Pampering For Blokes

Andrew swaps beer for beauty and indulges in his first ever pampering package (in the safe confines of his own home!)

If you’re anything like me when it comes to looking after your body, then it’s safe to say you’ve probably never been on a liver cleansing diet, practiced yoga or talked about your natural bodily functions without giggling. Sound like you? Well if so, I can safely say, after a recent hot stone massage, I am now a spa and wellbeing convert – completely out of my comfort zone, I loved every tingling minute of it.

The therapeutic tradition of using hot, volcanic stones as a massage treatment has been around in cultures for thousands of years. The stones act as a catalyst to release the body’s natural painkillers, which left me feeling warmth from within and invigorated on the outside.

I was treated to Ripple Massage’s Bloke’s Pack, where a massage therapist came to my home, unfolded the table in my living room, boiled the kettle to heat the stones and began the one and a half hour treatment of hot stone massage and organic green clay and cucumber face mask.

“Face mask?” you scoff? Well yes, but I figure there was no one around to see me in it so it’s my word against theirs.

It felt like having a good shave – the cleanliness of washing a hard day’s work away. And as I said, it’s way out of character for me to have someone touching my toes and around my neck, but 20 minutes into it I was more relaxed than I’ve felt in months!

And fellas, to answer that question, no you don’t have to get nude, just strip down to your jocks and then a towel is placed on your back with large flat hot stones on top placed along the back to heat the chakras (or energy centres). In the Ripple Hot Stone massage, smaller round stones are also used in the massage therapists hands, heated, covered in aromatherapy oil and used as a massage tool on the legs, arms and back.

For someone like me who has slightly poor circulation, the stones worked to increase the blood flow, whilst the large stones on my back worked almost like a sedative and I caught myself drifting off a few times. Even my six-month old Jack Russell barking at the neighbours couldn’t coax me out of my trance – thankfully my massage therapist was a dog lover too and called the noisy puppy back inside.

But what I especially liked was that they came to my house, meaning that afterward I could just lay on the couch and feel the weightlessness of my body beckon me in to an afternoon slumber. Bliss!

Keen to experience a relaxing massage yourself? You can with a lastminute.com.au experience! Click here for details