M IS FOR MUD
Valsimaja Spa has been providing curative mud services since 1824.
Wherever it was located back then, these days the spa is based in a stark Soviet-era concrete building in a suburb of Kuressaare
on the island of Saaremaa. It possesses
none of the familiar hallmarks of calm and relaxation we usually associate with
therapeutic spa treatments. No ambient music, no incense, no fluffy towels. It's more like a traditional hospital ward with hard sterile
white enamel surfaces, office regulation blue louvre blinds and harsh fluorescent lighting.
The purpose of the spa veers hard towards the
medical end of the spectrum of therapeutic processes - it's
impossible to get an appointment there unless your GP prescribes one for
you.
This is mud that cures you rather than cossets you. We stand around a deep blue enamel bath, imagine aching bones, sick flesh, vinyl-aproned orderlies...
And hot, hot mud.
Our host explained how the mud is heated to between 40 - 45°C and is applied directly to the skin through massage or wrapped around certain parts of the body. Mud can also be used in the sauna, or at home as a body scrub. A course of treatment generally requires between 10 to 15 appointments and is used to cure a range of diseases, disorders and neuroses - from rheumatism to psoriasis, from post-traumatic stress disorder to ulcers.
The mud used at Valsimaja is harvested from the coastal flats nearby and is prized for its magical mineral content, its healing properties. Curative mud is clearly a mainstay of traditional Estonian culture, as well as an important part of the burgeoning "Blue Economy". Sand, clay and seaweed are used as the basis for a number of clean, natural remedies sold at home and abroad. Red algae from the Estonian coast is imported by the French cosmetic industry, to be re-sold at a premuim.
We leave the vast, empty facility clutching our complimentary pots of branded mud, marvelling at this uniquely Estonian "way of wellness", wondering whether it will ever catch on at home...