get a free voucher for the flotation room

Here's the deal.

For every £50 you spend on our web site we'll give you a free voucher for the Flotation Room at Willow Trading. So if you spend £100 you'll get 2 vouchers and so on.. Each voucher is worth £30.

All you need to do is place your order and put "Please send me my free float voucher/s" in the special instructions section of the checkout. (The wording's not too important. Just so long as we get the message that you know about the offer)

If you don't need it to be gift wrapped you could let us know that too. It saves on the packaging!!

If you are due to get more than one float voucher and you would like them gift wrapped just let us know whether you want them wrapped together or separately.

Now here's the fine print.
* offer ends at midnight on Sunday 16th December 2007
* the vouchers can only be used for single float sessions at Willow Trading
* vouchers are valid for a year
* you must mention the offer at the time of ordering to be eligible for a free float voucher
* you need to spend £50 (excluding delivery charge ) on our web site
* this offer does not apply to telephone orders or purchases made at Willow Trading in Glasgow

I think that all seems fairly straight forward but if there's anything that you're not sure about please let us know. You can contact us on 0141 339 6446 or at relax@willowtrading.co.uk

You can use this link to go back to the float voucher page on our site.

natural remedies for tense muscles

My 12 year old son is a very keen footballer. He trains with a local sports club twice a week and usually has a match on Sunday.

After the game this week he was hobbling around complaining about pains in his feet. His muscles were so tight that he couldn't flex his feet and the tension continued right up through his calves and thighs.

He's usually on the winning side but they had been hammered 9 - 1 by a team of boys who were much bigger and rougher. So the stress of the match probably contributed to the muscular tension.

I made him a warm foot bath with magnesium sulphate which is otherwise known as Epsom salts. This is the kind of salt that's used in vast quantities in a flotation tank to give bouyancy but for a foot bath you just need a few tablespoons.

Our bodies need magnesium to balance with calcium. Magnesium relaxes and calcium contracts. Having an imbalance can lead to both nervous and muscular tension: irritability, headaches, period cramps, cramping in feet and calves, eye twitching, jumpy legs and so on.

The soles of our feet are naturally very absorbent and warm water helps open the pores. I let my son soak his feet for about 5 minutes. He dried his feet and I massaged in some Living Nature Relief Body Balm working it deeply in to the muscles across the soles of his feet and up the backs of his legs.

Relief Body Balm is a 100% natural remedy for aches and pains, packed with warming and stimulating oils which really get to work on aching muscles and joints. It's made with arnica which works miracles on bruises. It also contains peppermint which is wonderfully cooling and rosemary which helps stimulate the release of toxins from the muscles. The base is a healing blend of beeswax with calendula and almond oils.

After the massage, which sent him in to a fit of giggles, he put on some cotton socks. (As much as I love my son I do love my carpet too!) I gave him a wooden foot roller to play with and let him watch Top Gear. So he sat quite happily rolling his feet backwards and forwards and smelling divine.

I happened to have a foot roller but a tennis ball works well too. Pressing down on to it helps open up the muscles in the soles of the feet and once they are opened you can really feel a difference all the way up the backs of the legs.

After a quick supper he was off to bed. As he walked up the stairs with his usual lolloping gait he couldn't believe how much better he felt. And by morning his feet and legs were back to normal and ready for another session of football training.

Essential Care organic lip balm review

Lip Silk Essential Care lip balm is just the most amazing lip balm I've ever tried. It's soothing and healing, keeps your lips feeling supple, it lasts brilliantly and it tastes great. Lip Silk stays on well through eating and drinking and I think it's the best protection against those cold winter winds. It's also certified organic so there's no nasty chemicals to worry about.

I used Lip Silk for the first time a couple of weeks ago at the onset of a cold sore. My lips healed really quickly without the usual messy, weeping scab that usually accompanies the irritating tingle and general nerve pain. Any fellow cold sore sufferers will know what a joy they are.

One of the problems with cold sores is that as they heal the skin dries out. So when you smile your lip splits open and the whole healing process needs to begin again.

However, if you can keep the skin supple the cold sore will be able to heal and you can smile without falling apart. Which is always a bonus. Who wants to look grumpy and scabby!

I started using Essential Care lip balm at the first tingle and whenever I felt that my lips were getting a bit dry I would slap some more on. However it does last incredibly well so I wasn't applying it that often. I'd put some on last thing at night and my lips would still feel nourished and silky in the morning. Not stuck together so that they split as soon as you open your mouth! (a common cold sore phenomenon).

My cold sore didn't amount to much and healed completely within just 4 days. I think this was largely due to the nourishing and healing ingredients in the lip balm and the fact that my lips didn't split once.

Lip Silk has a rich base of shea butter and calendula and a slight taste of orange essential oil. It also contains rosemary essential oil which helps skin regenerate. At £4.50 it's not the cheapest lip balm on the market but it works so well that I think it's worth every penny.

opening hours over the festive season

Our Glasgow store and therapy rooms are open as usual every day up until the 24th of December. Our late nights are on Wednesdays and Thursdays when we are open until 7.30pm for sales and 8.30pm for complementary therapies and the flotation tank. Sundays we are open from 12 - 5.00pm. Every other day we open at 9.30am and close at 6.00pm.

Of course our web site www.willowtrading.co.uk is open 24/7!

We're taking a well earned break on the 25th and 26th of December and on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of January. We're open very day in between so there's plenty of time to book in for a treat or come in for some pampering products. Of course if you've over-indulged you may be in need of a herbal remedy or some of our detox foot pads - always popular at this time of year!!

Click here to go back to our web site.

free gift from Living Nature

Sorry - this offer has now expired.
Living Nature are feeling very generous at this time of year. Probably something to do with them being in the glorious New Zealand sunshine, where as we are plummeting headlong towards the shortest day of the year.

Anyway, whatever the reason, if you spend just £25 on their delicious Manuka honey skin care products or 100% natural make up you get a Living Nature "Nature's Gift" set worth a whopping £28.

Nature's Gift is a very smart, black canvas zip up bag packed with a selection of Living Nature's most popular products:

• Vitalising Cleanser 50 ml
  
• Hydrating Gel 50 ml
  
• Hydrating Gel Mask 5 ml
  
• Firming Flax Cream 2 ml
  
• Lip Balm 10 ml

If you order over £25 of Living Nature products from our web site you'll automatically receive a Nature's Gift pack ......... while stocks last of course but don't worry, we'll let you know as soon as they've all been snapped up!