For someone who is put off manicured hands by the drying time of nail varnish and is more than happy to 2 for 1 on Boots’ selection of beauty products, Champneys was a revelation. I may be a serial multi-tasker with an eye on the clock and a foot on the gas in real life – but the rules are different when you’re 5 star spa-ing.
Time is far more precious when there’s nothing to put in it.
A little no expenses spared me time is definitely an investment worth making –
In the real world, I’m very much an up-with-the-larks and on-a-mission type of girl. I like a sense of purpose. I like to know what I’m doing…
For two days, I had absolutely no idea.
I experienced the wonderful and rare experience of going with what I fancied.
Once you get your head around walking about in a bathrobe, it’s a small step to wondering why you ever bothered with the constraints of clothing. It’s a lot quicker to just grab a gown; and, there’s no he’s wearing she’s wearing paranoia: everyone looks the same – and no one looks particularly elegant.
Once you get a glimpse of life without schedules and deadlines – well, there are already more than enough timetables without getting hung up on a Saturday to do list. I may have arrived with a clear, goal focussed agenda, and enough paraphernalia to keep a small army amused – but laptops and lists defeated the object somewhat –
Because sometimes you just need a bit of a pit stop –
Because, green cuisine and thalassotherapy pools full of spa minerals aside, it was the little break from myself that really hit the mark.
At Champneys, you can’t do anything fast: there’s nowhere to rush to -aside from your next treatment – and nowhere to rush from. For a regular Duracell bunny, it’s strangely enjoyable to go at a snail’s pace for a little while; to actually look at what’s going on around you – rather than reducing it to a grey haze.
When you’re somewhere different, it’s easier to abandon the alarm clock that you always set and the time that you always make your morning coffee at. I may be as regimented as ticker tape at home – but you can kind of let yourself off the hook a little when you’re somewhere else; you can go with the flow – rather than steer the tide.
Because, at home, it’s all about got to-s and should do-s and ticking off those have done-s. Things are never as enjoyable when they’re on a list – you’re always focussing on the tick at the end instead of the journey there. You’ve always got one eye on the next item- whether you feel like it or not.
For two days, I went with the feelings and just enjoyed the ride.
I abandoned the ‘what have I achieved today’ mentality – and caught the ‘my body is a temple’ ethos instead.
I’m not normally one for pampering and preening. There are, in my everyday life, better things to do and better ways to spend my hard earned pounds – but, a little self administered TLC is no bad thing. It’s actually quite important to treat yourself as you’d treat others, to subscribe to the ‘because I’m worth it’ way of being.
And this was my major lesson. This was what – along with the little champneys’ toiletries and the freebie slippers and a photo of the spots under my skin – I took home with me –
It’s okay to give yourself a break every now and then.
It’s actually quite healthy to indulge in a little 1 to 1 time with yourself.
The world doesn’t fall apart if your timetable’s off kilter or your to do list remains undone –
And you don’t need to batter the credit card to replicate the experience.
Whilst a returned visit and a good back massage are definitely on the revised and relaxed agenda, just slowing down a touch and letting yourself off the should-do-hook on a slightly more regular basis is no great expense. Just indulging in a little me time every now and then, adopting a little of that body and temple idea approach, when you can, works wonders –
For the skin and for the soul.
Tags: getting out there, some of the things I did
