Published in Spa, March/April Issue

Walking up the gleaming wood staircase of Yuki Sharoni Beauty & Lifestyle, I’m greeted by Ivan Trufkin, a former wrestling coach in Ukraine with a degree in sport medicine and a client list that includes Kim Delaney and Shakira. “If you have a muscle problem, I’m going to fix it,’’ he says, to which I gladly offer my shoulders. Lying on a heated table with an eye pillow over my lids, I inhale jasmine-and -sandalwood oil from Ivan’s palms and listen to the castanet-like sound as he collects stones from a 130- degree roster- oven. Twelve small stones trace my spine beneath me, one large stone sits in each palm, another rest on my sacrum, and then I stop counting as he starts kneading my muscles with these rounded chisels, finding knots and untying them with a fluid, rolling-stone technique.

Fifty-four rocks later, I feel like a wet noodle and the ache in my elbow & shoulder is gone. Afterward we chat and he says, ’’Light massage is fine for relaxation, but to fix a problem, it’s not enough.’’ Where has this man been all my life?

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