The Approach to Relaxation: Spa Services

Part of my approach to this site and to my way of life as of recent is saying yes to just about every opportunity that arises. Accumulating experiences is my goal and sharing them with you is part of my promise.

So thanks to Groupon and some vacation days from work I recently had the chance to treat myself to a spa visit at Timeless Spa in Naperville. The Groupon was for a pair of services geared toward relaxation. The Zen Bed and Salt Cave.

First, the Groupon requests that I make my appointment in advance. I was expecting to be able to get in same day but the Zen Bed wasn’t free until three days after I called.

The place itself is tucked away between a motel and an acupuncturist office. Inside it’s a fairly small place with seemingly little to it. I’m checked in by a very friendly woman named Jodi and taken to the Zen Bed about five minutes after I arrived.

(Type of bed offered by Timeless)

The Zen Bedroom is about the size of a doctor’s examination room but it’s lit by only a single lamp. The bed itself looks kind of like the exam tables that the creepy gray aliens have in every abduction film. It has a weird covering built into the tabletop. I’m told to remove any sharp objects I have on and was told not to wear anything with metal elements that might pierce the bed. I went with a comfortable pair of Chinos and a button up long sleeved shirt. Shoes come off and in the bed I go.

They lay you down, wrap the plastic coverings over you to the point where they cocoon around your head leaving only your face exposed. Jodi explains that the light in the room will change colors over the course of my thirty minutes in the bed. She hits a button and I start to sink into the bed, which is filled with warm water but the coverings keep you dry. Water seems to flow into the layers of the covering too so you can feel the warmth across your whole body without getting wet. The jets run in intervals, starting and stopping, and the bursts happen either along the legs, feet or upper torso and they cause your body to bob up and down slightly.

The entire experience is very relaxing. The warmth, the slight swaying and movement of the jets really worked for me. It’s probably what it feels like to be in the womb, or to have been swallowed by a whale. Either way, good stuff. The only down side was the mechanical hum of the jets when they turned on. They were very noisy compared to the rest of the things happening in the room.

After the thirty minutes the bed raises you out of the water. I was expecting someone to come back into the room but you pretty much just help yourself out and then head back to the main room. Once there I’m told it will be just a few minutes till the salt cave is ready. She also mentions I’ll have a private session since no one else booked this session in the cave. I’m fine with that.

They tell me I have to wear white socks for the cave, luckily I brought a spare pair in my car because I wasn’t wearing white at the time.

Why wasn’t I wearing white socks at the time? Because white socks should never be worn anywhere that isn’t the gym and never with anything that isn’t a gym shoe. But I digress.

(Timeless’ Salt Cave at full illumination) 

So I head into the room, which takes up the majority of this spa’s space, and immediately I can smell the salt. She gives her informative spiel about the Himalayan salts and how breathing in the minerals and negative ions will help with a whole list of things. Honestly I didn’t research this before going in so I’m not going to list out what this thing can or can’t heal.

What I do feel comfortable discussing is the atmosphere of the cave. The chairs they give you fully recline into a lying back position and they come with blankets which I did make use of. It gets cold in there even though the temp is set to 79 degrees. The ceiling is covered in small points of light that shimmer at different intervals during the session and the speakers pipe in some new age relaxation music.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure this was going to do anything for me but I pretty much zoned out. I didn’t fall asleep but I definitely lost track of time. The forty-five minutes went by and the music announces that your session is over. I head out and back into the main office.

They check with you after every service to see if you enjoyed it and they never once asked about other services or pressured me to purchase anything beyond just offering me a menu of their services.

I asked questions about the thermo wrap services and a few other things too and the staff member, Jodi,  was informative and honest about the services I was asking about.

This was a really great experience made even more enjoyable by the Groupon pricing. I have no complaints about it and I can easily see myself making use of Timeless Spa again in the future.

That’s my approach to relaxation at the spa, what’s yours?