My sister Gayatri and I went to the Lodhi on a balmy summer afternoon for a session of Pilates, Yoga, TRX followed by an indulgent hair ritual at the Salon. Here are our thoughts.
Gayatris’ POV- I signed up for 2 hours of Yoga, Pilates and TRX in a rush of excitement. In anticipation of the day, I grew more and more nervous and was worried about the pain I would be in after. While I have been a competitive swimmer for as long as I can remember, in recent years, pursuing a career has meant that my health has taken a backseat. I am ashamed to say this but it is true- I live a sedentary life and often choose a power nap over a workout.
Jia’s POV- after I spent several weekends in London and Paris doing barre, Heartcore Pilates- I was ecstatic at the thought of reformer pilates and learning to use the cadillac. I wanted to focus on opening, stretching and lengthening the muscle with isolated movements instead of focusing on HIIT and Crossfit inspired moves. I exercise pretty regularly and try and mix it up to prevent boredom and plateauing. I had no idea what I had bargained for when I decided to go for TRX, Pilates and Yoga all in one day.
Naveen Chauhan, our Yoga specialist, has the most peaceful and serene aura about her. When she was chanting, I felt goosebumps! While she made us do some intermediate-level stretching and I felt the burn at the time, I did not feel discouraged and now feel that I must make Yoga a part of my daily routine. The restorative stretches and focus on pranayama left us feeling grounded, balanced and more connected.
When we moved onto Pilates, we were part excited and part terrified. We would watch Victoria’s Secret model, Isabel Goulart, do inversions on Instagram effortlessly and we knew that it required an awful lot of core strength and stability. David Johnson and Junior Pilates trainer, Sarfraz, helped us feel incredibly at ease and we felt were in very capable hands.
We used the ‘reformer’ to warm up the body and prime it to for isolated exercises to elongate the muscles. David showed us the ropes and moved us onto the ‘ladder barrel’ and started us off with back stretches and strengthening exercises. My favourite prop of all was the ‘trapeze table’ also known as the ‘cadillac’ that had slings, foot loops and fluffies for inversions. We were both petrified at the thought of the cadillac but had seen so many videos on Instagram and youtube that we just had to give it a shot. David made us feel at ease about hanging upside down and breathing. a few seconds later, I started to feel the rush of the blood to my head and knew I had to get down immediately. It felt absolutely incredible and we had rose-tinted cheeks courtesy the inversions- post the session.
Once we moved onto TRX, I was pretty tired. My legs felt the lactic acid build-up, and when we did one-leg-squats using the TRX suspension bands, I could feel my legs wobbling a little bit, as each subsequent squat was more difficult than the first one. I look forward to coming back for a focused workout, where I will start with TRX, so that I can give it an honest attempt.
We went in for a quick shower and visited the salon for a hair treatment. The Spa is beautifully decorated and all treatment rooms are built on either side of a gorgeous, minimalist corridor. All treatment areas are neatly concealed behind elegant jaali-work walls, which means that clients are afforded privacy and solitude. Seeing as many Lodhi Hotel members visit the Spa and Salon after gruelling workouts, one can imagine that they relish the peaceful atmosphere of the Spa.
I must admit that we weren’t exactly sure what the hair treatment would consist of, however, on meeting Usman, the Spa’s creative director, we knew we were in expert hands.
Soon after we sat down, Usman began to analyze our scalps, as well as the quality of our hair. Even though I had washed my hair earlier that morning, Usman was able to tell immediately that I had a very oily scalp, as well as thick and voluminous hair. He was spot-on with his analysis. He pointed out that Jia, too, has an oily scalp, but that her hair is much finer and was slightly damaged due to colour treatments. He suggested that both of us needed a different treatment on our scalps from the one on the length of our hair.
The hair product line used at the Lodhi Spa is from René Futerer, a French stylist who conceptualized the first hair spa in 1957. He developed an entire line of hair products, which consisted of plant-derived essential oils as the active ingredients. For us, Usman chose the Complexe 5 regenerating scalp treatment. The oil smells absolutely delightful. The oil treatment prepares the scalp to receive the deep conditioning mask, which was applied later. Through the length of the hair, an intense nourishing Karité treatment was used. This oil, too, smelled delicious and citrusy, but with warm vanilla notes. After both oils were massaged gently into our scalps for about 20 minutes, we had some steam applied to open up the hair follicles. My scalp was tingling from the application of the oils, but the steam alleviated that feeling. The tingling wasn’t unpleasant, and it felt natural, as potent essential oils were being massaged into my otherwise depleted scalp.
After this, our hair was washed extremely gently using a shampoo from the same line, after which, the Karité Conditioning Mask, was applied through the length of our hair and scalp. This concoction contains 53% essential oils of orange, orange blossom, verbena and vanilla. After the mask was washed out, our hair was lightly dried for about 2 minutes at a cool temperature. Usman explained that blow-drying hair immediately after such a treatment would be counterintuitive, as it is damaging for the hair.
A week later, I have to admit I have seen a huge change! My hair was brown and scraggly at the ends before and required conditioner after each wash. In the last week, I have not used any conditioner and my hair is not unruly even in this muggy weather. Friends have commented that my hair looks shinier and more lustrous. My sister’s hair, too, looks much more nourished than before, and her shoulder length hair does not become frizzy after a wash like it used to.
Usman chose the perfect treatment for our hair and scalp types while giving us tips on styling and maintenance! He is extremely knowledgeable and it was a pleasure to be taken care of by him and his team. He recommends this treatment on a bi-monthly basis, and told us to wash our hair more often, with sulfate-free, paraben-free shampoos.
We will definitely go back to the Lodhi for another deep conditioning treatment, and highly recommend that you do, too! I used to be a skeptic about deep conditioning treatments and haven’t had much luck in the past with other spas, but this is no longer true!
Quick Notes- The Lodhi
It is open to non-members as well. Please call to book a slot with David for Pilates.
Nourishing & Hydrating Hair Treatment: INR 4500 +++
Yoga session (private class)- INR 2000++
Pilates session (with David)- INR 2900++
TRX session – INR 1450++
The Lodhi Hotel
Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110 003
Ph: +91-11-43633333
Fax: +91-11-43633335
