A shipping container might not sound like a nice place to strip down for a massage from a stranger, but it turns out it’s actually pretty delightful at Masaj. Set across three shipping containers at the Gossamer City Project, with a bright, greenery-draped courtyard at its heart, the aim here is to champion the power of touch as an antidote to city stresses. Ideal, then.
Their tagline is ‘come as you are’. For me that meant late and slightly sweaty after rushing out of a meeting and across London to the appointment. Happily, my frazzled arrival at the space, simply decked out with calming tones and fresh interiors, was met with soothing words and a line-up of delicious, and 100 percent natural, oils to sniff.
Each massage is tailored to the needs of each individual body, so after a chat about my aches, pains, preferences and the weird places I hold tension, we moved to the petite but cleverly designed massage studio, and my therapist began. The only downside was having to leave the cocoon of the container and head back into the real world ‘as I was’: sleepy, dishevelled and covered in that delicious-smelling oil.