HARNESSING COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE WELLNESS INDUSTRY

Lately, I've been toying with the idea of adding a day spa and massage haven in our place in Tagaytay.  Thus began my search for the best spa experience and research on how to start one.  I figured the best way to start to listen to the industry players and find out exactly where it is and where its headed. Jackpot! A spa and wellness summit was scheduled and so I wasted no time in registering for it. 

Coming out of a three-day spa and wellness summit at the Hotel Sofitel, I got the urge to get an all-over body polishing at Essenses. It is my first time to try this place or any public massage center for that matter since my personal reflexologist had always pampered me with her regular visits at home.

I was totally surprised to discover that aside from clothes, shoes and foodstuff, you can now shop for a spa at the fifth floor of Rustan’s in Makati. As soon as you get off the escalator, you are presented with several establishments which offer spa services like the Island Spa, Chair massage, Belo Medical Clinic and Murad among others. This new concept excited me and went on to look for Essenses.

As soon as I got in, a massage therapist approached me and asked that I fill up a consultation form which basically was a questionnaire asking about one’s medical history. It was too long for me to answer so I decided to skip it and just answer the therapist verbally her litany of questions. Having gotten that out of the way, I inquired what kind of service I was going to get. The therapist explained it was a two-hour service which consisted of a body scrub followed by a combination Swedish/shiatsu massage for P 2,200.00 pesos.

From there, I was led to a changing room where I was handed a white, thick robe, a small plastic which I later found out were disposable panties and a locker key. After ridding myself of my clothes, I proceeded to my assigned room.

The set-up at Essenses is quite Spartan and simple. Nothing lavish as one would find in a resort or destination spa like the Nurture Spa in Tagaytay or the Nusa Dua which I tried for their lulur when I went to Bali, Indonesia.

At Essenses, the massage room contained only a massage bed, a sink and a shower room plus a cart which had all the lotions and potions for God knows what. That’s all. Good thing it was clean, temperature adjusted to one‘s preference, lights dimmed while Steve Raiman’s spa music played. Music can truly soothe the soul and calm one’s nerves. But the true test of a spa lies in the experience one gets from the knowledge and expertise of the massage therapist.

Wellness seems to be the buzzword nowadays. With baby boomers of the sixties now reaching mostly their fifties, the need for new and alternative modes of preventive medicine such as the massage has become not just a form of luxury but a necessity. The hilot which used to be employed traditionally by albularyos for sprains is now being marketed by the Department of Tourism as the Philippines’ answer to the more famous Thai and Ayurvedic massages or the Chinese Tui Na massage or acupressure. Slowly, it is gaining ground thanks to wellness advocates like former health secretary Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan and Mr.Bibiano Fajardo of the ATHAG or the Association of Traditional Healers.

Too bad, little government support is again being blamed for the not so great performance of the wellness industry in the country for the past six years. While other Asian nations have grown in strides and continue to draw in the tourists away from us, we are still at that stage where systems have to be systematized, spa and massage therapists professionalized and services standardized.

From the three-day summit, I gather from the participants the common plaint that government must put their acts together in so far as promoting the wellness industry. Industry stakeholders feel that government is not taking them seriously and in fact, feel like they are orphans in the order of priorities. Owner of award - winning destination spa The Farm in San Benito Mr. Rempe confessed during the summit that as a business, his place is bankrupt. All the accolades the Farm has received is not enough to keep their business afloat.

Surely, this only means that the state of well-being of the wellness industry does not look very good. Prognosis is bad. What has been bruited about as the wellness revolution may turn out to be a losing battle without timely intervention from government.

The Spa Association of the Philippines headed by Marjorie Lopingco does not totally put the blame on government. She said there is greater need to educate and disabuse the minds of people especially those who have stereotyped the massage to mean sex, an ugly connotation that was a thing of the 70’s. Today, a massage is considered as therapy for the stressed out individual and the massage room a place to get relief from it.

All in all, the responsibility is neither just government nor that of the industry players. The need is for all stakeholders to get their acts together in synchronized fashion . There is no time for finger-pointing if we truly want to make the Philippines succeed in making its mark as the Wellness capital of Asia.

As far as Essenses is concerned, I’ll give it a rating of B+. May I suggest that after the massage session, the therapist sit down with the client for some hot tea and a few recommendations on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle which should include a follow-up massage. Then I’ll be convinced that Essenses is not just a business that’s after my money but truly after the wellness of its client.

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