Ian Waller enjoys a Sound Bath at Bath’s most chilled wellbeing centre
Have you ever had one of those days where you just need to get away from it all? However, with just a short time between business meetings or school runs to look forward to, how are you going to fit anything in?
Well, think again. Just recently I paid a visit to the gorgeously serene surroundings of Soul Spa in Bath, an oasis of wellbeing and calm that’s on a mission to help mums, dads, carers and anyone in need of some personal wellbeing to chill out and relax.
Soul Spa was opened back in October 2109 by Madeline Blackburn, one of those people who has that trick of immediately making you feel at ease as soon as you meet. “I felt that people needed help to get mentally stronger so that when life threw a curve ball, they had the mental resilience to overcome difficulties,” she explained. “That’s where Soul Spa came from.
“Science tells us that the more we can deliberately relax our mind and calm our thoughts, the better it is for us, not only mentally but physically as well. Our aim is to give people opportunities to completely mentally relax. There are many ways to achieve this but we have found sound baths to be the fastest and most accessible way for most people to switch off their thoughts for a while and let go of their worries.”
Soul Spa’s sound baths take place in a space that Madeline and her team of therapists called the Quantum Field – the field of all possibilities – a quiet room with eight recliner chairs, coloured LED lights and soothing sounds and smells. For my visit I joined a group of three visitors from Australia and a young couple. We were invited to choose a recliner, take of our shoe and snuggle under a blanket – one each, that is…
It was then left to the wonderfully soporific tones of therapist Phoenix to gently talk us all into a state of mental and physical relaxation. And then, just as I thought we couldn’t get any more chilled, the vibrations from crystal bowls began to fill the room, travelling through our bodies and creating a deep state of peace.
In fact, one of our group’s gentle snores – apparently not a rare occurrence – was testament to just how relaxing this was. Very soon, my working worries were wonderfully distant and it really did begin to feel like a trip away – perhaps not in the physical sense, but certainly in terms of a brain break.
By the time Phoenix gently bought us all back to our senses, I had decided that I really didn’t want to leave my recliner and blanket behind. Still work beckoned, but, you know, that was fine. I really did feel so much relaxed than an 30 minutes earlier and I could absolutely see this becoming a regular weekday refresher.
“As a busy mum of two myself, I know how difficult it can be to find time to look after yourself,” said Madeline. “The best parenting advice anyone ever game me was ‘if you relax, they’ll relax’ and I have wholeheartedly tried to follow that advice.
“I could go into a lot of brain science about what happens when we feel stressed and how that can make us respond to our children, but at a very basic level, if you regularly practise getting into a relaxed state of mind, when ‘life happens’ and your children push your buttons, instead of responding emotionally and saying or doing things you might regret, your mind gets used to becoming very calm, seeing the real issues and responding in a balanced and rational way.
“The Sound Baths are just perfect for this, as are the other treatments we offer, including chiropractic, acupuncture and reflexology through counselling and hypnotherapy to tarot and astrology. We even have a shamanic healer!
“Then there’s the incredible Dream Odyssey VR experience where you also sit back in a recliner, choose your ‘worldscape’ and take a trip beach, a crystal forest, beneath the Northern Lights… you can choose from numerous wonderful options!”
The newest treat from Soul Spa is sound baths for under 16s, just perfect for parents and carers who are perhaps worried that their child may disturb others if they are a bit restless. “For this reason we have decided to run special sessions aimed at the under 16s, so that everyone can relax,” explained Madeline. “Children under 12 should be accompanied by and adult, but anyone older can be left with our DBS-checked facilitator to chill out for 30-minutes.
“We’ve seen the wonders of sound baths for children – a sanctuary of sound where they can unwind, relax, and yes, find that sweet slumber we all wish for them. Imagine your child, free from the buzz of the day, their imagination taking flight in the safe embrace of a sound bath. It’s not just about quieting the noise; it’s about opening a door to a place where they can simply be – calm, content and deeply connected to their inner peace.”
The children’s sessions will be the first three Sundays of the month at 11am, the first one is 14th April. Booking link.
In the meantime, when you get to one of those times when you just need a real rest, pop along to Soul Spa and speak to Madeline and her team.
For more details, go to www.thesoulspa.co.uk