The Oriental Culture - Luxuries of the Orient
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Gran Hotel Balneario Blancafort offers traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments, which are undertaken by native Chinese practitioners and Spanish practitioners who have been trained by Chinese experts, with a wide range of experience in hospitals, clinics and alternative medicine centres. They use the most refined techniques in acupuncture, electro-acupuncture, electro-thermal treatment, moxibustion and tuina (Chinese osteopathic therapeutic massage) with the aid of compresses, oils and traditional ointments made of Chinese medicinal plants, according to the fundamentals and diagnostics (such as the observance of pulse and tongue) of TCM.
The therapy is conducted in an oriental setting in which the client can relax in an ambience of wellbeing and harmony.
The Balinese Massage
The Balinese ceremony is a massage that combines a variety of oriental techniques and lasts approximately three hours; it is a magical moment that you can enjoy with your partner.
The ceremony commences in the reception room of the oriental zone where the aroma of incense and a soft light fuse together with the mysticism of the decor (Buddha must be present in all rituals). The client is made comfortable and offered a menu of different flavoured teas such as intense or fruity, all in a relaxed ambience in which time loses its importance to the flowing water.
Next you go to the therapy room that is especially prepared to carry out the entire ritual. We start with a stimulating massage with laminaria extract using very energising techniques, which prepares the skin to better absorb the fango mud wrap that follows.
This fango mud is rich in sulphur and trace elements that have been extracted from the bay of Mount Sant Miche, one of the highest tides in Europe. On the fango mud we place marine salts to enhance the therapeutic effects, relax muscle, tone the body and soften the skin.
Once the nutrients of the fango mud have been absorbed by the body, we proceed to exfoliate the skin with the salts that were added to the fango to remove the dead cells and the impurities of the skin leaving it soft and smooth.
You are then accompanied to an adjoining candle-lit room in which there are two baths of contrasting cold and hot thermal water to stimulate the body.
Now it is time for a little private indulgence in a hydro-massage bath covered in rose petals, all enveloped in an ambience of candle light and music for a deep relaxation of body and mind.
We wind up with a Balinese massage using a sedating technique that is based on the principles of Chinese medicine, in which all the stages such as pressure, rubbing and stretching are gentle and slow to produce the right balance of energy on the acupunctural meridians and a sense of profound relaxation, slowing down all the body rhythms.
We would recommend the Balinese ritual primarily to those who seek an intensely profound relaxation experience while cleansing, hydrating and nourishing the skin.
The Shiatsu Massage
The Shiatsu massage, of Japanese origin, is a technique in which continuous pressure is applied on specific points of the body that have been meticulously determined during an assessment period prior to the massage session.
The therapist, in a state of meditation, slowly applies pressure with fingers, thumbs and hands in such a way that all perception of body weight is lost as though you were floating on a cloud.
The type of Shiatsu that we practice in the Gran Hotel Balneario Blancafort is true to the teachings of the master Namikoshi, which is the purest style of Shiatsu massage used in Japan.
Enveloped in an oriental ambience the client is massaged on a comfortable Japanese futon in the light of salt lamps that create a relaxed space in which to infinitely disconnect.
The Thai Massage
The client is massaged on a futon placed on the floor in a totally magical environment, where soft light that imbues from salt lamps fuses with the aroma of incense.
This therapy consists of slow rhythmic applications of pressure, mobilisations and stretching that are inspired by yoga postures in harmony with deep breathing so that the subject has a deep sense of self awareness. His energy is aligned and vital energy is enhanced as is general wellbeing, all of which are clearly beneficial to overall health.
Tui na
Tui, meaning push, and Na, meaning press, is a Chinese therapeutic massage comprising specific manipulation techniques that work on the body’s muscles, nerves, joints and ligaments. It works on the acupuncture meridians and its points, therefore it also strengthens the body’s resistance to diseases (the immune system) while activating the body’s blood circulation (xue) and energy (qi) “ where blood and energy do not flow there is pain and where they do flow there is no pain”. The most important book on traditional Chinese medicine, Huang Di Beijing (the yellow emperor’s classic on internal medicine), which was written in 2500 BC had already referred to this massage. Tui Na is based on the theories and fundamentals of traditional Chinese Medicine with respect to diagnostics, such as Zang Fu (organs), meridians, yin-yang imbalances, the five elements, the qi (energy), xue (blood) and jin-ye (organic liquids) and to the treatment of pathologies of internal medicine and traumatology, all combined with the application of poultices, compresses and Chinese medicinal plant oils, which activate blood circulation and relieve pain.
The Foot Welcoming Ceremony
This ceremony is carried out in the Balinese zone where the aroma of incense and a soft light fuse with the mysticism of the surrounding decor. The therapy commences with a welcoming ritual of a fruit juice followed by the foot bath. This bath is especially prepared with thermal water combined with essential oils and rose petals in a wooden recipient in which the feet relax leaving them ready to soak up the benefits of a hydrating algae foot mask, which restores softness to the skin. This is followed by a massage with essential oils that is based on finger pressure and stretching, which restores blood circulation to tired feet making them feel great.
Perception