As a wellness editor, each day brings with it a new trend promising to boost my wellbeing, make me happier, ease my anxiety and help me feel more relaxed.
Some work wonders; I'd never turn down an infrared sauna session, for example, while others are fun, but I don't see a lot of benefits. Case in point, craniosacral therapy, which did nothing for me, nor our columnist who tried it.
That said, I'll try anything once, so when new wellness space Grey Wolfe opened its doors in Barnes, I hotfooted it to Southwest London to see what the ultra-zen wellbeing hotspot was all about.
The space is immediately calming, decorated with dark grey marble and ultra-plush cream boucle seats, with soft music playing throughout the area.
It wasn't just the décor that was inviting about Grey Wolfe, though. Their treatment menu piqued my interest.
They offer the Grey Wolfe Journey, which alongside massage and my beloved infrared sauna, includes a biocharger experience (which sees you sit in front of a $17,000 machine… more on that later) and a treatment called rebalance impulse, which turned out to be the most relaxing, cocooning wellness experience I've ever tried. Read on to discover exactly what each step of the Grey Wolfe journey entails.
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To rebalance your mind: The Rebalance Impulse
The first step saw me lie down on a bed with a light panel overhead for 30 minutes.
I told my therapist I wanted to focus on easing anxiety and she selected a track for me to listen to on headphones. A guided meditation played while I watched the mesmerising lights above my head pulsate in captivating patterns and colours. They ranged from rainbow starbursts to what looked like ripples of water, and I couldn't take my eyes off them.
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I was so hypnotised by the combination of the meditation and affirmations I was listening to, combined with the soothing colours and the patterns overhead, it felt like I was falling into the lights, despite the fact they were above me.
The meditation track coached me through deep breathing, accompanied by soothing sounds and advice for imagery to call to mind. Affirmations played too, and while I normally find it impossible to stop my mind from wandering during meditation, my thoughts remained firmly on track throughout the session.
I'd been apprehensive I wouldn't feel much, but when the track and light display ended, I felt a sense of calm and clarity. My mind which is always whirring at 100 miles an hour was unusually quiet and I could feel a sense of relief that all the things that were bothering me were simply gone from my brain.
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To relax your body: Attuned Massage
Attuned massage is a bespoke massage, tailored to how you're feeling. The massage was blissful and my therapist listened to how I was feeling and adapted her touch to my needs. Plus, it took place on a quartz bed, which is designed to relax and recharge.
To have the physical stress in my body worked on after I'd been concentrating on soothing my mind was a wonderful contrast and made the massage all the more dreamy.
To calm the nervous system: Infrared sauna
I love infrared saunas, and this one was no different. It sees you sit in a sauna cabin, bathed in infrared light. Rather than the ultra-dry heat of traditional saunas, infrared heat feels more manageable and I even fell asleep during the session – something I'd find impossible in a normal sauna.
I always feel on top of the world after an infrared sauna session, and this is likely down to the light's ability to help produce natural antidepressants in our brains, including dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. This combo of chemicals also helps to lower the levels of cortisol in the body, so if you're ever feeling on edge, booking in for an infrared sauna should be top of your to-do list.
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To reenergise the body and mind: The BioCharger
This was the only step of the Grey Wolfe journey that I was truly sceptical about. It sees you sit in front of a futuristic-looking machine to absorb the frequencies emitted by it.
My therapist explained that it harnesses the power of nature to return frequencies in our bodies that might be off, and there are countless settings to choose from. Again, I chose a calming frequency and proceeded to sit in front of the machine for 10 minutes to absorb the frequencies.
I wonder if everyone else in the space would absorb the frequencies too, and if they weren't the right frequencies for them, would it cause an issue? I was reassured that it's most powerful if you sit right in front of it, though.
I wasn't convinced anything would happen from the BioCharger, but I have to say that when I finished my session, I felt on cloud nine. My worries had melted away and I drifted out of Grey Wolfe in a blissful haze of calm.
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I have no doubt that two hours spent looking after myself made the world of difference, but I also believe that the combination of treatments, tailored to work in harmony on body and mind, really did work wonders when it came to lifting my mood.
You can book each of the treatments in isolation, and I'd definitely opt for the Rebalance Impulse if I had to pick just one, but the combination of the four is what seemed to work wonder and I'd recommend a morning spent in Grey Wolfe to anyone who's struggling to feel calm, or needs a boost of energy.