Is it just me or has 2020 been one of the most stressful years of your whole life?! The constant worry, the changing rules, remembering masks and hand sanitiser, homeschooling the kids, working from home… The list of additional stressors seems endless. With this in mind, I’ve been trying to do some things recently to improve my self-care, and it’s definitely helping. Here are just a few of my new rituals:
Continue reading “Self Care Rituals for Stressed-Out Mums”There are days for any mum when you feel what you really need is several hours in a spa and an expert massage. Unless you’re a film star, it’s probably just a dream to have that on tap, but you could partly enjoy it with a massage chair.
Massage chairs have been around for some time, and earlier models had drawbacks, but the technology has vastly improved over the past decade or so. They’re popular all over the world — the BBC highlights how big they are in Singapore and other parts of Asia.
Like hands-on massage, a good massage chair can offer an impressive range of health benefits, from stress reduction to quicker healing from pulled muscles. As the Telegraph reported, they were incorporated into Britain’s first supermarket for the elderly.
It’s important to find not only a quality massage chair, but the right kind for your needs. If you’re unsure, back2.co.uk are a massage chair supplier with a range of chairs to choose from.
Back2 offers a number of brands and types of massage chair. These include:
Prices range, reflecting the sophistication levels, but a basic massage chair should be within anyone’s reach. More advanced models represent a major investment, but as Janine Huldie points out, “Anyone who’s suffered from debilitating back pain will know that technology allowing you to lead a reasonably normal life is valuable beyond price.”
You and the whole family get to enjoy better health and feel more relaxed and invigorated as you face the stresses of life.
A few weeks ago, I got an email from Groupon asking if I wanted to review their service and being the affable gal that I am, I said “ooh, yes please!”. They offered me an amount to spend on the site and off I went to look for a product or experience that I’d like to try. I browsed for a while before happening upon a spa experience for two that was in my local area. Trouble was, it was more expensive than the amount that Groupon had offered, so I went back and told them and they said “That’s fine!”, which was a lovely thing for them to do! I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving of a spa day than my best friend, Jamillah, who as well as starting her new blog, Bare Beginnings this week, is a mum to three boys of three and under (who are just the scrummiest creatures) is studying for a degree and starting her own business!
The whole process was seriously simple. Groupon emailed me a voucher code, I went onto the site, purchased the deal I wanted with the voucher and waited for an email. Once the email arrived, I called the spa, set up the appointment and that was it! I didn’t even need to print the voucher off as I have the Groupon App on my iPhone, which shows ‘Your Groupons’ and allows you to extract the codes you need to give to the participating retailer.
This is actually the second time I’ve used Groupon, the first was a voucher that Husband bought for me for a massively reduced cut and colour at a local salon and I have to say, in terms of savings these vouchers work out really well. This package for the spa should have cost £170 but we got it for £46, which I think works out at 74% off. The vouchers would make a brilliant gift for Christmas as you could even book the appointment for the person and then just present them with an appointment card for their treatment.
The spa we chose is called Destination and is in the heart of Leigh Broadway, which is full of shops, cafes, bistros and bars, so there’s plenty of places in the close vicinity to make a real day of it. We handed in our coats and shoes and were given some cosy slippers to don, then walked through to the waiting area where we were sat down in comfy recliners with low lighting and gentle music while we filled in our treatment cards.
The treatment room itself, which we were then led through to, was beautiful; the ceiling was draped with purple fabric and the carpet was about a mile deep. There was a small fireplace which kept the room really toasty and even the treatment stations were in keeping with the relaxing atmosphere of the room, which earthy wooden bowls and interesting-looking brushes! We laid down and waited for the treatment to begin.
Our therapists came in and started the treatments, a facial and massage, and both Jamillah and I were virgins on that front before this day. It’s hard to know what to say here without using the words ‘rubbing’, ‘oils’ and ‘OH MY WOW!’ but basically, the most relaxing 45 minutes of our lives ensued. One thing we both commented on was that the music in the rooms wasn’t your usual wishy-washy whale song type thing which just starts to sound awful after a while. It was calm and relaxing but in a contemporary kind of way and there was something a but autumnal about it too which was very nice.
Once our time was up, it took us both a while to come back into the land of the living – I don’t think I’ve ever actually been that relaxed before without being asleep and the feeling was just incredible. The oils smelled so rich and delightful and my skin looked better than it has in years. In fact, it still looks pretty good, a few weeks on.
All in all, I think I can recommend both Groupon and Destination wholeheartedly. Jamillah and I have vowed that we’re going to make a more regular thing of taking the time to pamper ourselves so we’ll be keeping a close eye on all of the Groupon deals on offer in the future. Being able to spend time with my best friend in a truly relaxing environment like that was a true gift and I can’t thank Groupon enough for the opportunity to do it.
We were given a £50 voucher to spend on Groupon for the purposes of this review, but all opinions are my own and it no way influenced by any products or services offered.
