By 
You’re getting married! You’ve met the person of your dreams, your best friend and you want the day to be perfect.
In your imagination you are picturing all sorts of happy emotional scenes. Then you both realise how many hours of work actually go into the average wedding these days. Putting a lot of energy into making the day appear effortless yet flawless can be draining.
Perhaps a distant relative wants to know if there are scuba diving facilities at the hotel, maybe your great aunt doesn’t like anything on the menu or you’re listening to your friends discussing who they’d rather not sit next to.
If you’re the lucky bride; listening to the chosen ‘best man’ winding you up with suggestions that you watch the ‘Hangover’ series of films ‘just so you know what we’re planning’ for your future husband could put a strain on any reasonable woman.
Alternatively a prospective groom can find himself wondering how on earth he ended up arguing with his beautiful fiancee over the colour of suit he ‘would pick’ if given half a chance. There is no doubt, getting married can stress you out.
As a result more and more couples are turning their attention to complementary therapies to try and maintain their calm and happy personas throughout the whole process.
Here are 6 therapies worth checking out:
1. Massage
Who doesn’t enjoy a good back massage? For those couples who wish to chill out together, some therapists and spas will offer some wonderful ‘couples packages’, where you both lounge in the same area, perhaps allowing you to connect and just enjoy that moment of free time together.
If the back isn’t enough, you could always opt for the decadent full body option. Any tension built up in the muscles will melt away promoting better sleep and boosting your immune system. One of the main problems a lot of people have on the run up to a wedding is lack of sleep or a racing mind! Massage will definitely help you get to sleep.
2. Reflexology
Reflexology is a wonderful therapy that promotes total body wellness through the power of touch and working pressure points on the feet. This would be suitable for any member of the bridal party who doesn’t like the idea of stripping down for a full massage session.
This treatment will promote a gentle detox of the body, help with any sleep issues and with slightly more complicated issues such as IBS. Anyone with IBS knows it can flare up with stress so anything that can help avoid those pains is worth trying before the big day!
3. Mindfulness
Most people are now familiar with the idea of using mindfulness techniques throughout their busy work days or simply as a rule always thanks to its popularity nowadays. The concept is that we train ourselves to only think and therefore ‘worry’ about one thing at a time.
For example, if you are doing the dishes, your aim is to only be thinking about doing the dishes in that moment. It sounds very simple but it can be tricky.
Our brains being learning things can pick up the idea fast and carry it into most situations we are in so that multiple things to stress over aren’t flooding your mind when you least want them to; like at the altar looking at your true love.
4. Reiki
Reiki is a form of energy healing that involves the practitioner using various techniques based on the principle that the therapist can channel energy into the patient to activate the natural healing processes of the patient’s body and restore physical and emotional well-being.
5. Sound Therapy
We all know that music and sounds can incite certain feelings and more often than not we put on our favourite song to relax us. That’s the general idea behind Sound Therapy only on a deeper level.
6. Yoga
Yoga is used by many people to help them rediscover a serenity and synchronicity with their body. It is practised by controlling your breathing, simple meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures. It is widely practised for health and relaxation.
By Debbie Pielou, Excalibur Press
EDITION 10 OF
NORTH-WEST BRIDES
IS ON THE SHELVES NOW.
OR YOU CAN
SUBSCRIBE HERE
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.