When you stumble upon Waterloo Body Station unexpectedly, you understand how Hansel and Gretel must’ve felt when they came across the witch’s house in the depths of the forest. A cake and biscuit cottage, covered in chocolates and edible flowers could hardly be more appealing, or more unexpected.
Slap in the middle of Lower Marsh market, a very eclectic part of town – it’s a stone’s throw from Waterloo station and the Old and New Vic theatres. This is a one-stop shop for complimentary therapies and natural body products. They sell everything from soap to sun block to pregnancy oils. And luckily, inside you find, not the wicked witch, but the amiable owner Rebecca Rivers, and her fellow therapists. “All the products we sell are 100 per cent natural – and organic if possible,” Rebecca explains. “Products only need to be actually 75 per cent to be labelled natural, but I only sell things which I know really are completely natural. No parabens.”
British-Made Products
As well as being natural, their products, are all made here in the UK. “As far as I know, we’re the only shop of this kind who can say we stock entirely British-made goods. Everything we sell is ethical too, that’s important.” This distinctive USP has enabled Waterloo Body Shop to prosper, despite opening in the midst of a serious recession. People are still willing to shell out, it seems, if there’s a good enough reason to do so. “Even if times had been good,” Rebecca says, “I couldn’t have expected more.”
Rebecca spent four months on the phone and internet before she opened, carefully sourcing her products. One top-seller is the Pure Lochside range; based in the lochs of Scotland. The owner of Pure Lochside, Fiona Tutte, takes the utmost care in choosing her suppliers, she verifies their methods of harvest and production, tests the quality and purity of each delivery. The Pure Lochside Organic Arnica body balm is a massage treatment to help soothe aches. It’s obvious from the fragrance that wafts up, and the feel of it sinking in, that whoever made it hasn’t skimped on good ingredients. This retails for around £42, so it isn’t cheap. Having said that, they do try to cater for the more modest budget. The cheapest facial cleanser is by a company called Faith in Nature at £5.75, shampoos are less than £5, “We get a lot of doctors and nurses from nearby St Thomas’ hospital dropping in for our therapies. They know our therapies are good and word of mouth has brought a lot of custom”.
Healing Massage
There are sports massages, and fatigue massages. I’m feeling adventurous and so I ask about Hawaiian massage. It’s very good for people with tension, apparently. It involves rhythmic, non-sequential massage – being tapped all over, like a dance over the body – pulsing. You have to be completely naked for this one, and it leaves you feeling “giddy”. I’m not feeling that adventurous, so I opt for a facial instead.
They’re very keen on “myafascial release” massage here. It doesn’t refer to “the face” but the “fascia”, which is the protective, filmy layer, like the clear stuff you see on raw chicken. This fascia sounds like such amazing stuff; I’m surprised I’ve never heard of it before. This is connective tissue. Every muscle cell is surrounded by fascia. Not only is it beneath the skin, every cell, organ and structure in the body is surrounded by fascia. The fascia can become dehydrated and thickened, due to physical trauma and tension. A skilled myafascial release practitioner can feel the “release” of tissue under the working hand. “There’s a real art to this massage. You have to have ‘feeling’ fingers to know when you’re sinking down to the exact point where the layer of fascia is.” It can help increase micro-circulation by taking away of by-products of cell division. It also helps with saggy, congested skin.
This particular massage has had remarkable consequences for some people. “The massage of the fascia does sometimes help trigger memories in the cells.” Rebecca explains that this happens because each cell contains its own memories. “Sometimes people who are having a myafascial massage will do a somersault, or their arm or leg will suddenly swing up. Memories of accidents have been triggered in the cells. It can make a patient re-enact what happened, or continue the motion which may have been stopped forcefully during an accident. People with whiplash will twist their necks around, for example. “This can happen with any kind of massage,” Rebecca continues, “because any massage may release the fascia here or there. But myafascial release specifically targets where the tension and adhesions are, within the fascia.”
The therapy rooms downstairs are as cute as the shop front. My myafascial release facial massage is done by the lovely Laurence. She tells me I have tension in my jaw. I’ve had facials before, but this one is definitely more technical somehow, although very relaxing. Afterwards, my face does feel a lot more flexible and relaxed – my cheeks really plumped out and healthier. I think I might see the filmy stuff around chickens in a completely new light from now on.Waterloo Body Station, Number 103 Lower Marsh, Waterloo London SE1 7AB, 020 7202 9000
