Basic HTML Version
68
FEBRUARY 2012
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
LEVEL 1
FEATHER BEDS
Massages at this Antigua resort are for the birds
Afunny thinghappenedwhen the
GalleyBayResort&Spa
filled theoncedry
lagoon on its property: Flocks ofmigratory birds suddenly took up residence
there. Now, guests splurging on signature treatments (like the 90-minute
Swedishmassage, $150) inone of the resort’s open-air, treetopmassage rooms
can doze while listening to the following purveyors of birdsong:
LEVEL 2
SALINE
SOLUTION
A meditation
treatment that’s
worth its salt
Upping the ante on
a popular trend, Las
Vegas’
Aria
offers the Shio Salt Room, which—in addi-
tion to featuring mood-lit salt brick walls and subtly
salty air (said to detoxify the body and clear up skin
and sinus problems)—plunks guests down on zero-
gravity loungers that vibrate along with the in-house
sound system. Sorry, though: no Jay-Z. (Spa pass, $30)
LEVEL 3
GOOD VIBRATIONS
Didgeridoos are instrumental in
one Australian spa’s Aborigine-
inspired services
Located an hour south of Brisbane, the
spa at the
Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat
offers guests a signature two-and-a-half-
hour Tribal Dreaming treatment adapted
fromAborigine healing traditions. The
process includes a forest walk, an ocher
clay smudging, an “intention ceremony”
and an 80-minutemassage, complete with
an epic four-hand hot stone massage.
The pièce de résistance, however, is
“didgeridoo healing.” Late in the treat-
ment, therapist StephenMcInnes uses
the tubular, low-frequency instrument to
invoke a meditative state that’s known in
the indigenous culture as “the dreaming.”
The flourish, done at close range so that
guests can feel it as well as hear it, was
inspired by tribal elders who believed the
didgeridoo’s unique drone offered healing
powers for the sick and stressed.
Best of all, if you fall asleep during the
treatment, fear not: The
BritishMedical
Journal
published a study in 2005 that
found playing didgeridoos can alleviate
snoring and sleep apnea. Maybe some of
that will rub off on you—then not only
will you get your rest, you also won’t keep
nearby guests from ge ing theirs. ($395)
BANANAQUIT
A small black
nectar-seeking
bird with a yel-
low breast, white
eyebrows and a
chibichibi
call
WEST INDIAN
WHISTLING
DUCK
A dark
brown, long-
necked duck
with a distinctive
chiriria
whistle
LESSER
ANTILLEAN
BULLFINCH
A red-breasted
bird that steadily
twitters, with the
odd
tseep-tseep
MOORHEN
A red-billed
black bird that
floats on the
water like a
duck, and has a
loud
curruk
call
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