I had ignored the significant time difference when I landed in Los Angeles last week, so much so that for a few days I was up by 7am and asleep by midnight, that is until I ended up at the spa on my last night there and realised my body hadn’t quite adjusted to the time zone.
Burke Williams spa in West Hollywood, only ten minutes from my hotel, Standard hotel (aka the party hotel of LA for twentysomethings), really was the ultimate day spa with all the facilities, treatments, lounge, and quiet you would ever want or need.
I don’t remember the last time I fell asleep during the treatment and felt so exhausted after it that having Jacuzzi’d and sauna’d and showered I went back to the Standard and almost immediately fell asleep. Even the ten-minute walk in the slightly cold evening air did nothing to wake me, rather, I felt like I was carrying my heavy legs all the way back. And it wasn’t just the jet lag; when taking a super long flight and trying to sleep, adjusting your neck and feeling cold, not to mention trying not to overeat to prevent bloating, all this takes its toll on the body. And what with my sensitive neck and shoulders, I felt the strain of the long journey far more, which only got kneaded out (though apparently I needed a far longer treatment) at the Burke Williams spa a few days on.
I realised again, after having this treatment, that massages aren’t always mere pampering, that at times like this, they can be filed in the medical folder, and that “prevention is better than cure” can be applied to massages, in most cases at least (and where it can’t, this adage is justification enough to indulge). And having finally let myself fall asleep earlier rather than later, it dawned on me how wrong it is to think that sleep is overrated … because lack of sleep, which is something I’m always suffering from, makes me at best cranky (or on highs and lows through the day — the lows subsidised by sugar) and at worst depressed. Waking up bright and early on the following morning, I actually did feel more bright than groggy.
Another thing I have started doing recently — and that I would highly recommend if you fly a lot — is finding a yoga class near your hotel, whichever city you’re in, and just trying to squeeze in a couple of sessions here and there. Yoga, coupled with a good massage, provides the perfect balance when travelling. When I was in London recently, I went for a treatment called The Liquid Stretch at Triyoga in Chelsea — with yoga and treatments all under one roof, how much better can it get — where the adept Emma Field, combining Indian and Chinese medicine, walked over my back (it’s not as scary as it sounds) to iron out the knots and click a few things into place.
Finally, having written this on a (oh-so-bloated) Sunday night, it’s time to send it on to Dubai, where it’s probably noon on Monday... Yawn. I could definitely do a liquid stretch right now! Next week from the wonderful food world of San Francisco.
Note to self: next time, stay in Santa Barbara or Venice Beach, the real Los Angeles. Can’t wait!
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