Stay Well
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WINNIPEG
Inn at the Forks
Don’t be alarmed if the treatment room begins to fill with smoke: It’s only the burning sage and sweetgrass, and it’s an integral part of Riverstone Spa’s signature hot stone massage. Indigenous beliefs encompass seven directions, so a holistic treatment includes up, down and within as well as north, south, east and west. In a spiritual ceremony known as a smudging ritual, the smoke from the burning plants is wafted over and around your body with an eagle’s feather as a way of cleansing body and soul. Those courageous enough to face a Winnipeg winter day outdoors can strap on a pair of skates and glide along glossy trails formed by the frozen Red and Assiniboine Rivers.
TORONTO
Park Hyatt Toronto
After being led into a flooded marble room, walk down a flight of steps into a bathtub the size of a master bedroom filled with body-temperature water. Water wings are strapped onto your legs and arms, and a buoyant pillow is placed beneath your head. Music is piped in underwater as the therapist floats you around the room and lulls you into a hypnotic swoon while “balancing your equilibrium.” Otherwise known as aquatic reiki, it might be our favourite spa treatment in the country. The immersive water creates a sense of weightlessness; combined with the trippy music, it can induce a delightfully altered state of being.
TORONTO
Four Seasons Hotel Toronto
Ordering room service only counts as healthy living if you choose from the Healthy Options Menu. Try the black cod with bok choy and tempura scallions followed by fresh berries. If you require something more active than chewing, the hotel offers MP3 players loaded with the dulcet voice of a personal trainer to guide you through your workout.
OTTAWA
Brookstreet
With electrodes secured to your body, you are told to run until you reach 85 percent of your maximum heart rate – i.e., when your heart is about to burst. Welcome to the complete health assessment, offered by La Vie Executive Health Centre at Brookstreet. The five-hour process includes an ECG, stress tests and an exam to determine the proportion of water, lean mass and fat in your body. At the end, you’ll get “My life is in my hands”: a USB key containing your entire medical profile.
MONTREAL
Hôtel Omni Mont-Royal
If you’re finding old-fashioned yoga mundane, sign up for the hotel’s power yoga class, offered daily at 7 a.m. Request a Get Fit Kit and expect a canvas bag waiting in your room when you check in, complete with a bottle of chilled water, a towel and an elastic exercise band. A small booklet provides suggestions for exercises you can do in your room, but why would you when the hotel’s 6,600-square-foot gym – among the largest of any Canadian hotel – is just a short elevator ride away?
QUEBEC CITY
Le Château Bonne Entente
A PhD in aquatic engineering isn’t necessary to operate the Spa Suite’s BainUltra bathroom, but it would help. With eight adjustable heads, light therapy, aromatherapy and a dry sauna option, the shower is more thorough than the average drive-through car wash. What’s more, the giant whirlpool bathtub offers chromatherapy. Downstairs, the Amerispa makes use of one of the region’s most desirable ingredients (no, not cheese): Take a dip in a therapeutic ice cider bath or regenerate with an ice cider body exfoliation.
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