Andrew Kay is happy to admit that he is becoming addicted to therapies

This job comes with it perks, as I am sure many of you will have guessed. I get to eat and travel and I get to go to the theatre too. I also get invitations to take part in therapy sessions.

Now I know that will inspire visions of me, head in hands, spilling my heart to some worthy person in a hand knit with their knees crossed and a spiral bound notebook and Bic biro in hand. But that’s not the kind of therapies I get invited for. On the contrary, people seem to want to pound and pummel my body into relaxed submission.

Over the years I have been submitted to all manner of weird, wild and wonderful treatments. I once fell asleep in a session only to find on waking that I was buried chin high in large flat pebbles whilst a very enthusiastic lady rushed around me, whooping and carrying a bowl of burning clary sage leaves. And there was an audience too. And no, I have no idea now what that was all about.

“A very enthusiastic lady rushed around me, whooping and carrying a bowl of burning clary sage leaves”

Recently I was invited to take a session in a new treatment at the Shadi Danin Medi Spa in Hove. Well needless to say I jumped at the chance. A few days later I found myself, near naked, in a huge steel tank buried in tiny red volcanic beads that had been heated in hot water to 45º C.

It might sounds scary but I promise you, it was the most amazing experience, both relaxing and invigorating. They recommend that you stay between 9 and 20 minutes; I did 16 and could feel my whole body pulsing and coming alive. I was rather loathe to get out but the promise of a Thai head massage did the trick.

It’s a Japanese treatment and the only one of its kind in the UK. The promise is aided weight loss and detoxification. I hope that it did that too, but for my money it was worth it just for the simple physical sensation during the treatment and how great I felt after. The Taizen Bath is an experience I would happily repeat over and over again.

Shadi Danin Medi Spa, 70 New Church Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 4FL
For more information go to www.shadidanin.com or call 01273 777177