body blitz water spa

After the gruelling Algonquin trip, my body was mostly aches and pains (though not as bad as last year; a testament to my much better diet and workout routine these days) so I made a visit to the women-only Body Blitz Water Spa. I knew I had to go within two days of returning from Algonquin for the spa to be of most use, and I’d heard previously of their discounted Tuesday evening rates, so I went then.

My friend and I had a lovely salad dinner at lettuce first, then we made our way to Body Blitz. We paid up our $35 first, then received a quick tour and explanation of how to use the facilities.

Having never been to a spa before, we were glad of the assistance. We were also quite impressed with the interior design of the space; modern, fresh, comforting and not too cramped considering how small venues in Toronto are.

You begin your experience in the locker room, where you get a locker along with a key, a pair of slippers, a bathrobe, a towel, a hand towel and a waterproof paper that indicates how to follow the “circuit”. After changing and leaving your things, you move on to the shower room where you rinse off the day’s grime. The mint and citrus flavoured body wash, shampoo and conditioner are a lovely treat for the nose.

You then follow the circuit around by alternately soaking in a hot pool of salt water, sitting in an incredibly hot, stifling steam room that outputs eucalyptus oil in its steam, jumping into the frigid pool of 66 degrees celsius in an attempt to maintain a normal body temperature amongst this treatment, sitting in an infrared sauna that makes you sweat out all the toxins from your skin, showering off and jumping back into the salt water pool, and then a final soak in the green tea pool. You can, of course, mix this routine up as much as you like and do your own thing, but this was what was recommended and we’d never done it before. We were interrupted before we could finish up the whole circuit as the place closes at 8 PM and we’d only arrived at 7:20. A bit less time than I’d hoped for, although it seemed like longer.

The final stop after showering once more and changing back into your street clothes is the primping room. You get a whole range of skin and hair products to play with, including creams, hair dryers, sterilized combs and brushes. I found this was the only place that felt cramped – with upwards of four women in there all getting ready to leave at closing time, it’s difficult to move around the space.

The whole experience left me feeling so relaxed and clean. I noticed that as soon I stepped onto the street, all of my aches and pains from the canoe trip had vanished. An incredible feeling.

I don’t know how often I’ll return; probably only when I’m in extreme need of rejuvenation. But it’s nice to know a place like this exists. And it’s worth every penny.

(photo above taken from the Body Blitz photo gallery)