| rev:text
| - I hover in a void of nothingness. I can't see anything. I can't feel anything. The only sound is that of my own heartbeat. Suddenly, the Song of Angels begins to fill my ears.
But this is no near-death experience. I'm in an isolation chamber at Ovarium Spa in Montreal, and the Song of Angels is music being piped into my chamber to tell me my hour long flotation bath is about complete.
The flotation bath is one of three spa experiences in Ovarium's "Revelation" package, designed to touch all (and none) of your five senses.
Pulsar
The Pulsar session is designed to stimulate the mind with a combination of lights and sound, which will encourage deep relaxation, meditation, creativity and intuition. The 30 minute session involves sitting in a reclining leather chair wearing a pair of glasses equipped with LED lights and headphones. The lights, preprogrammed to music, pulsate at a frequency which is supposed to induce a meditative state. Does this actually happen? Well, in my pulsar session I fell into a semi-conscious, dream filled sleep almost immediately. While this has been known to happen to me on occasion without the glasses, I can't help but assume they helped. I emerged feeling relaxed and refreshed, as if I'd just gotten a full night's sleep. And for an extra $15, it was definitely worth the experience.
Flotation Bath
The flotation is a bath of 50% water, 50% Epsom salts, set at body temperature. Set in an isolation chamber, the bath blinds nearly all your senses. You float effortlessly, so you can completely relax your body. Because the water is set at room temperature, you don't feel the water against your skin. You can control a dim blue light within the chamber and the room light outside the chamber (which leaves a faint outline around the door to the chamber). The spa suggests 30 minutes of music, followed by 25 minutes of silence before the Song of Angels begins, but you can opt to turn the music on and off at will. A bit claustrophobic, I began with the lights and music on, but turned them off once I became more comfortable. The trick is to completely relax your body, allow your ears to fall underwater, and just meditate while you hover. The isolation truly is an experience, and I highly recommend everyone try it.
Massage
An hour long massage is the final and most traditional treatment in the Revelation package. Ovarium offers a menu of different massage techniques, but rather than select one style, I explained my desires and allowed the masseuse to customize the massage to my needs. In a comfortable room with relaxing music and scented oils, my previously isolated senses were brought back to life with the professional human touch.
I was surprised how busy and crowded the lounges were; while I suppose that's a testament to Ovarium's popularity, it did make it difficult to maintain a deep level of relaxation between treatments. Such a large clientele also made it difficult to maintain the personal attention I'm used to receiving at a spa like this, and I often found myself having to wait for a seat or to use the facilities. But the staff was professional and hospitable, the facilities were clean and beautiful, and the almond tea was outstanding.
And the value was spot on. At $130, the Revelation package is an excellent value. I'll definitely make Ovarium a regular part of my future Montreal vacations. I give it four and a half stars.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)