It was entirely by chance that I ended up having acupuncture with Ross J Barr. The celebrity acupuncturist of choice. We were in London for a few nights and unusually for me, I looked through the hotel’s spa menu. Acupuncture for fertility and grief jumped out, but not for the fertility benefits this time! Quite a surprising option for a hotel to offer and a slightly weird thing to opt for while away for the weekend, but despite the short notice, Ross had availability and I’m delighted I met him. I’d just had a horrendous migraine brought on by a totally random flood of emotion, thank you grief for your unpredictability, and had the joy of oddly heightened anxiety levels. I was just looking for some calm, although I wasn’t sure what acupuncture could offer.

I’ve never had acupuncture before, but Ross didn’t quite fit the mould of a typical acupuncturist, if there is such a thing. He’s probably a lot suaver than you’d expect. But then he is the acupuncturist of choice for the beauty and fashion worlds. His clientele is far from average. Thank goodness I didn’t know this beforehand. It would have completely stressed me out!  But Ross is also an entirely warm and disarming character who you feel you’ve know for longer than the two minutes it’s actually been. A useful charm given that for the treatment to be effective, you have to be honest about everything that’s going on in your life. Not usually a talker, I was literally spilling my emotions out like there was no tomorrow. I suppose I was desperate to just feel a change in myself. Closer to how I did before my brother and my mum passed; back to factory setting as he described it.

Ross explained that acupuncture can be used to release stress and anxiety. It can help to rebalance our body’s energy which can be disrupted by traumatic events. I can’t quite remember the exact explanation Ross gave, but in Chinese medicine there is a belief that after a shock, such as a death, our soul momentarily leaves our body and when it returns, it’s not returned exactly back in place. This made complete sense to me and how I’ve been feeling for the past couple of years. Acupuncture can help to restore us back to our original selves.

The consultation, in the most divine setting imaginable, was for an hour. I think we talked for half of it. I had acupuncture needles in my feet and hands. The discomfort is entirely minimal and very short lived, and I had ten minutes alone to just relax while they worked their magic. It was the sort of 10 minutes you would like to last for hours. I found myself in a state of complete calm, and started involuntarily, to take deeper breathes. I was quite literally unfurling from what has become my near constant state of anxiety and perpetual motion.  Apparently the glaze on my eyes linked to trauma had gone too.

I really can’t explain what acupuncture does, but it does something special. Unfortunately, I can’t visit Ross regularly for these wonderful consultations, but fortunately he has come up with the next best thing. A range of herbal patches to use at home.

The Calm patches, which I first tried during my consultation, are a fantastic addition to anyone’s wellness toolbox. They are genuinely fantastic. They contain a combination of herbs to help relieve headaches, stress, tension, brain fog and neck pain. You simply apply the patches to wherever you require relief and massage them for a couple of minutes. They are effective for up to 12 hours.  For me, I apply them to my temples during and after migraines for almost instant relief. They can take the edge off intense pain.

However, even when you’re not battling a migraine, the Calm Patches are great for just general stress and anxiety relief. They quite simply take your heightened state down a notch or two. If you wish to use them during the day, they can be hidden behind your ears. And, for the ultimate wellness boost, I can’t recommend more highly using the Calm Patches in the evening in conjunction with a Moon Salt Bath Moon Salts– the ultimate relaxation. You will wake up rejuvenated, reset and destressed, ready to take on anything life throws your way.  Worth keeping in mind on those days when a little calm seems completely out of reach.