A month on and finally my husband and I have some time to actually get each other’s Christmas Presents!! My wish was very simple. I need someone to actually make the appointment for me & make me go for a massage because I seem to have been finding 101 things I NEEDED to do which were more important that looking after myself. The timing cannot be more perfect! I’m on the brink of spiraling down and I have 2 options, allow myself to do so or reach out for help.

My husband rose to the occasion and booked me in at Myoka Sands Spa, a stone’s throw away from my house so I had no excuses. He told me 2.30pm but when I arrived, literally a few minutes before, the Spa Manager smiled (a bit cheekily) and said ‘Good, you are here! Your appointment is actually at 2.45pm but we told you 2.30pm so you have time to calmly change into your bathrobe & do a bit of sauna/steam room before’. How pleasantly surprised I was! Ding Dong… reality check! This is me. Always rushing around to arrive everywhere on time, which causes me to feel like I am chasing my tail the whole day through! No wonder I feel stressed.

I gazed into nothingness inside the steam room and I let my thoughts pass me by as I began to take deep long breaths. Yoga has thought me how not to take too long to switch off, so I was determined to make the best out of my time. Little did I know what awaited me!

I was greeted by this tall, very welcoming foreign therapist who took me into the treatment room, which immediately oozes that relaxing sensation with its dim lighting, wooden furnishings & soft music in the background. She asked me some basic questions after which I promptly told her that I am very stressed and I need a strong, deep massage.

She listened carefully and took me in. She told me that the treatment I was booked for was the Signature Sands Spa Massage, which is designed to alleviate stress, ease aching muscles and revive the senses with essential oils. But she reassured me that she will work with what I needed and that I must remain open and tell her if I’m hurting. She made sure I understood the difference between good pain and bad pain and in just those few minutes I instantly felt I was in very good hands. So I relaxed and let her work away.

Well sort of, because to take the maximum benefit out of a massage you have to also respond to the work itself. She was softly reminding me to breath out fully through my mouth as she presses deeply into all my painful muscles. I was noticing she was using combined techniques that felt right for that particular area and I thought, “this is no ordinary massage nor is she an ordinary therapist.”

At the end of this full hour, this master therapist asked me if I wanted her to be honest with me. And again, in just a few minutes she gave me a resume of my body that left me with my mouth agape. One expression she used was that I was like ‘flexible stone’ which is exactly what I felt I had become! She had read me like a book and spoke of my blockages in areas that I knew about. As she checked that I understood what she was saying, she gave me a bit more… and mentioned those emotional blockages which we all have but are too quick to conceal. I felt like crying but because she was recommending how I should move forward and that if I am willing, she can work with what I need at each given moment. I felt ‘emotionally supported’.

Jackpot! I will be back! I didn’t need much to book myself a package of 6 sessions which I’m determined to top up once they finish because frankly, who needs money in their wallets when you are not putting it to good use? I would have to spend it in painkillers, muscle relaxants and the whole lot to try and get myself feeling well again anyway. So I am marking my year 2017 as the year where I mostly need to restore, rejuvenate and revive so I can continue being the best I can be. This time, I need a little bit of help… 😉 So until my next treatment, breath in and exhale long and fully from the mouth.