The Review: Ayurveda Health Spa & Beauty Centre, London

THE first time I had an Ayuyrveda massage it was pretty awkward.

I was in India and, flanked by two women, lay there completely starkers as they slathered me in oil and whooshed their hands all over my body.

There wasn’t a whole lot of ‘massage’ going on, and the sensation was incredibly ticklish which made the whole thing rather difficult to enjoy.

Since then I’ve always favoured traditional massage over Ayurveda, but seeing as a a good few years have passed I felt I should really give this traditional Indian treatment another go.

A two minute bus ride from North Greenwich station is a small spa called Ayurveda Pura which specialises in this kind of treatment.

They not only do VERY AMAZING massages, they also train in Ayurveda, sell a product range and have a cafe where you can relax with a beautiful cup of tea.

I was assigned a very lovely at masseuse who made me feel completely at ease, asked me a range of questions about my body type and health – Aŷrveda identifies you as one of three body types and via treatment and a recommended lifestyle aligns these back into sync – and then started the massage.

I’m pleased to report that this was SUCH a better experience than use treatment I had in India (which is a pretty high compliment). I went into the treatment feeling tense, tetchy and completely frazzled, and came out almost gliding on air.

The massage itself (a full body massage) lasted 60 minutes and the treatment had a perfect amount of pressure and used figure of eight movements on each part of the body to re-align my energy.

There were a couple of anomalies in the actual Ayurveda questioning (which is derived from a mix of questions about your body functions and also the masseuse takes a look at your tongue) eg. I was asked whether I hold tension at the base of my spine whereas I actually hold it entirely in my neck and the top of my back for example, but really it doesn’t matter when the effect of the whole process was so brilliant.

I absolutely adore massage and really hold this spa in high regard. It’s easy to get to, affordable (my massage is around the £60 mark) and the space and the staff put you really at ease.

Highly recommended, and you can find out more, here.