After somewhat a rather busy and stressful few weeks, my poor knackered back started to take the brunt and went into aching overdrive. Like many of us in our late 40’s, bad backs are part of the course these days and mine comes and goes on a fairly regular basis. But it’s manageable and normally popping a couple of tramadol and a quick burst of Deep Heat and all is well again. Well for a few weeks at least.
But these last few weeks the aching, stiffness and sciatica really has played havoc – from waking me up in the night to walking like a very old lady. Which is typical as it’s obviously the busiest time of the year and definitely no time to sit around or be on a go slow. There was only one thing for it…a hot stone massage!
Now I’ve had normal massages before and I’m in the ‘firmer the better’ camp – I want to feel elbows kneading into the skin and experience my bones cracking in relief. But a hot stone massage was a totally new experience and to be honest I wasn’t too sure what to expect. Like how hot would it be exactly?
So, I arrived at the therapy room (details of the amazing therapist are at the bottom) and instantly felt calm and relaxed. Soothing plinky plonky music drifted around the room and a wonderful smell of calm engulfed me. Ahhh, bliss. Jane explained what was going to happen and as I lay on the couch, I felt my worries slipping away, the head chatter silenced, and the stress evaporate.
And then she placed the stones on me. Goodness me, they were hot! I know the clue’s in the title, but I wasn’t expecting it to be that hot! But it wasn’t an unpleasant hot, or a burning my skin hot, it was just a lovely hot – you know like when you put your toe in the bath for the first time? The amazing warming feeling far outweighed the minuscule moment of ‘ouch’ and I lay there looking forward to the next burst of heat on my now very grateful back.
For the next 30 minutes (totally not long enough and will be booking an hour next time) I drifted in and out of a ‘pool side sleep’, oohed and aahed at the wonderful sensation of a heated massage and was almost grateful for having a bad back in the first place!
All too soon it was over and as I sleepily opened my eyes and eased myself off the couch, I’m sure I heard my back give a little cheer for the love and attention it had just received. I felt wonderful. Relaxed, calm, pain free and just wonderful.
I cannot recommend this highly enough – for whatever reason you need it, be it a bad back or you just need a stress-free break from life for an hour – just do it. You will feel amazing and seriously, you can’t put a price on that can you?
The wonderful therapist was Jane Fyfe – you can find her on Facebook as Helena Jayne Holistic.
If you only make one New Year’s Resolution this year, have a hot stone massage at least every few months – you will thank me for it!
To read more of 50 Ways to Leave Your 40s, click here.
