stouravonmagazine.co.uk
20 New Stour & Avon, March 11, 2022
Health & Wellbeing When was the last time you took some time out for yourself? I mean really took time for you, to do something you enjoy, to relax, switch off, treat yourself? We’re always so busy running around after other people – kids, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, friends. In the hustle and bustle, juggling life, work and family, we often neglect ourselves. Certainly, in the last two years, self-care has become more of a priority for people. Realising that self-care isn’t selfish and is actually needed to help us beat burn-out and enable us to do everything we want and need to do has to be a good gear-change in our psyche. What can you do for selfcare? It doesn’t have to take too long or be expensive. Just going for a walk can lift spirts very quickly or why not indulge with a walk in the forest - I love wandering through the woods and taking in nature. If getting out of the house is tricky, run yourself a long bath, turn your phone off, light some candles and
Take time out for you Jemma Sandell is an Advanced Massage & Beauty Therapist and owner of Relax & Remedy, Ferndown. Visit: relaxandremedy.co.uk.
relax back into a warm and welcoming cocoon. Many of us find it hard to switch off – but a ‘busy brain’ can be calmed with simple meditation techniques – again easily done at home. There’s also a real resurgence in pampering days – for men, women, even whole families. There’s something special about being away from ‘normal’ routine and enjoying time out for your body and
brain. With this in mind, this month I’ve launched a brand-new treatment combination for the ultimate time out and selfcare. It includes my Signature Treatment of a 75-minute massage with body brushing and Thai foot cleanse combined with a Therapeutic Facial. This ultimate pamper allows you to really relax, switch off and recoup. With Mother’s Day around the
corner, it also makes an excellent gift for a loved one. The whole treatment will leave your body relaxed, replenished and refreshed ready to get back to life. And remember, massage is not only great for relaxation. It reduces stress and can improve sleep patterns. It’s also a painkiller – reducing muscle pain and soreness as well as an important tool in aiding post-surgery and post-injury recovery. Hard to believe too – but while you’re resting and relaxing, a massage is actually helping increase flexibility and improve range of movement to your body. Now, that’s got to be worth taking time out for!
Exploring Stour & Avon
with retired Dorset rights of way officer CHRIS SLADE
Edmondsham Edmondsham a little village about a mile south of Cranborne. The parish is fairly small with not many paths so this exploration of a little over five miles is mainly on Tarmac but with some ventures into the countryside. Park in the street near the village pump, which was the village water supply until they got piped water in their houses in the 1950s. Walk westwards, pausing to peer at Edmondsham House, which goes back to Tudor times. Then visit the church, parts of which are even older. Then walk back along the road, south eastwards for a mile or so until you
Edmondsham House
Pic: MIKE SEARLE
come to a junction. Here you turn left, north, to Gotham (not Gotham City!) where there is a Heavy Horse Centre. Follow the road right around the bend, eastwards, until the next bend to the north. Here you might like to leave the road and continue eastwards along a bridleway for a while to explore Telegraph Plantation and Pistle Down.
Then return to the road and head north for a furlong to join the footpath leading through the Heavy Horse Centre. The path soon turns left and heads north west across fields to join a byway close to the parish boundary. Head south along the byway, which may have awkward puddles after rain, until you get back to Gotham. Retrace your steps back along the road until you get to Smallbridge Farm, opposite which is a permissive path which takes you northwards up into woods. At a junction at the hilltop, turn left, westwards, for a quarter of a mile where you’ll meet a bridleway that takes you south westwards back to your car.
