Massaging not romance; It's "a sweet alternative"

To the business community, shuttling between offices and that of the boss, the computer and the virtually hardly adjustable chair, the stairs, the car and then to the house can be unforgetably stressful. Maxwell Adombila AKalaare looks at what CEO of Spa Body N beyond termed "a sweet alternative to the seemingly sole available option to regaining ones energy.

In this era of ‘jostling for survival’, no matter the category of job one finds him/herself in, stress can be virtually considered a part of the ‘routine ordeals’ in this life.
Yet too much of everything is bad. And even in the case of stress, experts estimate that over 90per cent of the diseases that the world is currently battling with are stress-related.
According to Ms Hettie Mercer-Riketts, a US-based professional thereapist and now Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Spa Body N Beyond, a newly opened health and body care company at Osu in Accra, “nothing, perhaps ages the human fraternity faster - both internally and externally than high stress.”
But in an environment where stressing is virtually synonymous to surviving, stressing the body can be seen as a deadly-ritual in the bodies of many around the country and the globe at large.
Many have therefore resorted to patronising the numerous stress relievers commonly called pain killers and their associated drugs that have emerged to, perhaps serve the rising demand by people in the country as they seek to avoid the wrath and glaring consequences of stress in their daily routines.
But not all people who are constantly stressed-out by routine office and other related activities can withstand the sight, scent and taste of these drugs -  if only they are even hygienic to the bodies of their victims.
Ms Mercer-Riketts, who is a member of the Body and Massage Workers Association in the USA, owner of  a wellness spa in the USA and has 11 years of experience  in the body wellness and therapeadic industry told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS that there was “a sweet alternative to these sometimes unapproved measures.
Accordning to her “there’s no denying the power of bodywork as a powerful ally in the healthcare regime. While eliminating anxiety and pressure altogether in this fast-paced world may be idealistic, massage can, without a doubt, help manage stress.“
But after chaining her wellness spars in the USA back to Ghana, her home country and currently hoping to plough back her 11-year old USA experience in the therapedic field into the Ghanaian scenes, Ms Mercer-Ricketts was confident that the country folk would soon embrace massaging as an alternative to drugs when it comes to treating diseases and staying healthy.

CHILDHOOD HABITS
Most habits are formed and some later disregarded. But in the case of Ms Mercer-Riketts, her childhood habit of using her hands to do things lingered to currently spur her into the body wellness and massage career.

Products of the company

“When I was a child, I loved doing things with my hands. While growing up, I thought of changing
carrer one day,” the CEO of the Spa Body N Beyond said and added that she at the time “had no idea of this (the body wellness and massage career).”
But when she later thought of how wellness could be used as an alternative medicine  when it comes to  relieving people, her present career of teaching in some massage schools in the USA and using “the professional knowledge to help people take care of their bodies” glared at her.
And when she later embraced the idea and went through its educational rudiments, she has today acquired an 11-year experience in the field, taught in a couple of massage schools in the USA including Georgia Medical Institute, Sanfordbrown Institute, the Avance Carrier Institute (ACI) among others. She owns  and operates a wellness spa in the USA, and is now  coming home to help her fellow Ghanaians to take care of there body.
 Her Spa Body N Beyond, the less than a month-old health and body care company at Osu in Accra is currently stocked with her HMR (an acronym of her name, Hettie Mercer-Riketts) Collections, a therapeutic massage oil collections that she said is produced by her US-based spa company and  “is guaranteed to delight your senses.”
The company, Spa Body N Beyond, she said also does wholesale of other spa and salon products to institutions who need them for retail to individuals and commerccial purposes. Few individuals who cannot imagine a therapist ‘squeezing’ their bodies in the name of massging,  Ms Mercer-Riketts said “we bring quality spa products to them too. Over here (pointing to a range of lotions, gels and oils on), we sell them to individuals and further counsel them on how to use them in the house at their own conveniece.”

MASSAGE NOT ROMANTIC
According to the therapeadic teacher who now doubles as CEO, “massage is just not a romantic thing as most people think of it but a natural alternative that is much safer and cheaper to recovering fast and healthy from sickness, curing diseases and relieving stress in the human body.
“See, just because massage feels like a pampering treat doesn’t mean it is any less therapeutic. People should really consider massage appointments a necessary piece of their health and wellness plan, and work with their practitioners to establish a treatment schedule that best meets their individual needs.”
According to her, “getting a massage can do you a world of good and getting massage frequently can do even more.”  She observed that most of the  illnesses that people are battling with can easily be treated with a professional massage.
“Very often,” she said “a simple massage is the answer to a problem. What just hovers onto my mind is why most people don’t try natural remedies. Many had headaches lingering for days but after 20 minutes of massage, the headaches miraculously stopped. You can now think of the thousands of persons who might have been alive today if only they had known and were encouraged, to use some of these natural remedies,” Ms  Mercer-Riketts asked.

A WOMAN IN BUSINESS
For Ms Mercer-Riketts who has for the past 10 years been running own businesses in the USA, “being a business woman has being good so far.
It seems easy to be in business but not as it looks; it is harder than working for somebody because you  hardly close from work and would have to deal with employee problems and the likes.”
But in the face of all these challenges, the Spa Body N Beyond CEO said “there’s pleasure in it (being a woman entreprenuer) more than all.”      Hettie is on hettie@spabodynbeyond.com
 www.spabodynbeyond.com