Come For the Jazz, Stay For the Spa

It's that time of year again! The sunny Riviera Maya in Mexico is getting ready to welcome sun-and-fun lovers from all over the world to Playa del Carmen for the Riviera Maya Jazz Festival, taking place November 25th- 28th. Some of the musicians scheduled to appear include Al Di Meola, Troker, John McLaughlin, George Duke, the Manhattan Transfer, Eugenia Leon, Incognito and the always outstanding local favorite, Aguamala. All concerts are free and take place at Mamita's Beach in Playa del Carmen. The music will pamper your ears for four nights; why not let the rest of your body get in on the special treatment? There are lots of great spa resorts in the area but one of them is especially attuned to the ancient wisdom of the people that lend their name to the beautiful Riviera Maya and the place makes for a perfectly sublime retreat between concerts. 

To a botanist, ceiba indicates the genus of a family of large trees that flourish in tropical areas including the Riviera Maya. The ancient Maya, however, thought of the ceiba as so much more. With its leafy canopy often reaching heights of more than two hundred feet, the imposing ceiba (pronounced SAY-buh) is revered in Mayan mythology as a sort of portal to the stars and a spiritual connection between gods and man. The Mayan ideal is honored today at Ceiba del Mar Beach & Spa Resort, an intimate hideaway in Puerto Morelos on the northern reaches of the Riviera Maya.

One of the main reasons people come to Ceiba del Mar is to experience the feeling of renewal that comes from one or more treatment in the resort's spa. A full menu of massage, facial, body, and therapeutic treatments is available including everything from a Shiatsu massage to a tropical passion fruit body treatment to a reflexology session. Indulge in one of the spa's signature treatments, though, and you'll benefit from the employment of both ancient wisdom and modern technology. 

One of the most popular signature treatments is the Mayan Balsamic Ritual, a two-hour session meant to restore balance to mind, body and spirit. The ritual begins with the lighting of a stick of copal resin that the masseuse waves over your body while you're still standing; the very light-scented copal has long been used in Mayan ritual to clear the body of bad energy. 

Next a high-tech tool called a bio tensor is slowly moved along your body adjacent to the spine; if the tensor ring bobs gently up and down you are good to go, if it moves in circles then there is an energy blockage that your masseuse will attempt to counter (spa manager Gloria Guerrero or one of her highly-trained staff will further explain to you what the tensor has detected and what can be done about it.) 

The balsamic ritual continues with a long massage where specific essential oils are dripped "raindrop style" along the spine where they can activate the healing power of the central nervous system. Hot stones are also used towards the end of the balsamic. Other signature treatments include the Top Nikte (cocoon) massage, the Mayan Goddess scrub that utilizes a locally-harvested medicinal plant called chaya and an always-in-demand chocolate ritual. All of these incorporate ancient Mayan purification techniques, something that can be fully explored in Ceiba del Mar's temazcal treatment, a ritual of renewal that takes place on the beach at sunset in a terracotta hut. The ritual inside the temazcal is similar to that performed in a Native American sweat lodge.

As calming as the spa treatments are its hard not to get worked up a little when dinner time nears. Head chef Jose Luis offers a different menu each evening at the Xtabay restaurant and the Arrecife Grill but it is a Ceiba del Mar policy that if you want it, they'll serve it. That means you can dig into one of Jose's special stuffed chicken breasts any time you want to; it's filled with tomato and white Mexican cheese and served in a red mole sauce with plantain. The stuffed chicken also contains chaya, the same local leaf used in the Mayan Goddess spa treatment. "It tastes like spinach," Luis says. The easy-going Luis is only insistent about one thing and here it's a good idea to take his advice, "Try the tacos pato!" The duck tacos are dressed with cucumber, coriander and chipotle jelly and they consistently draw raves from Ceiba del Mar diners.

It seems that the ancient Mayans were right on the mark about the ceiba tree stretching up all the way to the gods. The tree's namesake resort, at least, is as close to heaven as you can get and still keep your toes in the warm sand.

www.ceibadelmar.com 

www.rivieramayajazzfestival.com
www.rivieramaya.com

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