JAMU MASSAGE

($90 for 60 minutes at Aquae Sulis Holistic Spa, Delta; www.aquaesulis-spa.com/) This Balinese treatment fuses Hindu and Chinese techniques and aims to both energize and relax. Jamu incorporates dry massage and acupressure as well as skin rolling (which the therapist does with his thumbs, to stimulate the circulation) and stroking (in which the therapist uses his fingertips to gently brush down your limbs, soothing nerve endings). Fragrant oils, incense, colourful fabrics, and scattered flower petals are all used to set an authentic scene. The massage finishes will a Balinese prayer that translates as “May peace be in your heart and in the world.”

NUAD PRA KOB

($94 for 60 minutes at ANAA Natural Traditions Thai Spa, 987 Marine Drive, North Vancouver; www.thaispa.ca/) Traditional Thai massage is beyond hands-on: rather, the therapist uses her hands, forearms, elbows, knees, heels, and feet to work over every square inch of your body. It also involves stretching that could almost be described as one-on-one assisted yoga, as you’re gently manoeuvred, pressed, and pulled into various positions. And in nuad pra kob, the practitioner soothes muscles by using a hot compress filled with Thai herbs and administering firm, rhythmic strokes.

AYURVEDIC SWEDANA

($180 for 90 minutes at Vida Wellness Spa, various locations; www.vidawellness.com/) Vida’s therapies are all based on Ayurveda, an ancient Indian holistic-health system in which each of us has a unique combination of three doshas, or elements, that makes up our constitution type. After an Ayurvedic massage with warm oil that’s customized to your dosha profile, you lie in a swedana, an herbal-infused cedar steam cabinet. The steam detoxifies and cleanses, while the massage itself is said to stimulate lymphatic drainage. Then dry flour is brushed over your whole body to exfoliate and, as Vida’s Web site puts it, “to prevent the re-entry of toxins”.

INDIAN HEAD MASSAGE

($60 for 60 minutes; www.blissprema.com/) Local yoga instructor Bliss Prema studied the form in Guatemala and India and now specializes in the therapy, which is rooted in Ayurvedic healing. It might be called a head massage, but it’s actually so much more: Prema, who offers a mobile service, works on the neck, shoulders, back, arms, palms, and fingers, alternately and gently tapping, prodding, rubbing, and pressing before using her digits to dance on your scalp and brush through your hair. Said to balance the chakras and release negative energy, it has a soothing but rejuvenating effect.