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Recently, massages and spas have been perceived as luxury items or seen as a way of pampering. On the contrary, in the Philippines, massage is therapeutic and is geared more towards the art of healing. The merging of these two essential elements add to the overall spa experience and has served as a guide in positioning spa services at Nurture Spa Village.
Traditionally, spas have always been renowned for their healing and curative powers. In ancient Rome, Romans popularized spas to help their soldiers recover from battle. The Europeans would go to spas to recover from alcoholism, drug addiction, tuberculosis, as well as other diseases and disorders. In the United States, spas have become associated with beauty and pampering. Treatments, such as slimming services, facials and beauty rituals in destination spas like the Canyon Ranch in Colorado, and the introduction of days spas that offer shorter pampering and beauty services, have become popular.
One of the pioneers in the Philippine spa industry has been Nurture Spa Village. The spa is a chain accredited by the Philippine Dept of Tourism, located in Tagaytay City and Pampanga, Philippines,Nurture Spa Village offers its guests exquisite pampering and wellness experiences in lush, tropical garden settings. Nurture Spa Village is proud of its Filipino culture and boasts unique Filipino spa treatments reflecting the indigenous customs and healing traditions of the region.Some of Nurture Spa Village's exclusive treatments are Pampanga's signature treatment and Ylang Ylang. The spa also provides Aruga body massage, a full body massage that uses floral strokes, and a special Hulay oil massage that uses an essential blend of oils that include lavender. Other unique Filipino treatments featured at the spa include Dagaday, which is a traditional reflexology foot massage using bamboo sticks, Nilaib, a massage that uses steamed herbal pouches wrapped in banana leaves, and Dupal Hilot therapy that uses heated dupal leaves from the garden, throughout the massage, to give a totally relaxing and therapeutic experience.Nurture Spa Village Tagaytay signature treatment offers non-vegetarian healthy cuisine in its Ka-in Restaurant, as well as a choice of air conditioned rooms and comfortable, natural accommodations. Unique to Nurture Spa Village is the Ulog Experience, which provides accommodations in ancient ulogs taken from the world famous Heritage Banaue Rice Terraces site and brought to Nurture Spa Villages Tagaytay and Pampanga.
One of the spa's best selling treatments is the Philippine Hilot massage. The Philippine Hilot massage was first launched internationally by the Spa Association of the Philippines at the International Spa Association conference in Singapore in 2005.� The massage begins with a ritual of heated banana leaves that are laced in coconut oil and are placed on the body to identify areas of imbalance.The market has positively received Philippine Hilot massage. Hilot and is among the top selling treatments in five-star spas like the Chi Spa at Shangri-La Mactan and EDSA, the Mandarin Oriental and Le Spa at Sofitel. Hilot is also a best seller at the Chi Spa in Muscat, Oman.The popularity of Hilot has spread due to a mandate by the Department of Tourism of the Philippines that stated that all accredited spas should offer Hilot. Since its introduction in 2005, international awareness and acceptance of Hilot has spread.Hilot massage, as well as the other forms of massage like Swedish, Shiatsu and Thai, are all healing and therapeutic modalities, and not just pampering and luxury services. In a spa, however, much attention is given to giving the client a total sensory experience, with beautiful, relaxing surroundings, fragrant and calming aromatherapy oils, candles, and soothing music.The Philippines is perfect for the spa industry because of the natural caring and hospitable nature of the Filipinos, combined with a natural, healing touch.
Nurture Spa Village, in cooperation with Dr. Sam Dizon, trained in the United States on Natural Healing and head of the Institute of Natural Health, also offers wellness programs designed to help guests attain optimum health.Wellness programs start with a Digital Meridian Scanning (DMS) using a computerized program to scan the state of health and balance of the different systems of the body. The DMS results are then fed back to the guest and are used in creating a customized health plan. Among the wellness treatments offered is nutrition therapy, electrotherapy, including TENS, Biomat, hydrotherapy and detoxification programs.All of Nurture Spa Village therapists are selected on the basis of their healing attitude and are trained to the highest standards by internationally licensed trainers. Nurture Spa Village signature aromatherapy oils are of the finest quality, created from age-old healing recipes that have been further perfected to achieve the desired therapeutic effect.
Cathy L. Tomlan spent an afternoon at Nurture Village Spa, which she described as "wonderful"."The therapists I encountered at Nurture Spa were a shining example of that Filipino spirit of hospitality," Tomlan said. "The service they provided extended far beyond anything I expected. From juggling umbrellas to hauling camera gear, they were there for me not only as spa professionals, but also as loving souls genuinely interested in the welfare of a fellow human being. That kind of service isn't something you can teach.� It comes from the heart."In addition to enjoying Filipino culture, Tomlan partook in a Dagaday Reflexology foot massage that she described as melting away months of stress in a few minutes."I am still trying to figure out what happened," Tomlan said. "It was an extraordinary treatment."
Amuin, meaning comfort, is a therapeutic aromatherapy line designed to help the urban man or woman, working or non-working, handle stress. Amuin's market ranges between the ages of 18 to 65 and for those who battle restlessness, anxiety and tension.Stress is one of the leading causes of death worldwide today. Many people handle stress by taking pills, consuming drugs, drinking or other vices. Amuin offers a safe and natural way of dealing with stress by using the science of aromatherapy to help combat the many stress symptoms, such as sleeplessness, lack of concentration, and lack of libido, to name a few.Amuin was created out of the desire to have a Filipino branded aromatherapy range that could compete with global brands like Body Shop in terms of quality, but at a much lower price.
Amuin aromatherapy has four variants each with its own unique purpose. They include:
Both Sigla and Hulay have a full range of products including shower gel, body lotion, dry body oil, body mist, pure essential oil blends and room sprays. Hulay also has a linen spray.A highly skilled team of chemists and pharmacists, headed by Spa Essentials president, Dr. Mike Turvill, developed Amuin. Turvill is a British national who holds a Doctorate in Chemistry and who extensively studied the science of Aromatherapy in Singapore.Amuin is Spa Essentials' premium aromatherapy retail range and is currently being sold overseas in Dubai as well as in local outlets like EchoStore, SM Mega mall (Beauty at SM), Kultura and the soon to be opened Landmark Trinoma. Spa Essentials works with five star spas and resorts in developing and supplying their spa and aromatherapy productsAmuin aims to be both a sustainable and environmentally friendly product by sourcing its all-natural ingredients from fair trade suppliers. Amuin promotes the Philippines by using lemon grass from Bacolod.A percentage of all Amuin sales are given to help a lemon grass producing community in Mambugsay, Bacolod. Fabric used in the Amuin travel and cosmetic kits are made of Abel, a local hand loomed fabric from Bangar, La Union. Abel is in danger of dying out and Amuin aims to promote and support its making.
Nurture Spa Village was inspired by the spa and wellness therapies of the Asian and Filipino healing traditions. Set amongst a lush tropical setting, the spa was created to provide guests with a combination of optimum healing and pampering, as administered by Filipino therapists.