Relaxation DIY: At Home Spa
It's not uncommon these days to hear about #selfcare and how important it is to treat yourself. Though this idea may have been foreign just a few years ago, you'd be hard pressed to go any significant amount of time nowadays without reading a headline or seeing someone on social media flaunting their self care tips. Personally, I applaud this change in direction, I truly believe the most important job every single person on this planet should be doing is working on themselves. The concept of self-care is probably not new to you, but it seems like it's becoming more and more diluted in public acceptance. It's become the butt of a joke - you'll often see self-care depicted on social media by images of strong drinks, copious amounts of food, sloppy behavior. It may be the motive behind a bender weekend, binging on whatever "no-no's" you may assign as a reward for your work. I'm not trying to shame anyone, I want everyone to lean into joy and if that is what is doing it for you at the moment then go for it. But it does seem like the idea of self-care is being conflated with what could be self destruction. True selfcare isn't numbing the pain, putting on a metaphorical band-aid. It's actually ripping off the band-aid, even if painful at first, and recognizing yourself in it, working on being present and grounded, that will be the reap the most rewards.
Something I was able to do that sent waves of benefits throughout my life and was both a treat and a meaningful self care action was to take a mini spa vacation at home. I had started reading Nine Perfect Strangers, a book about a group of people who attend a wellness retreat in Australia, and I found myself jealous. Not in the financial or physical position to be able to do this at the time, I decided that I could get all the benefits of going to a spa at home if I just changed my routine and attitude a bit. I found a few dates that worked for me and I created a 3 day schedule for myself (day one shown below).
The rules were no phones or communication with the outside world (no social media, no news, no texting). I planned out all of my meals beforehand, prepping items the day before I started that would help keep the cooking time down. As for my schedule, I wanted to make sure that I incorporated time to work on spiritual things, but also didn't put too much pressure on myself. I set my day to start at sunrise with some easy tai-chi YouTube videos, then left most of the day up to how I was feeling at the time, allowing myself to choose from pre-selected categories that I know that I enjoy and would put me in alignment with my creative side. I even chose I movie to watch each night, keeping the categories to foreign films or documentaries.
Having such an open schedule and freedom of rules really worked for me for this. Many retreats will not allow you to read at all, allow no screens of any kind, and I didn't think that I needed that for my purposes this time around. I allowed myself to disconnect in a way that wasn't jolting for my system, but instead really nurturing.
If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend you take a few days for yourself and see first hand how amazing it can be for your soul. If you're short on time, even just one full day of disconnection, from the time you wake up to the time you go to sleep, will be beneficial. Good luck! Let me know if you try it out!
