A massage certainly will relax your muscles, and a facial will moisturize your face, but can either of these treatments improve your health? A growing number of spas are introducing treatments designed to do more than offer an interlude of heavily scented pampering. They aim to promote wellness or provide healing benefits that will last for days or weeks after your appointment. In some cases, the treatments evoke regional healing rituals or use natural ingredients created specifically for spa therapists. In all cases, the treatments should leave you feeling better than you did when you arrived at these spas.

Winging It
The Wickaninnish Inn is located on Vancouver Island, near the homeland of several First Nations tribes. The inn’s Ancient Cedars Spa has recently introduced a treatment that, therapists say, reflects the healing traditions of those tribes. This treatment is called the Hishuk Ish Tsawalk (pronounced HISHuk ISH TSAHwok), a phrase uttered by the indigenous people of Canada’s west coast that means, "We are all one; we are all connected."

The treatment is designed to cleanse and rejuvenate your body. It begins with a cleansing ritual in which the therapist waves a burning bundle of sage and sweetgrass in each corner of the treatment room. After this, the therapist exfoliates your skin using a body scrub made from salt and locally harvested seaweed.

The next phase of the treatment incorporates hot and cold temperatures to improve your circulation and release toxins from your body. You rinse off the seaweed in a cold shower, sit in a hot steam room, rinse again in cold water, and finish with a hot stone massage. At different points during the massage, the therapist flicks a single eagle feather above your body. The feather is a traditional symbol of peace, friendship, and good luck, and flicking it is supposed to chase away any negative thoughts and energy that might impede healing. Some people claim that the sound of the eagle feather brings a new clarity to their thoughts.

Buttering You Up
At South Africa’s Pezula Spa, several treatments utilize products gleaned from the fynbos, the vegetation located in the wild areas of South Africa’s western cape. These products are said to possess medicinal properties that local healers have used for centuries.

The spa’s treatments include combinations of stretching, deep kneading, and pressure-point therapies. A signature experience is called the Banguranyika, a twohour treatment that begins with an exfoliation involving mafura butter, a balm that comes from the mafura tree. According to the spa, the balm has been used for centuries to nourish and restore the skin.

Next comes a mineral milk soak that is intended to calm your senses. This is followed by a massage that incorporates hot oil and volcanic stones. The treatment ends with an herbal steam that can be tailored to uplift your senses, detoxify your body, or just relax you.

Tone Def
At the Guerlain Spa at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, you can request a massage that will work your deep tissues, drain your lymph nodes, or stimulate certain healing pressure points. You can request a facial designed to remove toxins from your skin, nourish it, or improve its radiance. Or you can request the spa’s ultimate treatment, a combination massage and facial called the Waldorf Impériale. This treatment lasts two hours and is supposed to change your muscle tone and skin tone from head to toe.

First you choose a favorite scent for the experience, one that will fill your treatment room during your stay and may even be sprayed onto the sheets of your massage table. A therapist then performs an hour-long massage, using an oil created specially for the spa. "This massage releases the toxins and the negativity from the body. It’s the job of the therapist to work hard to make this happen," says lead therapist Maria Dolanescu, who says that this massage improves circulation and promotes serenity.

Afterward, a second therapist conducts the facial, using Orchidée Impériale skincare products created specifically for this spa and this treatment. The masks and lotions contain oils distilled from orchids. Dolanescu says the products have both hydrating and protective qualities for the skin. "The orchid is the most sophisticated flower in the world," she says. "These oils stimulate the skin and slow down aging. I’ve seen incredible results from these products, both in myself and in my clients."

Seven Uplift
Any massage should release muscular tension, but one of the offerings at the Sedona Rouge Hotel and Spa in Sedona, Ariz., promises to do much more. It is designed to rebalance your body’s energy and thus decrease your anxiety and depression. According to spa director Greg Retegan, the Seven Sacred Pools treatment is patterned after the famous sacred pools located on a mountain in Sedona’s red rock wilderness area. According to spiritual lore, these pools represent the seven chakras, or energy centers, in each of us.

For this treatment, a therapist uses seven different mixtures containing herbs and essential oils. Each mixture also contains the essence of a single gemstone that is said to have healing properties, such as rose quartz crystal, amber, garnet, or lapis, each of which represents one of the seven chakras. With these oils, a therapist anoints the parts of your body where each of those seven chakras is located. She then applies warm river stones to each area, using them to massage the oil into the energy center and awaken its spiritual power.

Next comes a one-hour body massage that is customized to address your physical or energetic needs. During this portion of the therapy, the seven oils mix, and in doing so, says Retegan, "they create a synergy of scent that connects and harmonizes the flow of energy in the body."

While providing the aforementioned spiritual benefits, says Retegan, this treatment will reduce stress and improve circulation and lymph flow.