart or some Chopin preludes.)

One of the delights of a tropical spa is the use of outside space. At home, this might be an early-morning dip in the swimming pool before a facial, or an outdoor shower under-the stars to wash off a yoghurt rub. Perhaps it's`simply a secluded spot under a. shady tree in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. So you trade the bale bengon the, Javanese daybed – for a webbed chaise longue. Whether inside or outside, the point is you're giving yourself 20 blissful minutes with, perhaps, honey and cucumber on your face, or your hair-wrapped in a towel for an aromatherapy scalp treatment – and no one to concentrate on but yourself.

Needless to say the Indonesians have a phrase to describe an experience like this: leha leha is a Javanese expression that stands for peace, relaxation, daydreaming, a mind emptied of tension and stress.