Self Love List

Massage is often considered a ‘treat’ and something that is fluffy and nonessential but at Alchemy, we believe the opposite to be true. We strongly encourage all of our gorgeous Mums to seek regular remedial massage treatments as the benefits are HUGE! Let’s face reality… You can’t stop being a Mum, you can’t just decide… “You know what, today I’m a bit tired and sore – I’m just going to have a sick day!” The constant and often 24 hour demands keep rolling and to enable you to be the best possible version of yourself and the best Mum you can be, we insist that you take some time for a little self care. Now just to clarify… self care does not include having a shower and washing your hair! That is just good hygiene! We recommend that you sit there and write a Self Love List which can include anything from sitting in the sunshine sipping your favourite tea, feeling the sand between your toes, getting a mani or pedi, putting your favourite face cream or mask on or getting a regular massage! These things truly fill your cup and refresh, re-energise and reinvigorate you giving you the energy and get up and go that you need!

Sympathetic vs. Parasympathetic Drive

This Self Love List may appear to be really silly and self indulgent however, from a wellness perspective this is a game changer when it comes to motherhood. If you can actually DO these things regularly, you will be down-regulating your sympathetic drive and boosting your parasympathetic drive.

So your sympathetic system is responsible for the flight and fight response which is often in overdrive after we have had a baby. Your sympathetic system is really important and can be very beneficial for survival; however, if it is stimulated for a prolonged period of time, we can fall victim to prolonged stress, anxiety, depression and feeling downright terrible. The contributing factors to this sympathetic stimulation after having a baby are multifaceted and complex but often involve the physical nature of recovery, the emotional and hormonal roller coaster you are on all combined with feeling as if we are failing and have absolutely no idea what we’re doing as new mums all thanks to the bombardment of the “perfect” instagram mothers and the opinions of family, friends and that old lady at Coles who felt it was necessary to open her mouth and comment on something that your were doing!

So on the flipside, the parasympathetic system is responsible for the rest and digest response and this system is activated when we do things that make us feel good! So… if you can inject just a little parasympathetic (rest and digest) stimulation into your DAILY routine this will break the cycle of sympathetic (fight and flight) overdrive and the impact that this will have on your physical health, mental wellbeing and overall sense of happiness will be ASTOUNDING!

Common problematic areas

Massage is a beautiful way to honour you as a new mother and give you the chance to reconnect with your body again. Typical areas that we find Mums complain of tension and pain are:

• Neck
• Shoulders
• Upper back
• Low back
• Glutes, hips and pelvis

In saying this our remedial massage treatments are highly tailored and individualised based on your needs and can be focussed on one area or can be whole body in nature.

Remedial Massage Benefits

Some of the well documented benefits of massage include:

• Relief of aching muscles due to prolonged and repetitive postures
• Can help with realigning certain areas of the body such as hips, pelvis and back
• Can help to improve fascial and soft tissue mobility, flexibility and range of movement
• Provides emotional support in what can be a beautiful but equally tough time adjusting to your new baby and the constant demands of motherhood
• Can help to boost your immune system
• Can improve lymphatic flow which can assist in breastfeeding effectiveness and success
• Reduces stress, anxiety and depression
• Can boost sleep quality (when you can catch some!)

How to Book

You can book yourself, your partner or loved one in for a postnatal massage by going online to our booking page or alternatively you can call our gorgeous admin team and they can book an appointment at a time that suits you and baby.

We also have stunning gift vouchers available which can be a wonderful idea to gift an expectant mum for her baby shower!