Homewood, AL Spa and Massage

Located inside of Go Natural Herbs for Health, Valleydale Massage houses massage experts ready to restore bodies to their natural balance with nine different types of customizable massage therapy. Therapists begin each visit with a consultation designed to suss out clients' reasons for visiting, determine their physical condition, and identify any individuals who happen to know the location of Carmen Sandiego. Next, clients recline upon padded massage tables before heated sheets wrap them in a steamy embrace and deft hands knead away stress and soreness. Therapists are proficient in a number of therapeutic modalities, unleashing Swedish strokes for massage beginners, prenatal techniques for mothers-to-be, and sports massage for athletes and those suffering from muscular pain.

Though she had never experienced a massage of her own, Janice Amyson knew that she had found her calling as soon as she entered massage school. She carried this initial passion through her courses and into her career at The Amazing Hands Therapeutic Massage, where today she strives to empathize with her aching clients. To make sure that she understands and addresses their individual aches, Amyson never begins treatment without a brief consultation. This all-important sit-down, during which she inquires about areas of particular soreness, allows her to customize sessions that may incorporate modalities such as deep-tissue massage, TMJ treatment, repetitive-use therapy, and medical massage.

The treatment room’s low lighting, aromatherapy candles, and lush green plants join together to soothe frazzled nerves. Arbonne lotions and a heated table aid Amyson’s nimble fingers as she unkinks knotted musculature and rewires cybernetic limbs. Other therapeutic elements include Mentholatum, which opens sinuses to allow for easier breathing, and foot warmers to comfort cold toes. In this same room, Amyson also treats bodies with soothing spa treatments such as mud-mask facials and paraffin dips.

Advance Muscle Therapy’s licensed massage therapists sweep away stress with classic massage techniques. The relaxation massage’s light–medium pressure gently coaxes pockets of tension and painful clusters of magic school busses from muscles, and the deep-tissue modality reaches the body’s buried kinks with the aim of ousting chronic pain. To round out the treatments, a small slate of spa services includes hydrating facials and body wraps.

Spa Moksha's staffers blend the benefits of medical care and spa treatments to create their method of mind-body medicine. They base it on scientific knowledge garnered by a cohort of doctors that includes Dr. Deepak Chopra. On one side of the coin, The Foundation for Mind-Body Medicine specializes in health services provided by experts in modern and integrated medicine. Based on each individual’s body chemistry, the experts design a personal treatment plan that can address maladies ranging from stress and chronic pain to diabetes, allergies, and cardiovascular disease.

On the other side of this coin resides not Abe Lincoln, Ben Franklin, or the guy who makes more money than anyone—the machinist at the US Mint—but the spa portion of Spa Moksha, which approaches wellness with medical and nonmedical spa treatments. The expert technicians employ practices that range from Ayurvedic therapy and nutrition consultations to facials, skincare, mani-pedis, and hair removal via lasers or waxing. The spa staff can also eschew the typical clinical atmosphere to treat clients with massages on the rooftop gazebo, a private space that allows patients to enjoy a relaxing massage amid the warmth of the sun and the kiss of cool breezes.

Supervised by an on-staff medical director, Cara Bella Studio's staff brings its A game to rejuvenate entire bodies with massages and med-spa treatments. Trained massage therapists wring tension from muscles to reduce stress and widen range of movement and also prop up postures by whispering pep talks to vertebrae. Nonsurgical med-spa services such as chemical peels and microdermabrasion treatments aim to liberate facescapes from fine lines, and teeth whitening and eyelash extensions amp up smiles and winks, respectively.

Like a child in a chocolate store, Sarah Ali couldn't choose just one vocation. While earning her master's degree in counseling psychology, she practiced makeup artistry at a cosmetics store and performed portrait photography on the side. She finally decided to attend a makeup academy, and soon opened a wellness and beauty center known as The Transformation Studio. This led her to start her own beauty line, which she dubbed Chamak, a Hindi word that means "glow," which both paid homage to her South Asian roots and celebrated each woman's sparkling personality. As Chamak's product selection expanded, so did Sarah's interests, and she soon decided to incorporate her love of cooking and baking into the mix. After a stint at Ecole Chocolat to earn her chocolatier certification, Chamak Chocolates was born.

Whether in names borrowed from Indian folklore or spices and herbs touted by Ayurvedic medicine, each luscious treat that emerges from Chamak Chocolates' kitchen bears a symbol of South Asian culture. Sarah crafts all of the truffles, bon bons, and chocolate bars in small batches with zero preservatives, and even consults an organic wellness expert to create a line of healing, sugar-free treats designed to mend a host of health problems. True to her roots, the chocolatier also ventures out to create traditional Indian mithai, a sugar- and milk-based dessert customarily eaten for momentous events, such as the birth of a baby or when that baby gets its first callback for a baby-formula ad. For other celebrations, Chamak Chocolate hosts chocolate-making parties, chocolate-centric lunches, and makeup-and-chocolate events.