Rio Rancho, NM Spa and Massage

The massage therapists at Urban Escape Massage & Bodywork mollify aches as they knead bodies with all-natural oils and lotions. They pay rapt attention to the body as they massage it, performing various massage modalities with plant-based wellness products such as the signature herbal muscle cream. Aside from classic massages, they offer cupping and ear candling. During a cupping massage, a therapist adheres a suction device to the skin to create a vacuum effect that increases circulation, draws out toxins, and scares house pets.

At Desert Beauty Day Spa, highly trained technicians and state-of-the-art spa treatments converge inside eight private treatment rooms to help bodies look and feel their best. Lauded for their highly customizable formulas, Dermalogica skincare products are blended into facials that treat acne, aging, and dull skin, and the Hydra facial––which earned attention from CBS's The Doctors––uses a special vacuum wand to extract impurities and cobwebs from the pores as it simultaneously infuses them with antioxidants and moisturizers.

During couples' massages, friends, romantic partners, and crime-fighting duos recline in candlelit rooms, either side by side or in separate private suites. Spa packages pair services such as teeth whitening, brow and lip waxes, and hydrating aloe-based body wraps to help bridal parties prep for their trip down the aisle, and infrared-sauna sessions help prevent cold feet by stimulating the immune system, calming nerves, and returning a sunshiny feeling to the body nonintravenously.

Each of Planet Beach's 274 locations spread across the United States, Mexico, and other nations hums with electronic power as machines perform the delicate task of relaxing and beautifying bodies. After human attendants guide guests to their treatment rooms and help them find their preferred settings, automated tanning beds, red-light "reverse tanning" therapy beds, hydromassage tables, and cyber-relax massage chairs tirelessly tend to skin, muscle, and bone. Mental tension dissipates as lungs breathe in extra oxygen or air scented by aromatherapy candles in private relaxation rooms that shield the mind from the outside world or pitches from telepathic salesmen.

Since 2007, licensed massage therapist Melanie Lilly owns the well-practiced hands at the heart of Well Kneaded Massage. She combines Swedish, deep tissue, neuromuscular, and other massage techniques to provide relief to beleaguered bodies, particularly in her All Systems Go massage, which helps to bolster five complex systems in the body.

Genesis Health Spa's professionals promote health, beauty, and wellbeing through treatments that are highly customized and performed in a relaxing environment. Along with facial, massage, and waxing services, the spa employs an experienced makeup artist to revamp exteriors with Jane Iredale mineral cosmetics during makeup applications, lessons, and special-occasion services for brides or eccentric ex-vaudevillians. For treatments in the tradition of oriental medicine, Dr. Heather Jones helps to balance body and mind with holistic Eastern healing methods. Acupuncture, cupping, and herbal medicine are just a few of the services offered to help alleviate bodily ailments without prescription drugs or a steady diet of sunshine, along with lesser-known services include Gua Sha––a massage-like technique that aims to release muscular tension by gently scraping animal horn, jade, or ceramic across troubled areas to release tightness.

Translated to English as “The House of the Moon,” La Hacienda de la Luna takes inspiration from this celestial symbol of femininity to create a space wholly dedicated to creativity, intuition, and healing. Serving as a wellness spa, yoga studio, art gallery, and bed and breakfast, the center strives to help bodies find a balance between their natural masculine and feminine energies through services that range from massage to drawing workshops. Various spa treatments help the body shed toxins both inside and out, whether via infrared sauna sessions or body scrubs blended from mineral sea salts and therapeutic essential oils. Bodies find their center and rediscover the backs of their knees during guided yoga classes, and those searching for artistic inspiration may find it by perusing a number of collections from talented painters and artists who design textiles and glasswork.

Housed inside a 300-year old adobe-style fortress believed to be one of the oldest inns in the nation, La Hacienda de la Luna also hosts a limited number of first-come, first-served rooms for guests, whose balance reset takes more than a few hours. Settled upon land that was once sacred to the Tiguex tribe, its varied history found it offering respite to everyone from missionaries to weary stagecoach travelers, making it well suited to host the rejuvenating activities that fill its 2-foot-thick walls today. Many claim that the spirits of the past still inhabit the serene site, though the faint of heart need not worry as La Hacienda de la Luna's owners describe the energies as "all welcoming."