Treatment Watch: Rain Massage

I just tried an interesting new spa treatment called Rain Massage at Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona. No, it doesn't take place under a Vichy shower. Instead you're massaged with smooth rain sticks -- the hollow tubes of wood that sound like rain when you turn them upside down. Created by Matt Murdock, the therapist who came up with Rollerssage, Rain Massage is conceived as a "journey" where you "become the rain."

The Rain Massage begins when the therapist (in my case, Murdock himself) shows you four rain sticks, kept warm in electric blankets. They're about two-feet long and made with redwood that is anywhere from 200 to 2,000 years old. (It is fallen wood that was NOT cut down to make the rain sticks, Murdock emphasizes.) You're invited to smell a fabulously scented "rain oil" formulated by a reverend in Arkansas, and the rain-scented water that you're spritzed with during the treatment.

I lay face down, just like I would for a regular massage. When Matt came back he turned over a big rain stick leaning against the wall to signal the beginning of the Rain Massage. As he lay a warm towel over my back, he told me it was a journey where "the rain will cleanse your body and heal your spirit....through the rain you will decide what kind of person you will be."

Matt mentioned a couple of options: "Will you be like the stream, gently flowing, following the path of least resistance? Only you can decide where the rain will take you. Or will you be like the river -- aggressive, powerful and determined in your destination? Only you can decide where the rain will take you."

This started me thinking -- perhaps not the best thing as you're getting ready to relax into a massage. I started wondering if I was supposed to tell Matt what kind of rain I wanted to be, and whether it would have an affect the treatment. "Too much thinking!" as a lama once told me.

I realized I didn't really have to "decide" as Matt started working, pushing the warm rain stick over my back in a move he calls "rowing". It felt like when therapists use their forearms, but with more finesse. Forearm strokes are not my favorite move (especially when I can feel their arm hair on my back!) but this really felt good. Matt finished off every section with some Swedish massage, using his strong, skillful hands.

The rainsticks were at their best and most effective as a massage tool on the legs and arms. These are parts of the body that usually get shortchanged during a massage, but the size and leverage of the rain sticks allowed Matt to affect a lot of big muscles rather quickly. I really felt my legs and arms had had some serious work done, which NEVER happens in a 50-minute massage.

Matt has created another interesting treatment, but Rain Massage probably works better as an 80-minute service. I like the rainsticks to warm up the body, but I need more "hands-on" time. The spritzing and the use of the rain stick sound during the service was a little rushed. I don't think Rain Massage delivers as a "journey" (like a lot of spa treatments with a story) but I still liked it and would recommend an 80-minute version.

Right now Rain Massage is only available at Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona, but Matt is working to bring it to other spas as well.