Mark Smith aka The Spa Man visits around 30 spas a year, so when it comes to spa and grooming he knows what he’s talking about. Writing for magazines across the world, he explains the spa answer to insomnia…

The band Faithless summed up the problems of the nation with its song ‘Insomnia’ back in the ’90s, and the issue hasn’t gone away. According to the NHS, insomnia affects one in three people in the UK. Sleep is an essential element of life and helps to maintain both our mental health and physical wellbeing, but for many people it remains one of life’s greatest challenges. Restless nights, poor sleep, tossing and turning until the birdsong of dawn leads to long, difficult days at work and a sluggish body and foggy mind.  

Home basics

Lifestyle factors are the biggest problems with poor diet, stress, anxiety, sedentary lifestyle plus too much alcohol or caffeine identified as the biggest culprits stopping you getting some shut-eye. I can easily tell you to stop drinking so much alcohol and coffee and to exercise more, but dealing with the inner voice in your head during the wee small hours of the night – that’s not so easy.  

Settling the mind and calming your thoughts is the goal of most people who suffer from anxiety and work-related stress. Mindfulness is a big help here. I have used this form of meditation to help reduce stress and stop my mind from racing a hundred miles an hour. Deep breathing also helps and a relaxing warm bath with a few aromatherapy oils can help too, but if the situation has got way out of hand then the wellness experts in a spa may be able to help.

So – to the spa. Sleep is one of the lifestyle factors that the spa industry has tackled over the past few years, going beyond the standard back, neck and shoulder massage and taking it to a whole new level. Don’t get me wrong, a quality massage that relieves muscle tension and reduces stress could be more than enough.

Spa solutions

The experts from ESPA Life at Corinthia in London have devised a special massage programme specifically for people with sleep problems. The Mindful Sleep programme includes a personalised massage using a combination of hot stones and warm oil gently poured onto the body to relieve deep-seated muscular tension. A soothing scalp massage and guided mindful breathing techniques further promote calm and relaxation. Then you experience a yogic sleep session combined with visualisation techniques. It promised to sooth anxiety for a blissful night’s sleep. Sounds dreamy.

If your sleep patterns are totally out of kilter however, then a session with a sleep expert might be just what the (spa) doctor ordered. Champneys Tring has created a two-night Sleep Retreat with Jason Ellis, one of the world’s leading sleep experts. A Professor in Psychology at Northumbria University and Director of the Northumbria Centre for Sleep Research, Ellis has spent the majority of his life’s work understanding and improving people’s sleep.

The Sleep Retreat is designed to give an insight into individual sleep problems and how best to tackle them in order to get the optimum amount each night. It includes a combination of six sleep treatment sessions, an aromatherapy massage and a copy of Jason’s informative handbook on how to enjoy successful sleep at home, as well as access to fitness classes, gym and spa facilities, and healthy breakfasts, lunches and dinners.

For help with sleep, speak to a top wellness spa in the first instance and make a few lifestyle changes. It might be the key to a solid, peaceful night’s sleep.