Beauty

When a body has been aching for a release of tension, the return of Neal’s Yard is perfect

A massage with Emma Rose at Neal’s Yard

The treatment

A Holistic Massage with Emma Roe, £50 for 60 minutes, at Neal’s Yard Remedies, Edinburgh.

Why go?

If you’re riddled with home officerelated aches and pains, it may be time to get a massage. This place has reopened its pair of high-ceilinged therapy rooms, with new safety precautions including a complete redecoration (the wallpaper has been replaced by wipeable paint), enhanced cleaning routine, increased ventilation and loads more. It still looks lovely – minimal, rather than clinical.

Our spy says

Thanks to the pandemic, there is no more milling about in the reception pre-treatment.

Instead, arrive bang on time, with your mask on, and remember to bring your own water.

Emma, in her floral mask, met me at the door and led me through the shop.

As well as a covid symptom check, I’ve done most of the consultation beforehand, to minimise unnecessary time spent blathering. Thus, once I’ve visited the loo (TMI, but they do have one and you can use it, you never know these days), she leaves to let me get undressed.

My clothes go in a sterile plastic box, then it’s face down onto the treatment bed, where all the linen is freshly washed.

You don’t have to wear your mask while face down, as they’ve engineered a disposable covering underneath the face hole. It feels fine, not claustrophobic.

As classical music plays, Emma presses and smooths my back, slowly pushing out areas of tension.

There is gentle effleurage at my scapula, and down the sides of my spine. She works a little bit of arnica balm around my hip, where I have an injury.

I feel like a mollusc being gently eased from my shell. Forget haircuts, this is what I’ve really missed during lockdown.

When it’s time to turn over, I slip on my mask. I’d definitely recommend wearing a paper one during a treatment as my usual reusable fabric version would feel a little too heavy.

After months of worried hunching, my scalenes feel as tight as cable ties. Emma turns my head to each side, and eases out the clumps and lumps.

“That’s it, we’re done,” she says, after lifting my head and working into the base of my scalp.

She has cleaning to do. The next client will be seen in their second treatment space, while my room is aired out and ventilated.

The results

I felt very safe and cocooned. The staggered treatment times mean there’s only one client at a time, so you’ve pretty much got the place to yourself. My first massage in months gets a sanitised thumbs up. ■

102 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, 0131-226 3223, edinburgh@ nealsyardremedies.com, www.nealsyardremedies.com/edinburghstore). Contactless payments only.