Five Senses

At our last Mama Meetup at TREE, we had chiropractor Michelle Zhou visiting us as one of our experts on the day. I heard so many mamas asking her about the various aches and pains they have, mostly caused by hefting babies and tots around. We mamas bend and lift, sit our kids on our hips, and feed them in awkward positions, often favouring one side over another. I know that I often have a very stiff lower back and I also have quite painful hip flexors since pregnancy, for which my remedy until now has been a sock, filled up with rice, heated up in the microwave. While this is a pretty good home treatment for sore areas that need heat, I’ve discovered a slightly more luxurious solution that gives me a bit more of a spa feel and which doesn’t fill the house with the aroma of slightly burned rice!

Five Senses is a brand of herbal heat pads made with natural Thai herbs like lemongrass, leech lime peels, phlai and tamarind leaves. Used in high end spas like ISpa in the Intercontinental and the Retreat in Repulse Bay, it works a little like my rice sock: just pop it in the microwave on high for a couple of minutes then sit back and relax with the soft pad pressed on your problem area while you enjoy the delicious herbal scents. I’ve been using mine in bed just before going to sleep a few nights a week and have found that it helps me drift off to sleep more easily.

You can buy Five Senses products directly from their new online boutique, and as well as the shoulder pad that I have which retails for HK380, you can also pick up a belt-like pad designed for the lower back (a must for mamas!), slippers, booties and a hand pad. The fact that the pads come in gorgeous packaging makes them a great gift idea – not the most glamorous thing we’ve ever written about, but certainly one of the most practical!

www.fivesenseslifestyle.com