Water Shiatsu or Qi-Gong, Ayurveda or Lomi-Lomi: everybody has heard of them, but no one really knows what they are about. These Far Eastern health therapies offer a welcome change to traditional beauty treatments, at any time of year. The hotels and spas in Baden-Baden offer a wide choice of extraordinary wellness treatments – everything from exotic to Far Eastern.

Calming, fragrant candles and fluffy towels, convey a comforting feeling of warmth. With whispered words, the therapist begins the Shirodara treatment. Luke warm sesame oil trickles slowly over the forehead and does so for a full half hour. It has such a sedative effect on the central nervous system, one feels as if one is in a trance, in an abeyance between two worlds. Previous symptoms of stress and tiredness are simply washed away. It is one of the most fascinating treatments from the Ayurveda, the ancient Indian art of hygienics.

Ayurveda means “science of life”. It is all about strengthening the Agni, the flame of life. And is all to do with a harmonic balance of the elements, the unity between mind, body and soul.

More and more people are requesting such gentle therapies from the Far East. In Baden-Baden the offer of treatments is extensive. Whether Agni, Prana, Qi or the Mana of a Polynesian priest – the holistic therapies allow the energy of life to flow anew and carry positive energy to all cells in the body. It makes you healthier and more beautiful. In Baden-Baden, the doctors and therapists have realized this for some time.

Since then, and in addition to the traditional wellness offers, more and more therapies with mysterious names such as Lomi-Lomi, Tui Na, Shiatsu and Tai Chi are now available.

Lomi-Lomi expels the evil spirits (blockages)

Even in the ancient world they knew that oils could remove toxins, which had accumulated in the muscles and tissues. That is why naturally pure oils play an important roll in many massages in the elegant spas of Baden-Baden. For instance with a Bali or a Qi massage, or during a Lomi-Lomi, the massage of the South Seas. Lomi means “to touch with the velvet paws of a contented cat” and is a rediscovered ancient technique of the Kahunas, the wise priests of ancient Hawaii. In those days, if you had any ailments, that is who you went to see. With flowing, resolute movements they expelled the evil spirits, the blockages, from the body. It is a ritual that reinstalls harmony and helps to ensure a healthy body.

In the exquisite Brenner’s Park-Hotel & Spa this treatment is the ultimate offer. In addition to this, therapists here, with their renowned “golden hands”, perform a number of exotic therapies such as the Yoghurt/Lime Lulur treatment, a modified full body Balinese ritual incorporating peeling pastes and scrubs, which, at its climax, nourishes skin and muscle with a mixture of cool yoghurt and lime extract. Or Sukoyaka, which basically means strength: massage techniques combined with Shiatsu and exclusive oils that should generate power.

Yin and Yang should be brought into a harmonious balance

Shi means finger and atsu means pressure. During a Shiatsu treatment, the therapist presses and rubs certain points (tsubos) that lie along the twelve energy pathways, the meridians. This therapy also concerns itself with strengthening inner harmony, the balance of mind, body and soul and chi, the energy of life. Grand masters of Shiatsu also work with their knees and feet. But don’t worry! In the Caracalla-Therme, one of Baden-Baden’s world famous thermal baths, or in the elegant Dorint-Sofitel Spa, their shiatsuists are somewhat gentler.

Similar to Shiatsu, Tui Na (offered at the Schlosshotel Bühlerhöhe – the base camp for the English national football team during the World Cup) stems from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Tui Na means “pushing and pulling” and is a massaging, stretching and breathing technique. Yin and Yang, the two extremes, should be brought into balance, therefore enhancing life’s energy. The Yin-Yang synchronized massage also concerns itself with balancing the two opposites.

Two therapists treat both body halves simultaneously using gentle techniques that involve stroking, pushing and tapping. As a result, both sides of the brain are activated, the energy pathways “blown free” and the immune system brought back online.

When “the white bear embraces the tree” stress evaporates on its own

The specialists for this are the “Golden Touch” therapists from the Europe Spa in the Europäischer Hof Hotel (Steigenberger). Here, in addition to calming and relaxing Reiki treatments, Tibetan pulsing (a balancing of the body’s bio-electrical energy) and yoga meridian stretching (stimulation of the main meridians) are offered. These are carried out in the wonderful, feel good atmosphere of the spa. Pain and distress are eliminated and a deep sense of relaxation and contentedness are felt.

Similar meditative therapies are: the five Tibetan rites and Tai Chi, Chinese shadow boxing. On a sunny day, the “gentle warriors” can often be seen either in front of the Caracalla Therme or in the Lichtentaler Allee. With silent, flowing movements they let the “white bear embrace the tree” and the “red clouds emerge from the mountain”. If practiced regularly, it strengthens not only one’s concentration and body strength, but should also be a lifelong protector against illness - exactly the same as the Five Tibetan Rites. It is an exact sequence of simple physical movements combined with specific breathing exercises. Once they were said to be the mysterious rites from a monastery in the Himalayas. Today, the effects are known to us all: tensions are released, blood circulation is improved and the body’s energy system receives a resounding boost.

A wonderful method of relaxation from the Far East is the Hot Stone treatment, a mixture of traditional massage combined with the stimulation of the body’s energy points by lying hot, round basalt stones over the body (Hotel Bühlerhöhe). Extra tip: When you are there, take a dip in the swimming pool with its spectacular view of the Black Forest. One even gets the impression of swimming through the air.

Hotels and facilities with exotic wellness offers

Brenner’s Park-Hotel and Spa
Synchronized massage, aroma oil massage, meridian point massage, facial treatments, manicure, pedicure, baths, body analysis, Sukoyaka (strength), Odayaka (relaxation) and Kaifuku (power of resistance).

Schlosshotel Bühlerhöhe
Bio-energy treatments with oxygen, full-body massage, TUI NA head massage, Thalasso style essential oil bath, Nei Tsang massage, Pin-Pin massage including luffa peeling and Chakra massage (Indian oil and wellness massage).

Steigenberger Europäischer Hof
Reiki treatment, neck & shoulder release, Yin-Yang synchronized massage, Ayurveda silk glove massage, Tibetan pulsing and yoga meridian stretching.

Dorint Sofitel Maison Messmer
Shiseido facial treatment, salt scrub & silk pack, aroma bath with air jet massage and colour and light therapy, aroma oil back massage, Asiatic massage, Shiatsu or Qi massage, Lomi-Lomi, Bali massage, Ayurveda massage, Reiki and Hot Stone massage.

Steigenberger Badischer Hof
In the comfortably furnished rooms, thermal water from the Baden-Baden springs flows directly into the bathtub.
Reiki treatment, Yin-Yang synchronized massage, silk glove massage, aroma-full-body peeling and thermal modelage treatment.

Caracalla-Therme
La Stone therapy, Lomi-Lomi-Nui, and thermal Shiatsu.


Further information:

Baden-Baden Kur & Tourismus GmbH
Schloss Solms, Solmsstrasse 1
76530 Baden-Baden, Germany
Telephone ++49 7221 275200, Fax 275202
E-Mail info@baden-baden.com
Internet www.baden-baden.com