Everyday Stress Relievers

We are on the downside of winter now. That time of year when we breathe a little easier, having reclaimed the everyday from the Holidays. At least that's what we hope for. As we all know, our bodies and minds don't always heed our calls to slow down and relax.

With an eye toward helping you to enjoy a few restorative moments, we've gathered together four ideas for pampering yourself at home. Complete Timeouts generally take 30 minutes or more, Abridged Experiences about 10 minutes. Hardly a day at the spa, we know. But when you can't spare a day, or even an hour, these activities will go a long way toward helping to put your mind and body at ease.


Soaking Tub
Complete Timeout: Run a hot bath. Add aromatic oils, such as lavender, rose, sandalwood, or eucalyptus. These oils will soften the water and your skin. Or add mineral salts (either in the form of loose salts or as a solid, known as a Bath Bomb), which can help to extract toxins from your skin and soothe sore muscles.
Duration: 30 minutes or more.

Abridged Experience: If you don't have time for a full body submersion, just give your feet a refreshing soak.
Duration: 10 minutes.


Facial
Complete Timeout: The four basic steps to a thorough facial: clean, exfoliate, deep clean, rehydrate. Choose products you're familiar with, or be sure new products won't irritate your skin by testing them on a small area of your hand. Cleansers will remove daily residue, makeup, and oil. Look for gentle, water-soluble cleansers, as they will rinse off easily. Exfoliating treatments are rough-textured lotions or scrubs that help to remove dead skin, while deep-cleansing treatments usually consist of a mud mask, which draws dirt from your pores. Finally, rehydrating treatments help to moisten and return minerals to your skin.
Duration: 30 minutes.

Abridged Experience: Use a gentle cleanser, lingering long enough to rest a warm washcloth on your face for a few moments. Then rehydrate with your favorite facial lotion.
Duration: 5 minutes.


Tea Ceremony
Complete Timeout: A proper tea ceremony is more about the ceremony than the tea. In Japan and China, it's a highly ritualized, meditative event, where guests are invited and flowers arranged. We're not suggesting you go to such lengths. Simply boiling water, properly steeping your tea and taking the time to enjoy it is ceremony enough. Be sure to warm your teapot or cup with hot water before you add your tea (swill the water around then discard it). Tradition calls for loose-leaf tea. Try green or Oolong tea, which is the customary tea used in China to welcome a guest. The British and Irish prefer black teas, such as Earl Grey, Assam and Ceylon, typically served with milk and sugar. In America, of course, non-caffeinated herbal teas, such as chamomile, are popular and actually contain oils and other substances that help the body relax.
Duration: 30 minutes or more.

Abridged Experience: Rather than preparing a loose tea, use your favorite bag tea—less time to steep and clean up.
Duration: 10 minutes.


Poetry
Complete Timeout: We know, we know: poetry isn't typically on the list of offerings at the spa. Still, we believe a good poem, like a good massage, is invigorating. More to the point for our purposes, poetry is something you can enjoy at home, alone, without expending a lot of effort. If you don't have a favorite volume in the house, it's easy these days to find poetry online. Simply type "poetry" into Google and you'll get more than 45 million results. Visit sites like Poetry Daily (www.poems.com) and The Academy of American Poets (www.poets.org) and you'll find plenty of great poems, old and new. Don't be swayed by the famous names—look for arresting language that speaks to you and gives you pause.
Duration: 20 minutes.

Abridged Experience: Type "Haiku" into Google. You'll find lots of examples of this highly distilled form of Japanese poetry. A moment of reflection in just three lines.
Duration: 5 minutes.