Spa Scoop: Oasis Day Spa in NYC

My first visit to Oasis Day Spa on Park Avenue was a few years ago when I was working at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. There were some spa treatments scheduled for the big wigs that I worked for, and due to a business partner cancellation - they literally blessed us cubies with a trip to take their places on those Oasis massage tables. I have been back many times for a Seaweed Wrap (followed by their unbelievably intoxicating European Vichy Shower) and their classic Swedish Massages. This time was for Mending Hands Spa Scoop purposes, where I was delighted to return and receive another specialty, a Lava Stone Massage!  This award winning spa really does having everything to offer!

Type: Lava Stone Massage
Time: 60 Minutes
Price: $140

Sight: Located below a beautiful building, with Grand Central Station in sight, you take a few flights down to a delightful lobby. I was greeted by nice personalities at the front desk and tempted by their stock of candles, cleansers, lotions, scrubs, anything you might need to feel and smell good when heading home after a treatment. After checking in, I was escorted down a dim hallway, with square canvasses colorfully painted dotting the path, to the Ladies changing area. Super soft bathrobe and slippers in hand, I entered the polished lounge. This room has got you covered. Lockers, showers, steam rooms - plus, all the tools you need to go back out on the town! Help yourself to lotion, cotton swaps, a hair dryer and more. Next, one of my favorite places at Oasis Day Spa - The Relaxation Room. This room is a large circle of built in benches of chocolate leather. When you pick your place you can just melt right there! Oasis has faint lighting by way of torch style wall lamps and small bistro tables to place your pre and post spa treats. The treatment room for my Lava Stone Massage carried on that earthy tone, with a table and small station set up for my marbleized massage treatment.

Sound: Oasis pipes their respectable spa music through out the Relaxation and treatment rooms. I had not really appreciated that on past visits, but it makes for such a smooth transition from one part of the spa to the other.

Smell: To be honest, it just smells pleasant at Oasis. Nothing in particular, just clean and nice.

Taste: Coffee, tea, health bars, water infused with oranges, almonds, dried pineapple and apricots, prunes and many more tasty nibbles all set up in little dishes for the taking.

Touch: My therapist C, told to me that the Lava Stone Massage at Oasis works a little differently than a standard Hot Stone Massage. She explained that she would use both hot and cold stones during the treatment. I was very glad she gave me the warning! Having learned the benefits of contrast bathing in pathology, I immediately understood and respected the physiology behind using both warm and cold rocks. She started with an immediately relaxing effleurage before incorporating the hot lava stones. Hot stones used in massage feel...simply amazing! C had a wonderful flow, made sure to swap out stones so that my muscles were being treated with the right temperatures. Before finishing with my back, she let me know that the time had come for the frozen stones. I thought it would be a little scary, but the cold absorbing some of the excess heat on my worked muscles felt fabulous!  She used the stones for the entire massage and even placed warm rocks under my scapula to rest on when I was laying supine. A perfect little addition, that helped make this relaxing massage feel so very luxurious.

Interestingly, this was one of the first Spa Scoop massages I have explored where I had a genuine issue to be addressed by the therapist. I had an injury over the holiday to my Achilles Tendon, and I have been frictioning the adhesion myself, as to try and prevent any problems I might have down the line. I told C this, and she took time to work some very effected scar tissue massage techniques that not only lessened the adhesion instantly, it has kept it's improvement!

Loved: Oasis has a luxury venue with so many spa services to offer and my therapist C took a medical approach to my massage when dealing with my Achilles adhesion. Being pampered and healed, with the soothing heat and cold of those Lava Stones was a wonderful and well rounded experience.

Learned: It was comforting to be able to speak with my therapist intelligently about my injury. She took me seriously and made sure to send me home with some more advise about how to take care of my issue.  It made me even more excited and dedicated to my science classes for the all the times in the upcoming future that I will be communicating with clients, doctors, chiropractors, physical therapist, fellow LMT's and other health care practitioners.