It can be hard enough focusing on eating healthily and finding the time and energy to exercise, that we often completely neglect looking after our mind and body. Dedicating time to caring for yourself focusing on your mind and body is just as important as nurturing our body with food and fitness. Sadly we rarely do it, as it seems an indulgent treat. Holistic treatments not only provide physical benefits that potentially no amount of exercise or food could remedy but also are fantastic for our emotional and spiritual well being in this fast paced world we live in. Take some time for yourself and include a holistic treatment as often as you can to really achieve a completely balanced, healthy and happy you.

The Dorchester Hotel, Mayfair
If the ‘Lavender Crush’ treatment at this luxurious five star hotel won’t truly relax and revive your mind and body, I don’t know what will! This treatment is based around the healing and soothing powers of much loved wild lavender. Lavender has a long history in medicinal healing and is now often used to provide physical and emotional relief. Lavender oil is packed full of rich molecules and components and when applied to the skin can help to relieve headaches, anxiety, depression, insomnia and help boost immunity. This treatment starts with a full body detoxifying exfoliation that leaves the skin feeling soft and incredibly firm. This is then followed by a full body and scalp massage using lavender oil finishing with warm stones. This treatment relaxed me so much, I fell asleep and don’t remember the scalp treatment however I really felt the results. I can’t remember the last time I felt so completely relaxed and at ease but this treatment took me to that lovely place. After the treatment I was taken to a room to relax and given coconut water with healthy nuts to re-energize. (www.thedorchester.com/dorchester-spa)

The Chelsea Day Spa, Hollywood Road
This sweet little boutique spa tucked away in Chelsea provides a ‘Detox Diva’ package treatment. Perfect if you are about to embark on a new health and fitness regime by kick starting your detox. I was feeling slightly sluggish after an over indulgent weekend and found this treatment package put me back on track. I was treated to collagen-boosting, skin thirst quenching HydroPeptide Facial, which sloughs away dead skin to reveal a healthy, natural glow and includes a lymphatic drainage facial to soothe puffiness. Suitable for all skin types, it refines pores and leaves complexion refreshed, sparkling clean, clear and bright. Next I experienced a Lymphatic Drainage Massage, where a special blend of detox oils were massaged over my body, to relieve aching muscles and cleanse the body. Lymphatic drainage is a therapeutic massage treatment that uses mostly light pressure and gentle, rhythmic strokes to increase and improve lymphatic flow. Lymph is an essential part of our immune system and helps fight infection by flushing out and removing toxins and harmful substances from the body. Improving lymph flow and drainage around the body is good for many reasons as it can help your body fight infection by keeping your immune system healthy, relieve water retention and help improve skin texture. This treatment is perfect to cleanse from overindulgence and hangovers to leave you feeling refreshed!
(www.thechelseadayspa.co.uk/pages/hollywood-road.html)

Lush Spa, The Kings Road
‘The Validation Facial’ from Lush Spa is designed to not only leave you with beautiful looking skin, but also take you on what Lush describe as a ‘magical journey’. The facial journey has been designed to address concerns with your skin but to also evoke deep emotion to leave you feeling empowered, confident and beautiful. This is done by specially written music by Simon Emmerson from The Imagined Village, with clever words woven into the lyrics created by a hypnotherapist so you feel relaxed and leave feeling beautiful. After an in-depth consultation with my Therapist, we chose together what products would be best to address my skins needs. This is where I learnt how natural and fresh the products are. Hearing this specially curated music whilst having my facial was refreshing, uplifting and worked perfectly with this truly relaxing treatment. The music takes you on a journey to a relaxing place by literally rowing you there with the sound of a boat rowing along a river before a gentle and calming song begins. Eleven specially selected words are repeated intermittently, which give you a chance to reflect on. My skin responded incredibly well to the cold stones, something I have never tried before and left me with glowing skin for days afterwards. I sure did feel like I went on a ‘journey’ with this mind-body treatment as my mind was engaged throughout with the empowering music and words.
(www.lush.co.uk/spa)

Aromatherapy Associates, Knightsbridge (image above)
The ‘City Stress Buster’ is a bespoke treatment to address your physical and emotional needs using aromatherapy oils. To start, I had an in depth consultation with my Therapist about my physical and emotional concerns. I was then asked to use my nose and pick from a selection of different oil blends which one I liked the most as this I was told would be the oil my body needs the most. I was coming down with a cold at the time, which fully supported why I was drawn to the Support Breath Oil. This oil is made with eucalyptus, pine, tea tree and peppermint that act as a decongestant and help with breathing. My Therapist then used this oil to give me a deep tissue massage, which I discovered during this that I had a number of nasty knots. My Therapist worked on these knots and then went on to give me a scalp massage to help relieve my cold induced headache. This bespoke treatment is a fantastic way to use the power of aromatherapy oils to combat any physical and emotional concerns and even better that it is all in an hour!
(www.aromatherapyassociates.com/ourboutique)

The Landmark Hotel, Marylebone
The spa at this deluxe hotel takes you a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of London life. The ‘Seaweed oil massage’ is a bespoke treatment using organic aromatic oils to relax muscles, relieve stress and trapped tension, soothe the mind and promote quality of sleep. Seaweed oil has an abundance of nourishing benefits for the skin including reducing the appearance of cellulite, hydration and purification. I had a deep tissue massage and again I discovered I had some unwanted knots on my neck that resulted in having a tight scalp. My Therapist then gave me a head massage using Ayurvedic Marma pressure points. The ancient practice of Marma presusure points has been used for hundreds of years to promote physical and mental rehabilitation. This practice teaches that we have 107 Marma points in our body which each have their own intelligence and consciousness. These points also correspond with our internal organs and can be stimulated to provide physical and spiritual relief. My Therapist was incredibly nurturing and instinctively responded to my body. This treatment really helped address and remedy problems which I would not have been aware of should I have not gone for this relaxing holistic treatment.
(www.landmarklondon.co.uk/en/landmark-spa-health-club)

words by Stephanie Matysiak

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