Life behind the SQUARES with Sarah Anderson

We are quite new into this world, having only withdrawn Alfie from the public education system in May this year. He had only two months of schooling before we stopped for him to enjoy the summer holidays, and another couple of weeks done and dusted this month. It has definitely been an eye opener though! There is no one way to do this, every person's journey is different, and that has made it a learning curve every step of the way. 

Have you ever been to a thermal spa? 

We recently visited two different ones in Austria - not particularly because that's what we wanted to do, but because the weather forced us into it, being so severe it left little room for anything else. 

Anyway, I digress. 

In hindsight I'm quite pleased we ended up with no other options because the experiences were just amazing. Alfie absolutely loved being there, spending three hours in each one. We all really benefitted from it, and came out of them feeling so, so good... body, mind and soul. Being completely immersed in and surrounded by water, it was a given that our phones and technology was kept well away, so we really had the chance to switch off and be in the moment, enjoying it together. 

What is a thermal spa?

Think outside of the British box with this one, where a "thermal spa" might describe some hot or cold treatments you receive as part of a spa experience, or a soak in an artificially heated chlorine-filled pool. A traditional thermal spa is a spring water pool, naturally heated to above 20°C 

Where does the heat come from?

It actually comes from the Earth itself. Now, I'm no scientist so I'm not going to go into great detail here and speak way out of my scope, but the springs are heated by activity within the Earth... no heaters in sight. 

The benefits of a thermal spa

Because of the higher temperature of the water, a thermal spa pool can hold more vitamins and minerals in the water in comparison to its cold counterparts - soaking in the water for such a prolonged period of time really gives your body the chance to soak up all that goodness. I don't think I've ever had skin so soft as it was when getting out of the pools there. 

The heat of the water can also significantly help relax the muscles in the body - reducing stiffness and relieving those aches and pains. 

Social aspect 

One of the things that became really apparent to us when we were there was the way the pools are used for socialisation. There were people there on date nights, a group of a few female friends, mixed groups, groups of men ... some swimming, some relaxing, some just breathing it all in and taking a moment. Conversations being had by everyone, connecting. Nobody sat on their phones. It was so refreshing to see this way of living. That "getting together" means doing something to benefit your mental and physical health, and not drowning in alcohol, spending loads of money to regret it the day after. 

It's a real shame there aren't more of these places accessible in this country though I imagine, like everything else, they'd end up becoming a massive profiteering money-making scheme ran by people with already deep pockets 🤦‍♀️ 

Sat talking to Michael now about how I wish I had millions in the bank to create one, free of charge for people to attend, just to relish in those benefits of being in one. 

Despite being a grown woman, owning a house, running two businesses, and raising a child for the last nine years, I have to be honest and tell you that my absolute favourite film of all time has to be Ratatouille. 

Of all the films in the world that I've watched and loved, nothing comes close to that little rat living his best chef life.