With only thirteen weeks to go until Christmas, we’re now back into the bedlam of the working routine as balmy nights lolling around beer gardens become all but a distant memory.   As the workload ramps up and evenings are increasingly spent in the company of the cleaning staff, it’s no surprise that many of us find the back-to-work blues worse in September than in January. If you’re still craving the beach but can’t face being buffeted in Brighton, head to France’s Atlantic Coast where an amazing range of sea therapies can all be enjoyed indoors.

As the alleged birth-place of thalassotherapy, Brittany boasts no less than thirteen coastal sea therapy centres.  Desperate to put the rosy glow back into my haggard corporate chops, I head to the Eastbourne-esque town of La Baule to sample what’s on offer.

Arlenz La Baule Escoublac

Thalassotherapy uses sea products to treat a myriad of conditions from stress and fatigue through to bronchitis and back ache.  Before embarking on any treatments, a medical consultation is required. Trotting down the austere, clinical corridors, I realise why as I brace myself for my first “douche a jets” experience. Not for the faint-hearted, a high-velocity jet of sea water is propelled at the parts other treatments leave behind. Blasting off the office grime and hopefully some cellulite, I howl in horror as the jet veers from tepid to spine-tingling Siberian for the last few gruelling seconds.

With the blood now thundering through my veins, it’s time for a reviving dip in the indoor sea water pool. Immersed in the luxurious warmth of the heated Atlantic, work concerns slowly ebb away as my shoulders drop a few inches. All too soon, it’s time for the next treatment – a detoxifying marine mud wrap.   Smeared in glutinous, pungent clay  before being mummified in hot towels, the next five minutes feels like being immersed in a deep-fried Mars Bar.

John D McDonald Ingredients for a marine mud wrap

A quick hose down moments later though and I’m starting to feel like a new woman. My skin feels tighter and muscles more relaxed than after the most frantic Zumba class. The grand finale is the olive oil wrap – yes you’ve guessed it, five minutes sizzling in olive oil while trussed up in cling film. Feeling like one of Jamie Oliver’s lemon chickens, the heady scents of the aromatic olive oil, (like nothing from Tesco), provide an aromatic moment of bliss. Reluctantly peeling off the plastic moments later, my scaly skin looks smoother and feels noticeably softer.

Returning to work polished and preened a few days later, it’s not long before the stress levels start to soar and my shoulders tense into gridlock once more. Fortunately there’s only another three months to go until January and the next back-to-work excuse for another reviving office break.

For more information on the range of Thalassotherapy facilities available visit: Wellness Brittany.

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