Relaxing as a Mum: Spa Experience Baby Massage

"Enjoy sleeping/eating/showering in privacy whilst you still can!"

Before Miss P arrived already-parents would take great pleasure in reminding me to make the most of being solo. But deep in the anticipation of a new arrival you sort of shrug it off... it's not until you're in the thick of parenthood that you realise how uncharming fighting over who gets to eat your breakfast and having someone grinning at you when you pee actually is...

As a new parent it can be hard to find time for yourself. Whilst you wouldn't change your situation for the world you also find yourself longing for the days when you could go to supermarket solo and when you had enough spare hands to actually use a basket! How easy things used to be.

Some parts of your life you can roll a new baby into - you adapt - the coffee with a friend now involves a high chair and sticky fingers grabbing for your mug, the exercise regime evolves into baby-friendly classes... But there is very little that can be done to find much me-time. It's very much evolved into 'we-time' and there is definitely no time to down tools are relax. You're on the go 24/7.

So when Miss P and I were invited to Spa Experience in Kensington to experience their baby massage class I didn't need to think too hard.  Baby classes tend to be bright, colourful, sensory sessions that don't so much relax, but exhaust! Before Miss P was born we shared an amazing experience at a spa, and I wondered whether this would give us more special time bonding, whilst also hopefully giving us the chance to do something less 'glittery' and potentially relax in each other's company.

Miss P settled into the massage almost immediately - as soon as I was guided through the first few movements on her legs by our instructor Neji, she started grinning.

She happily lay on her back whilst I oiled my hands and gently rubbed her legs and feet. She was fascinated by the massage oil. She stilled. I felt myself relaxing whilst massaging her. No it wasn't my pre-baby spa experience, but there was something deeply soothing about knowing I was doing something wonderful for my little girl. She was beaming.

We sang some gentle nursery rhymes, Miss P giggled along. This was quite unlike her other classes, where she's needed a few exposures to get into the swing of things... something clearly just clicked. She was happy. Content. Relaxed.

At the end of the class, she fell asleep almost immediately - right on the yoga mat she'd been using. Sleeping baby = massive win! And with the added bonus that whilst asleep she couldn't notice my smoothie!

One very happy mummy!

I think our first mummy-daughter Spa Day was a positive experience - may it be the start of many more!

Thanks for having us Spa Experience, and for introducing us to a new way to bond.

The Kensington Spa Experience Baby Massage classes start in January 2018 - within the well appointed Kensington Leisure Centre. Parking is limited, but close to tube lines, and buggy parking is available inside.

This post has been written in collaboration with Spa Experience Kensington - however all content is true to my own thoughts, experiences and memories.

Bath Thermae Spa: Watsu when Pregnant - Review

Things have been a bit rocky recently. For the last few months I've struggled. Not so much physically, but with this constant swell of pregnancy emotions that feel like they are battering me from all sides.

So Hubby and I decided that it would do us both good to have some time away. Away from work emails, from painting the nursery, from the need to visit Ikea, again, and away from the constant merry go round of hospital appointments...

The long Easter weekend came along at just the right time so we planned a couple of days in the beautiful city of Bath. It was just what we needed - time to disconnect, to be a couple, to recharge our batteries, a mini-babymoon... and what could be better for that than a trip to Bath Thermae Spa?

I've been lucky enough to go to the spa on a couple of occasions but never with Hubby - and he was insistent that I indulged in a treatment whilst we were there. Being 33 weeks pregnant, there aren't that many treatments to pick from, but after a long chat with the reservations team I plumped for something called 'Pregnancy Watsu.'

I gathered it had something to do with water, and being moved around... to be honest I was more than a bit sceptical. I can move myself around in water thanks very much, in fact that's what is been doing already in the spa that day, so paying an extra £65 (gulp!) to have someone move me around seemed excessive. I was definitely on the fence.

But in the end, it turned out to be possibly one of the most beautiful experiences I have had during pregnancy.

You enter a private pool along with your therapist, they add a couple of floats to your legs for added bouyancy and then you spend the next 50 minutes cradled, like a baby, in their arms in the warm mineral waters. Yes, I know how this sounds. Really bloomin' odd... But it's also truly beautiful.

With my ears under the water, and my eyes closed I spent my 50 minutes in almost a meditative state - seeing only the gentle pink light filtering through my eyelids, hearing only the sound of the water supporting my body, feeling the gentle ripples tickling my skin as the therapist slowly tugged me through the water and gently moved my relaxing limbs, I became  more aware of my body than I have been for months - the strange almost alien pregnancy body felt like something I could connect with again.

And our little bump seemed to feel the same way too. My tummy was dancing. It was like we were both floating together in our little safe watery cocoons, and Pickett wanted to show their appreciation by being incredibly active. It really was like we were sharing something together and bonding. Our first piece of family time.

The more I relaxed, the more movement I felt, and I know that should probably not surprise me. But for someone who isn't used to relaxing, who is constantly on the go and practically hard wired into work emails, this was precisely what I needed. Not 50 minutes focused on myself, but 50 minutes focused on my baby. Not what we needed to do/buy/make before their arrival, but just quality time focusing on what it must be like for that little life inside my tummy.

So would I recommend Watsu?

Most definitely. Yes, okay, so being in a private pool with your eyes closed and essentially having different 'cuddles' with a total stranger does take a while to get used to, and I've no idea what it's like if you're not pregnant... but for me it was a truly magical experience. Exactly what I needed.

I left the pool feeling very at peace, and with every pleasant emotion related to our baby absolutely jangling. I felt overwhelmingly in love with my child.

Somehow my baby and I felt really tethered together beyond our obvious physical connections... My one regret is that it's not something that Hubby could experience. I would love to share that sense of commitment, and love for our little family with him.

This post has not been written in collaboration with Bath Thermae Spa or any other third party.  No incentive has been received for writing this post and is completely based on my own experiences and thoughts.

Bath: Learning to make time for yourself

Finding time for yourself can be really hard. Sometimes it takes someone rlse forcing you to step back that makes you get off the endless hampster wheel and just pause for a minute.

And that's exactly what I did this time last year when I made a trip to the Thermae Spa in Bath. My Mum had a big birthday, and had become a carer for my father, so we thought she needed a special treat, and the  chance to recharge with a massage, a nice meal and an afternoon focusing on herself without distraction. 

So when I heard that spottedhanky.com were offering the chance for someone to similarly chill out and explore the wonderful city of Bath, I just had to share the news... I mean, who doesn't love a bit of pampering?!

Win one of three luxury experiences in Bath from redspottedhanky.com! 

Simply follow the link to like redspottedhanky’s Facebook page and enter the competition to win a weekend stay at the luxurious Francis Hotel in Bath and your choice of one of three Beautiful Bath experiences! Choose from a session of luxury spa treatments at the Thermae Bath Spa, a torchlight visit to the historic Roman Baths, or a gourmet dinner for two at Brasserie Blanc!

 The competition is free to enter and open to UK residents 18 and over.

Ends 5th August 2013.

 http://bit.ly/15BqdpN

Note: I have received no payment or incentive for sharing this competition.  I just feel that we all deserve the chance to enjoy ourselves!

Bath Thermae Spa: Review

On Friday I popped my cherry.  My massage cherry.

My Mum was never one of those girly mums who would spend hours on hair and makeup.  She'd never feel dressed without her perfume, but makeup was something that just didn't really feature in our house.  It wasn't until I went to university that I ever really wore mascara, I remember one of the girls in my hall leaning over me with the brush in hand, with me clutching the duvet underneath me willing myself not to blink at the wrong time...  So certainly massages were out.

My Mum had a big birthday earlier this year, and as she's had a bit of a year, I decided that it would be nice to treat her to a day of pampering.  Not for the preening, but for the relaxation.  

So off we trundled to Bath Thermae Spa.

Part of the package that I'd bought was a treatment.  I'd had a list of three to pick from, and not knowing what any of them where I closed my eyes and stabbed my finger at one (yes, really!).  That was three months ago, and even when we'd changed into our robes and slippers I simply could not remember what I'd booked.

Luckily the lady at the treatment desk did. After half an hour bobbing around in one of the warm thermal pools, I wandered up to the desk to book in for my treatment.  "Hot Stones Vichy Hydro Massage" - even the name didn't really reveal much about what was going to happen to me.  I'd heard of a hot stone massage, and so the extra words in between just sort of passed me by.

I filled in the brief health questionnaire and was met by a very friendly therapist who led me into the treatment room, where I was left to strip, don a pair of hugely unsexy paper pants, lie on the bed and cover myself in a towel.  Laying there in the buff, I couldn't fail to notice the large metal contraption with what looked like shower heads pointed directly at my naked body.  I started to wonder whether I should have paid more attention.to those extra words...

Looking up at those shower heads I felt like I was staring down the barrel of a gun.  I certainly couldn't imagine the experience being relaxing.

 

I mentally prepared myself for jets of cold water, "just like an ice bath' my brain kept chanting over and over.  To aid recovery.  I was already a ball of goose pimples and the water wasn't even on....

When the therapist returned she calmly explained what I could expect.  And I was relieved to find out that the showers weren't going to blast me we cold water.

It turns out that "Hot Stones Vichy Hydro Massage" is a top-to-toe treatment using the latest techniques where you're massaged under a warm shower.  The shower heads were carefully directed to different areas of the body to stimulate blood flow.

My body was exfoliated with rock salt, cleansed with a nourishing aromatherapy bath oil and water ritual and then finally massaged with hot stones.  To be honest I was a bit sceptical, but once I found myself in a position on the bed where I wasn't inhaling the cascading water I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I left the massage room in a very Zen state, feeling deeply relaxed and strangely light.

I won't even pretend to understand the technicalities of what the massage did, or how it worked.  All I know was that I'd recommend it.

A day at the spa wasn't cheap, but for a special treat it certainly did the trick.  My Mum loved it.  However what they don't tell you is just how exhausted all that relaxing makes you... Zzzz