Sixteen
Sunday 20th September
‘Imagine yourself standing in a garden.’ Henrik’s voice was already giving me the feels, and the meditation had only just started. ‘Surrounded by plants.Allyour favourite plants, in bright colours, big leaves, beautiful flowers… and you spot a hammock hanging between two trees.’
I was on a heated yoga mat in the forest, covered in Greta’s blankets, so the idea of a garden full of plants wasn’t too far-fetched. But I wouldn’t have really said I had afavouriteplant.
‘I want you to climb into that hammock,’ Henrik said softly, giving us time to make the mental move. ‘Nice and slowww. One foot, then the other, easing yourself in comfortably to rock in the warm breeze.’ I hadn’t once in my life eased comfortably into a hammock. It always ended in an aggressive swinging tangle.
A bamboo screen had been put up to protect us from the wind, with bio-ethanol fires to keep us warm. Chunky church candles in huge glass jars surrounded us in a circle for some extra zen. Unless we were being sacrificed? Mum would say we were all insane, lying on the floor in the cold, but I felt safe and coddled. And Henrik’s voice was really doing it for me. I tried to sneak a peek of him in action, but his eyes found mine with a faux-disappointed shake of the head. Watching me watching him. I couldn’t do anything but close my eyes and lie there feeling exposed.
‘There is nothing to worry about. Empty your mind of any thoughts and if something tries to creep in, just acknowledge it and send it on its way. This isyourtime. Your hammock time.’
My brain automatically heard Hammertime and MC Hammer entered the hammock in his baggy pantaloons. I acknowledged him and sent him on his way.
‘You are calm and relaxed. Safe.’ His Norwegian accent lilted. ‘Feel the ground beneath you. Breathe in… and out. Be in this moment, breathing in… and out.’
You can’t touch this.
Now he came to mention it, Icouldfeel the ground beneath me, and there was a stone digging into my back. ‘You are at one with nature. You are from nature. In… and then… out.’ Nature was not very comfortable to lie on.
‘You are enough. Think of the words and say them in your mind. I am enough.’
There was a lot of deep breathing going on and Yuto was snoring next to me. Henrik’s voice was sending everyone off to sleep, but it was having the opposite effect on me. I was far too conscious of him standing over us to relax. I couldn’t risk sleep-talking or dribbling on Greta’s blanket. I tried to focus on the mantra.
I am enough. Am I enough? How much exactly was enough these days? STOP thinking.
‘And now I want you to…’
Every time he said those words, I lost myself a little bit more. His voice was so smooth and sexy – I’d have done anything he asked. I was imagining his lips saying the words and his body next to mine. His strong arms, and how easily they could scoop me up and carry me off. We’d be back in my cabin in less than ten minutes…
‘Now slowly start to acknowledge your breath and feel the ground beneath your back. Wiggle your fingers and your toes…’
Bugger. It was just starting to get good and now I was back to thinking about that stone.
*
‘Hi again,’ Greta tinkled, opening the door to the Spa Hut and welcoming me inside.
‘Hei,’ I said, trying out my Norwegian. ‘I had no idea this place was here! Tore only mentioned the sauna when I asked about the Firefly spa.’
‘Honestly! Those Nilsen men!’ Greta laughed. ‘They don’t believe in the holistic side of things, or that it could be good for business. Tore especially. He thinks people only want the physical activities and forgets the part I do. And then no one knows so no one books.’
‘What a shame. I’d have been in here every day if I’d known.’
‘I only work weekends, so you haven’t missed out – it’s your first weekend here, isn’t it?’
I nodded.First and last, I thought to myself.
The hut was warm and lavender-scented with a massage table covered in fluffy blankets and a trolley-full of oils. Candles flickered from all the nooks and crannies and Greta led me to a snug seating area, poured me a herbal tea and handed me a clipboard.
‘You’re booked in for everything. Have you had reflexology before?’
‘Yes,’ I said, feeling very spoilt. ‘A few times.’A few hundred times.
‘Good. Well, have a read through and sign at the bottom and we’ll get started.’
‘Great!’ I was so ready to relax.
