Relaxation Hotspots – Expert ‘Chill Out’ Tips & The Top-Rated Spas in the UK

March 03, 2023

Everyone needs a bit of pampering from time to time. With Mother’s Day (Sunday 19^th March 2023) just around the corner, there's never been a better time to take a moment to yourself and unwind.

With this in mind, we collaborated with Quint Boa (private practice [UKCP] psychotherapist) and Simone Machell and (parenting expert, and children's mindset coach) to discuss relaxation advice, with specific insight and tips for parents.

Following these discussions, we analysed TripAdvisor data to determine the best-rated spas in the UK in a bid to discover which locations in the UK are ‘relaxation hotspots’. Read on to find out more…

Stress VS Relaxation

Common Stressors for Parents

Simone explained that, from her work with parents, “some of the biggest stresses I see are dependent on the age and phase of development that their children are in. Parents with children at a younger age will struggle with the amount of attention their young children require. Sleepless nights, weaning, potty training are all stressful periods. However, I feel that a big stress for parents is when their children are in the age 11-16 bracket, or the tween and teen phase. This is such a period of big transition for the children and the parents. At this time, the relationship dynamics are changing, and the parents are beginning to see a change, which often feels like a distancing of the relationship, between themselves and their child(ren)”.

Simone continued to say that “parents can often feel at a loss of how to engage with their child as their children's priority becomes more focused on their relationships with their friends. Parents can feel that they don't know what is happening anymore in their children's lives and they often worry about the decisions they are making and the path they are taking. Parents will often struggle with this change in the relationship and long for the time when their child depended on them fully, even with the stresses that brought to them at that point. Often, it will feel like their children have stopped listening to them completely and the only time they communicate is when they are arguing, which can lead to a vicious cycle of guilt and miscommunication”.

Relaxation Tips and Techniques

According to Quint, “self-care really ought to play a part in everyone’s daily life – it’s essential for mental health and wellbeing. Although, it’s important for people to interrogate if they want to ‘relax’ or just be less stressed. Again, an interesting cognitive approach; no one wants to be bored and restless, but they don’t want to be burnt out either”.

Simone shared some ways to help relieve this stress for parents – “firstly, self-care, you can not show up as the best version of you or the best parent, if you are not taking care of yourself. I always encourage parents to introduce a morning routine whenever they can. Even if it's only 5-10 minutes at the start of the day where they think of themselves.

“Think about the things you can do that bring you joy. It could be getting out into nature, or spending time with your partner or making time to connect with friends. Make a list and set an intention to incorporate more of these things into your daily life”.

What to incorporate into this will be different for every person as it should be things that you enjoy, but some things to think about would be;

• Meditation - there are lots of free meditations available online

Quint explained how being told to “‘try to relax’ is an infuriating paradox. The idea behind any relaxation technique to somehow escape from yourself for half an hour. To ‘take the needle off the record’ and not to stand in judgment on yourself (e.g. if the meditation doesn’t work out). Relaxation needs to be seductive like ‘falling’ asleep”.

He continued that “the brain is ‘plastic’ so it’s best to build in a time to relax at a set time every day. This means that when its ‘my time’ to relax you can get into it quicker. Things like meditation are easier to get into and get ‘better’ because ‘the brain’ is expecting it as they are practised regularly.

• Gratitude - List at least three things you are grateful for before you get out of bed

Quint added that “psychologically a lot of stress is built up through ‘spotlight’ focused thinking (e.g. life’s never ending to do lists, and of course social media), so it can help to adopt ‘floodlight’ thinking. To take a step away from the day to day and look at life as the big picture (e.g. hug a new born baby, or write a gratitude list).

• Journaling - Ask yourself how you are feeling and set an intention for how you want the day to go

Quint commented that “this may reset you within the bigger picture. Another cognitive technique is to stop looking at yourself as the ‘actor’ in a movie and pretend you’re in the ‘audience’ to get a real overview”, and this technique can be implemented into journalling.

• Movement - This can be as simple as dancing to a favourite song to put you into high vibrational energy, or it can be a run or a gym workout

Quint agreed that “there is a huge physical component to this, so exercise is important. Lots of the adrenaline that is built up because of ‘flight / fight / freeze’ of stress can’t leave the body unless it’s metabolised. As a first step it’s important to get your heart rate up for twenty minutes to flush out the hormones. And ideally do this four times a week”.

Simone added that “parents can often forget about their needs and wants and this can lead to stress and burnout. If you are a parent, it's important to take time for you”. Quint finished by saying that “ the really important thing is not to relax through alcohol. Or ‘eat your feelings’ through unhealthy food. While the short-term benefits may work out it’s not a long term solution”.

Analysing TripAdvisor Data

As well as speaking to the experts for relaxation tips and techniques, we also wanted to discover which locations in the UK are ‘relaxation hotspots’ – to do this, we analysed TripAdvisor data to determine the best-rated spas in the UK.

Based on TripAdvisor’s top 100 suggested results for the keyword “spa”, categorised as 'Things to Do' in the United Kingdom (and correct as of 28/02/2023), we analysed the average rating and number of 5* reviews for each venue, before comparing them against each out to form an overall ranking order.

We also filtered by average rating to highlight the very best establishments (focusing on those with an average rating of 4.5* high 'Very Good' or 5* 'Excellent' only), and only included those which had 50+ reviews. Once 100 were left, these were first ranked based on average rating, then actual number of 5* reviews received, and then by percentage of 5* reviews to determine the venue’s overall index rank.

100 venues were analysed in total, including 87 in England, 10 in Scotland, 2 in Northern Ireland, and 1 in Wales.

UK Findings

The UK findings revealed the following:

Of the 100 venues analysed in our research, 20 had the highest possible average rating of 5 stars. With 697 of its reviews being 5 stars (94.8%, out of 735 total reviews),The Youth Sanctuary in Manchester took the top spot. The Spa at The Athenaeum in London took second place, with 423 five-star reviews (also 94.8%).

VJW Holistic Therapies (Huddersfield), The Lorrens Ladies Spa (Torquay), and Alexandra House Holistic Health & Wellbeing Spa (Huddersfield) made up the remainder of the top 5, and Akasha Holistic Wellbeing Centre (London), Oceana Day Spa (Bournemouth), My Little Farm Spa (Liversedge), Devona Spa (Aberdeen, Scotland), and The Spa Dunamoy (Ballyclare, Northern Ireland) rounded off the top 10.

The other 10 spas which secured the top average rating of 5 stars included Beautissimo Spa (Elland), Bodhi Tree Spa (Chalfont St Peter), Sheldon Spa (Sheldwich), Westfield Day Spa (Mauchline, Scotland), The Grange Spa (Pointon), The Spa at Breedon Priory (Wilson), Beauty Cocktail Spa (Horsham), Vita Skin Spa (Winchester), Wood Fen Lodge Spa (Little Downham), and The Spa at Mandarin Oriental (Hyde Park).

Our range of pamper hampers are the perfect option to create your own spa day experience from the comfort of your own home.

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*TripAdvisor data correct as of 28/02/2023

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