Review / Hot sand therapy: 4 things to expect from psammotherapy, the holistic massage that can boost your health and well-being

Remember the last time you were at the beach, basking in the golden afternoon sun as you wiggled your toes in the sand? When you closed your eyes and drew in a long, deep breath, and exhaled all your stresses away? Somehow, in the comforting warmth of the shore, you could feel every tense muscle in your body completely relax, and your mind follow suit.

As it turns out, this physical and mental sensation isn’t exclusive to stressed out urbanites attempting to unwind on a beach holiday – Ancient Greeks discovered the soothing powers of sun-heated sand hundreds of years ago, using hot sand baths as a way to treat rheumatic, arthritic and respiratory conditions.

Today, the traditional thermal treatment known as psammotherapy (psammo is Greek for sand) or hot sand therapy is still practised in countries such as Italy, Morocco and Egypt – and, at long last, has finally arrived on regional shores. The Spa at Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur is apparently the first and only spa to introduce psammotherapy to Southeast Asia, having refined, enhanced and elevated the treatment with modern luxuries to proffer an indulgent experience alongside its purported health benefits.

With an entire 80-square-metre luxury suite dedicated to psammotherapy on the five-star hotel’s eighth floor, guests can choose from a variety of indulgent massages on the treatment menu (aromatherapy, muscle release, lymphatic – the works), all of which are performed on the exclusive MLX Quartz bed designed by one of the world’s leading spa manufacturers, Gharieni. It features a base of golden alpha-quartz sand from Bavaria, Germany, heated to optimal temperatures to provide the ultimate feeling of comfort throughout the session.

“The sand flows and envelopes the contours of the body, giving a cocooning feeling similar to lying on the beach. With the help of the therapist, the sand is moved and shaped according to the guest’s needs and unique body shape, both when lying face up and face down,” explains Theresa Winkler, Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur’s spa and wellness director. “This ensures the body is warmed uniformly, loosening up tight muscles to improve mobility and encourage deep relaxation.”

Not to mention, it also helps relieve musculoskeletal and arthritic pain, stimulate lymphatic flow and detoxify the body, Winkler adds. Intrigued? Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur’s opulent spa menu offers a variety of pampering psammotherapy treatments to choose from, from the Gold Serenity Ritual (utilising Mother Earth’s five energies) to Gold Intensive Muscle Release (ideal for post-exercise). Here are four things to expect from the hottest massage to hit the city.

1. Resounding Tibetan singing bowls are used to relieve stress and encourage deeper sleep

The immersive treatment begins and ends with gentle strikes of Tibetan singing bowls, producing a harmonic, resounding hum that is believed to encourage an elevated sense of relaxation. “The ‘singing’ sound is remarkable and is both invigorating and calming at the same time,” says Winkler. “We use the singing bowls to help harmonise the aura before the massage. The resonance of the bowls’ harmonic vibrations within the human body aid relaxation and are said to promote deeper sleep.”