A vibroacoustic treatment at the spa of Four Seasons Tower Bridge makes the earth move – and the heavens part – for Russell Higham
It’s more than just the perfectly mixed martinis that get shaken, as well as stirred, at the Four Seasons Hotel London at Tower Bridge.
The City of London’s most discreetly luxurious hotel, located on the Square Mile’s southeastern edge, is home to a magnificent, 1,770sq m spa that many (your correspondent included) consider to be one of the capital’s very finest.
Its 22-carat gold mosaic-clad reception, bejewelled columns and marble floors look like they could have come straight out of ancient Rome. A rich palace of bodily delights, every time I visit I half expect to find the Emperor Caligula luxuriating next to me in the steam bath, a nubile wench peeling and feeding grapes into his open mouth. Continue on through this temple of self-indulgence, however, and you’ll come to a darkly lit treatment room containing a mysterious-looking machine that appears to have come straight from the future.
The Four Seasons Tower Bridge spa is currently the only publicly accessible place in the UK and Europe where you can try the SAVA Sound Pod – a pioneering vibroacoustic wellness platform designed by US-based health tech company TERSA.
The cocoon-shaped pod, which in some ways resembles a sleekly shaped, human-sized computer mouse, gently mixes scientifically orchestrated body vibrations with immersive, emotionally resonating music to gently shake and move you into what TERSA calls “a higher state of consciousness”. The company claims it delivers an immersive range of science-based sound-healing frequencies and music that calms your nervous system and relaxes your body, enhancing creativity and focus, and optimising mental and emotional health.
I was sceptical when Four Seasons’ spa manager Verity Marsh first tucked me under a weighted blanket as I lay on top of the SAVA’s four-inch memory-foam pad. She then left me alone in the room and, as the gracefully curved shell-like pod cradled me in almost womb-like comfort, I began to feel a series of subtle vibrations beneath me growing in intensity. A pleasant surround-soundtrack washed over me – ambient yet focussed, something like a cross between Brian Eno’s ‘Music for Airports’ and Jean-Michel Jarre’s best work from the late 1970s.
What began as cynicism, however, morphed, halfway through the 33-minute treatment, somehow into a full-on emotional epiphany that inexplicably left me feeling deeply moved yet completely refreshed. I’m not saying I was overwhelmed or anything (big boys don’t cry, and all that) but it’s an experience that definitely affected me on a deeper, subconscious level than you’d usually get from a straightforward massage or treatment. I felt profoundly relaxed yet vitally engaged. Something also stirred on a creative level too – I did a great day’s work afterwards – and then slept for eight hours straight like a comatose log.
TERSA’s CEO and founder Ray Kelly explains: “The patented SAVA Sound Pod is designed to help regulate the nervous system through immersive, full-body sound. Lying on top of the cloud-like pod, guests experience immersive spatial audio combined with low-frequency vibroacoustic waves that travel through the body. In short you are not only HEARING the music, you are FEELING it in your body at a cellular level. These sounds and frequencies gently stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system – the state associated with deep relaxation, recovery and mental clarity.
What began as cynicism morphed into a full-on emotional epiphany
“Physically, users often report improved sleep, less aches and pain and faster recovery. Mentally, it supports focus and stress reduction. Emotionally, it can create a profound sense of calm and reset. In simple terms, SAVA helps the body shift from ‘fight-or-flight’ into a restorative state.”
Regarding the soundtrack, Kelly reveals: “Nick Littlemore, from Empire of the Sun and PNAU, is our Musical Director and leads the creative direction of the sound experience. The music we’ve created is an entirely new category of immersive sensory based music – it’s not standard meditation music, it’s so much more emotional and really takes you on a journey out of your body – it’s like a sensory dream and ride that feels deeply cinematic. And it’s backed by science.”
Marsh told me that not everyone has the same, deeply profound experience as me – some guests just feel feeling amazingly well rested and report having the best night’s sleep of their lives afterwards – so maybe I’m just a sensitive old soul.
Either way, I’m down for a weekly course of sessions on the Sava Sound Pod – which you can book individually (£75) or included with four hours’ access to the rest of the spa (£120 weekdays / £150 weekends).
I just hope Caligula hasn’t booked up all the good slots already.
To learn more and to book, visit fourseasons.com/towerbridge
