Five-star hilot, anyone?

When I was a little girl, most of our yayas (mine and those of my sisters’) always had a prescription for a lingering cough, which they swore was better than our pediatrician’s reseta: hilot.

Hilot as a remedy to a cough? I knew hilot could soothe a sprained ankle and relieve backache, but a cough?

"Bali lang po iyan (There is probably a broken bone there)," they would say. Even in recent years, I would have maids who would ask permission to see a manghihilot whenever they were stricken with fever or the flu. I would say to myself, "Antibiotics or paracetamol lang yan." Hilot as a cure to ailments other than a sprain was fishwives’ tale to me. And I attributed our maids’ belief in the efficacy of hilot to ignorance.

Today, I eat my words.

Why, even the five-star Mandarin Oriental’s renowned spa, The Oriental Spa, is offering hilot as part of its menu of healing and wellness treatments. It’s up there in their list, alongside Decleor facial and body treatments; Thai, Swedish and Shiatsu massage, and chocolate scrubs.

I kid thee not.

The Oriental Spa’s consultant Ronald Decter, a Swiss-born hotelier, says they decided to include hilot in the spa’s menu because, "In every country, we see a growing appreciation, an awakening to the value of traditional, natural medicine. The principles of hilot have been practiced for more than a thousand years, and date back to an era that pre-dates the Philippines’ written history." Well, it is difficult to disprove a healing tradition that has withstood the test of time and Ibuprofen.

The manghihilot, now fashionably called in the spa circuit as a therapist, identifies areas of energy imbalance through touch diagnosis, and then customizes the treatment to remove or alleviate the imbalances.

Once associated with blind masseuses, arbularyos and tobacco-chomping old ladies in the barrios, hilot is now being performed in airconditioned splendor by uniformed therapists as you relax on cashmere-soft towels amidst the soothing aroma of lavender, ylang ylang and Decleor’s special concoction of "aromessences."

To those of us who have once looked down on hilot, time to wake up and smell the ylang ylang! Five kinds of hilot therapies are now being offered at The Oriental Spa, with prices ranging from P1,800 (30 minutes) to P3,200 (90 minutes).

Among the treatments is the 90-minute therapeutic hilot massage, "a welcome relief to anyone suffering from deep-rooted stresses or strains, and a re-balancing remedial therapy to help maintain health and well-being."

There is also the 30-minute Dagdagay foot therapy, a traditional foot massage originating from the Mountain Province. Dagdagay is performed with the use of two bamboo or rattan sticks to stimulate the foot’s nerve endings and restore health. The treatment begins with a soothing foot soak using medicinal herbs, and ends with an herbal foot wrap and massage.

There is also the Bentosa, wherein heated cuplets (mini versions of the ones you see at pandanggo sa ilaw dances) are placed on certain spots on your back, to stimulate circulation and balance blood flow. It stimulates the nervous system, dissipates cold and alleviates wind, while removing toxins and restoring the body to a balanced state.

There are packages that combine two or three of the five hilot therapies offered in the spa.

As I write this, I feel de-stressed already.

SPAmpering

It isn’t just the Mandarin that is giving the once lowly hilot a deserved ego massage. According to Elizabeth Nelle of the Office of Product Research and Development of the Department of Tourism, hilot has made it to the "Hot and Getting Hotter" list of Spa Finder (a renowned international spa-themed glossy). Our very own hilot was up there on the list of the magazine’s Spa Trends for 2006. Hilot was also nominated as the "Spa Treatment of the Year" during the 2005 Baccarat Inaugural Awards in Hong Kong in 2005.

According to Nelle, hilot is the "icon" of an authentic Pinoy "SPAmpering."

"It is happening every day in all 42,000 villages of the country, with more than 100,000 traditional massage therapists or manghihilots. Hilot is a highly intuitive massage. Unlike Swedish or Thai massage, which have a pre-determined sequence of strokes to follow, hilot is customized to the needs of each client," adds Nelle.

Heal-ot

The expert consulted by The Oriental Spa for its hilot therapies was not a tobacco-chomping old woman. Bibiano "Boy" Fajardo, president of the association of Traditional Health Aid Givers, looks more like a lawyer or an accountant. In fact, he is a chemical engineer who attributes his second lease in life to the wonders of hilot.

"Thirty-four years ago, I was in the pre-departure area of hospitals," quips Fajardo. He was afflicted with progressive muscular dystrophy and several doctors had given up on him. As a last resort, Fajardo turned to an arbularyo. From the point onwards, he was hooked on learning more about the seemingly esoteric science of indigenous healing. His scientific background enables him now to convey, in layman’s terms, the scientific principles that are the basis of hilot treatments.

Hilot, Fajardo asserts, is rooted in universal and natural law. "It is the manipulation of electrical energy in the body, directing energy to clogged areas."

Suffice it to say, Fajardo is now a manghihilot himself, and he trains therapists on this traditional form of treating aches and pains.

In fact, he will soon be setting up hilot centers in Singapore, Oman and Germany.

The stresses of daily life and toxins in the environment (sadly, most pollutants are produced by men themselves) have made the search for wellness as prized as a lotto jackpot. For what is wealth, fame and glory when you have a nagging backache that Ibuprofen cannot relieve?

It is soothing to know that healing – hilot or better yet, "heal-ot" – is available right here, in the next corner, or in the posh Oriental Spa at the Mandarin Oriental in Makati City.

In airconditioned splendor or in the hut of a tobacco-chomping arbularyo, hilot can heal you. Or make you feel like Cleopatra.

(For inquiries, call The Oriental Spa at 867-4461.)