Beauty Writer Adele Miner shares her experience of the new signature Healing Roots of Farnham massage from Ground Wellbeing
I’ve had a handful of body massages in the past, each one I lay with my face scrunched in discomfort in the face cradle as I count down the minutes remaining. Why do I do this to myself? I wonder each time.
Why do I do it to myself? Well, I suppose each time I expect it to be different. ‘Maybe I just haven’t found what works for me’, I think, ‘this one will change everything,’ I hope each time. Don’t worry, you can put your tiny violin away as I’m not looking for any sympathy with this. Of course, it is a privilege to be able to afford having my tired muscles rubbed down in a dimly lit, incense-filled room, but my aversion to the ritual has left me baffled for years. What was I missing? Hearing others sing the praises of a good massage for sorting their various bodily ailments made me feel left out. I longed for the day I could experience a massage and come out on the other side feeling like a new woman.
I did some mental digging into it. I believe the issue lies in both the sensation itself and my brain’s inability to fully surrender and relax. For some reason, my overthinking brain gets caught up on the unwritten rules of the event instead of simply enjoying the moment. ‘What way should I place my arms?’, ‘Eyes open or closed?’, and it’s still a mystery if I’m wearing those paper knickers right. Just as those thoughts quell, my brain moves onto the next agenda which is feeling immense guilt for my massage therapist. It feels strange to have another person spend an hour of their time rubbing me down with oil, like my own personal slave, when really, she would probably rather be somewhere else.
Then there’s the dilemma of what pressure I like. I naively went into my first massage declaring I wanted it firm and hard, and paid the consequences immediately thereafter as I realised that I, in fact, do not like it like that. Naturally, I felt too awkward to let my therapist know mid-session too, so instead grin and bared it for 60 minutes. Lesson learned the hard (and firm) way, I now know to ask for light pressure, but still in these sessions, my aforementioned busy brain prevented me from enjoying the sensation.
That is until I experienced the Ground Wellbeing exclusive new Healing Roots of Farnham Ritual in County Cavan’s Farnham Estate’s Health Spa.
The new signature treatment from Peigín Crowley’s Irish wellness brand Ground Wellbeing takes inspiration from the woodlands and quiet grounds that make up Farnham Estate’s large-spanning countryside estate.
Understandably dubious about the treatment due to my sketchy massage history, I couldn’t believe how relaxed, comfortable and, if you’ll pardon the pun, grounded I felt during and after it. The 60-minute experience begins with a sensory scent selection drawn from the estate’s trees, plants and natural landscape. You get a choice of which oil you want the therapist to use, based on which scent you like best. Then, for the next 40-ish minutes each side of your body is rubbed from top to bottom as relaxing music fills the room. You have a choice to finish off your session with either a foot ritual or a nurturing face and scalp work. I went with the latter, Feeling completely at peace by the time I flipped over for my face and scalp rub.
What was different about this treatment, I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe the sensory experience of choosing my massage oil gave me a feeling of being somewhat in control, giving my brain the space to relax. My therapist was very diligent in applying light pressure and it was the first time I fully got what a massage is meant to be.
Emerging from the room a new woman with a calm nervous system, I’m equal parts relieved to finally feel part of the massage hype club, but also worried for what this new appreciation will mean for my bank account.
The new Healing Roots of Farnham signature treatment costs €190 and includes use of the spa’s pool and thermal suite facilities.
