I love foot massages, so the $75 hourlong Foot Fantasy treatment at NuYu Salon & Spa in Alexandria sounded divine.
The nearly two-year-old spa, on the ground level of a residential community near Landmark Mall, seemed more salon than spa at first. But when soft-spoken Natasha led me past the hair stations to the spa area, I discovered an oasis of calm.
First up was a brisk salt scrub for my feet, followed by a slathering of warm paraffin. Then, for the next half hour or so, Natasha performed reflexology, which posits that pressure points on the feet can be manipulated to open blockages in the body. I had heard reflexology was painful, but Natasha, who also is trained in massage, had a soothing touch. The few times she made me flinch, I asked what she had pressed. “That’s your middle back,” she said, although I hadn’t noticed back pain. She also said I had toxins in both shoulders. Which, presumably, she had flushed out. I wasn’t sure I believed, but it was still my idea of a great foot massage.
I was amazed two nights later when, in yoga class, I nailed “side plank,” a pose my shoulders rarely seem strong enough to do. Whether or not the Foot Fantasy had anything to do with that, it lived up to its billing.
Sherri Dalphonse joined Washingtonian in 1986 as an editorial intern, and worked her way to the top of the masthead when she was named editor-in-chief in 2022. She oversees the magazine’s editorial staff, and guides the magazine’s stories and direction. She lives in DC.
