Fluorescent lighting does not provide the right mood for a Day Spa at Home. To establish a truly tranquil and pampering space, candles are a simple and affordable way to create a soft, relaxing atmosphere; that will transform any room into a special and therapeutic sanctum.
There is nothing more relaxing than a quiet, dark room dimly lit with some candles. The flickering of the candles will relax your mind as you watch the flames dance, breathe in the soothing fragrant scent of the candles, and let your eyes adjust to the darkness. Candles create a tranquil mood that can be enhanced with accessories like flowers, bowls of water for floating candles, or creative candle holders. Adding candles to a room creates instant ambience, and there is no better way to enjoy them than in the dark. Here are some great ideas for you to play with:
Candles come in countless scents for you to enjoy. Some particularly relaxing scents are lavender, eucalyptus, vanilla, spearmint, and coconut. Experiment by going to the candle aisle of a store and smelling different candles to see which scent relaxes you the most. Relaxing scents like this are known to slow the heart rate and decrease the release of stress hormones in the body, helping the body achieve a tranquil state and put you in a peaceful mood.
If you are looking for something different from a scented candle, you may want to try a beeswax candle. The wax in beeswax candles is made by honey bees, so you know they came straight from nature and they are made without chemicals. They also have a distinctive texture, reminiscent of a beehive. You may also want to consider solar powered candles or battery-operated candles if you have allergies and could be irritated by smoke. These candles produce the same enchanting light and mood as regular candles, and they come with zero risks of being knocked over and causing a fire.
You know that dining by candlelight is romantic, so why shouldn’t you enjoy the same ambience during a bath or shower? Turn off the lights, light some candles, and let the fragrant candles take you away to your own relaxation oasis. It will feel like a day spa, but you will be enjoying the comfort of your own home.
There are many ways you can make arrangements with other accessories to add to the ambiance of your candle-lit room even more. Place some flowers around the room that can be gently lit by the candles. Put tea lights in small bowls of water to float as they flicker. Place tea lights in small holders shaped like animals to bring a smile to your face every time you see them. You can also place small candles in jars with colored glass to create an even more cozy effect in the room.
Candles really set the mood for your Day Spa at Home or any time you want to create that extra special ambience.
Have you ever noticed that after listening to soothing music, you feel more calm and relaxed? Music is an excellent tool to use to bring tranquility to the mind, but it can also be restorative the body. Health practitioners have discovered that music with a pleasant beat and melody connects the mind to the body and encourages the body’s innate healing ability. One choice of music that does this very effectively is classical music. There is also the healing sounds of nature such as the songs of birds, the rustling of leaves, the falling of rain, the crashing of ocean waves, and the sound of a waterfall. These sounds of nature are music to your ears and to your spirit.
Music can certainly lift your mood even the sad music renders a positive effect on mood and mind. Music can boost happiness and reduce depression and anxiety. Whether it is a full beat drumming or a slow streaming light music, it has become an integral part of our lifestyle. Apart from entertaining, music renders therapeutic and mood stimulating benefits for the listeners.
Some people are of the view that sad music renders a negative effect on mood and brings more depression yet researchers have shown the opposite effect. Sad music can render pleasure and comfort. Music regulates the mood of people in various ways. Music rehabilitation and music therapy can bring comfort, revitalization, relief, exhilaration, and enjoyment. During depressive periods due to depression, personal loss, and breaking up a relationship, people are more tend to listen to sad music. In this case, sad music acts as a substitute for an empathic friend or mate and provides a sense of elation and understanding that someone understands what you are going through.
On the other hand, upbeat or fast music can improve the moods and boost glee and happiness. Happier mood leads to better mental health, successful outcomes, and satisfactory relationships and reduces depression and anxiety.
Music Therapy
music therapy
Music restores the mind, body, and spirit, by promoting relaxation. Soothing music can lower heart rate and blood pressure to a healthy level that is optimal for systems within the body to work at their best. This is why massage therapists will often turn on music while massaging a client, or why people practicing yoga will use relaxing music while completing their yogic exercises. Even day spas will use music to relax guests and help them enjoy the effects of their spa experience. Soothing music also reduces stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline. When stress hormones are not interfering with the body’s functioning, the body can work more efficiently in healing itself.
Music therapy programs can help in managing stress, alleviating symptoms of depression, ease out pain, and enhance memory. It can help people suffering from physical pain even. Even people, who take this therapy during or after surgery, feel less pain and anxiety. Music listeners do not require medication for the eradication of pain. Music is a safe, cheap, non-invasive, and harmless intervention which can play quite powerful roles in treating chronic conditions even. Music therapy also plays a significant part in treating mood disorders, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions. Music therapy can also improve self-esteem and quality of lifestyle. A unique orchestra if played for people suffering from dementia can boost and improve the mood of patients and raise their self-confidence.
Benefits and Effects on Mood and Brain:
music effects on mood
Music can engage and change the brain of humans in many beneficial ways. It engages emotion, memory, neuroplasticity, attention, and learning.
Music stimulates the emotions of humans through specific circuits of the brain. Music engages brain and emotion in a way that it provides an uplifted mood of joy. It creates a bond with humans’ emotions and the best example is singing a lullaby to newborns and toddlers that can easily put them to a sound sleep. This is the connection that music builds with your mind and uplifts the mood. The hormones known as oxytocin also known as cuddle hormone creates the bonding. It is being released during singing and therefore music renders a profound emotional effect on the minds of both mother and child during lullaby.
Music produces a series other beneficial molecules in your biological pharmacy. As it peaks emotion, the production of dopamine ( a specific neurotransmitter that controls brain’s reward and pleasure centers) gets amplified. Music also plays a great role for autistic children and it succeeds where verbal language gets failed. It is able to form a bridge between heart and brain. It can evoke the deepest emotions in people and help people in processing fear, sadness, grief, and resentment.
Music is also extremely helpful in improving the brain health and life quality of Alzheimer patients by regaining parts of memory. By incorporating specific music that patients used to listen before the suffering can actually help them in reconnecting with the world around him. It brightens the mood of patients and they are able to communicate. A part of the brain associates memories with music and when emotional cords are tied, there are episodic silent memories that arise and triggered by the familiar songs related to your earlier life and personal experiences. This is how familiar music can create a reconnection with deep, meaningful memories from life experiences.
Music and Neuroplasticity
Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to recognize itself by forming new neural cords or connections throughout life. This process is greatly affected by the harmony of music and brain. This process leads to compensation of neurons (nerve cells) for diseases, injuries, and adjustment of their activities in giving responses to new situations and changes in the environment. When the brain is damaged it can create new pathways to get into a proper functioning position. Music provides stimuli in creating these pathways and help the brain in redeveloping in case of injury. Music can recall personal memories in the patients with severe memories. Music can also help in infusing directions to different locations. If you are stuck in traffic music can inculcate the map of an alternate route in your brain. Music therapy, melodic intonation, and singing provide new information to mind and helps in reorganizing the connections.
Music takes hold of your mind’s full attention profoundly. It engages your brain and attention in ways that it is able to sustain improve and activate your attention. Listening to music can help the brain in anticipating events and holding greater attention. The anticipated spaces or gaps between composition leads to the interpretation and integration of music in your minds. The spaces captivate your full attention. These gaps allow the mind to communicate and integrate with heart and your focus gets fuller. During this process balance and healing occurs and brain and heart move into coherence.
Music in your Day Spa at Home
music therapy
Music is especially useful to enjoy in conjunction with a Day Spa at Home, because the soothing and healing powers of music will have a rejuvenating effect on your mind and your senses, and as a result, your body. The aim of a Day Spa at Home is to relax, restore and rejuvenate while pampering your face and body from the comfort of your own bathtub or favorite chair. While your spa products will work on your body from the outside, music is therapy for your mind, body, and spirit from the outside in.
Need a day at the spa to really unwind? Why not turn your home into your own DIY Day Spa to unwind and feel better without having to worry about spending money? There are things that you can do at home that will free up your mind and help you feel more balanced as you move through your day.
There are plenty of free tools that can help you to really achieve peace that will help you to move forward in a positive direction and feel really good about your life.
Take Off Your Shoes
Studies have shown that walking barefoot through wet sand or dewy grass is a great way to relax so take your shoes off and head outside for a stroll around the back yard BEFORE you get ready to set the stage for your few hours of spa time at home.
Aromatherapy
Set the stage of DIY Day Spa at Home with some deliciously fragrant aromatherapy infusions around the house. Aromatherapy can instantly have some amazing effects on your awareness. Certain scents like lavender are relaxing, citrus scents will get you moving. Rosemary can stimulate concentration while peppermint will provide invigoration.
Using essential oils, candles and aromatherapy oil diffusers can help you to create a wonderfully relaxing spa effect at home. Essential oils are also great for adding to your bath for some wonderfully relaxing me time. Just add 6-10 drops of your favorite essential oil to warm water, add a cup or two of Epsom Salts, sit back and relax.
Yoga & Pilates
Practicing Yoga or Pilates is one of the best things you can do for your body and the perfect way to complement your beauty therapies during your DIY Day Spa at Home.
The gentle stretching of Yoga can easily loosen up your muscles and tone them. It is also a great stress reliever. Grab your mat, get on some comfy clothing and take a look at this video to get yourself going:
This is the first in a series called 30 days of yoga to get you started.
a great way to start your 30 minutes of Pilates!
Meditation, Creative Visualization, Mindfulness
A key to a more fulfilling existence is to actively seek the peace that you can tap into within. Meditation can help to clear your mind so that you can get rid of all the things that are blocking your path to inner peace and tranquility. Using creative visualization can help to set up your thoughts so that your perception changes of your life. You DIY Day Spa at Home is the perfect time to practice these techniques.
Mindfulness will ground you and help you to really live in the moment and attract those good things to your life that we all desire and deserve. Training your brain to think differently takes work but the rewards are tremendous. A quick trip over to YouTube can help you to gather material that will help you succeed. You do not need your own personal guru to lead you when you have the internet!
Try these links to help you get started:
These are great relaxation tools to help complement the beauty treatments that you treat yourself during your DIY Day Spa at Home. See our previous articles on DIY beauty treatments or head to our Face Body and Hair pages from some great DIY Day Spa at Home recipes and ideas.
I hear so often from my friends, colleagues as well as clients, that they are feeling totally overwhelmed and exhausted due to all the demands and stresses of modern life. Many say they feel like they are on auto-pilot and not as motivated as they used to be. For some, their work has lost its purpose everything has become such an exhausting effort. And then there are those who spend more time looking after everybody else first, not having the time to think even about the desires and needs of their own.
Do you find that you are always so busy, tired, stressed out and are you frustrated, feeling like you need some time out all to yourself? There is so much to do, so many obligations and so little time to do it in. Well, you are not alone.
Let me let you in on a little secret that has helped me fit so much more into my life. It was a piece of advice that I was given once when I was very overwhelmed myself. It’s so simple, but it is SO effective.
Are you ready for it?
You’ve got to slow down to speed up!
So, what does that mean?
When you are stressed and busy, you can’t think clearly. When you are calm, poised, serene and connected to yourself, it’s like you’ve got more hours in the day. When you are calm, you develop the capacity to do more, be more and experience more in your day.
So here are my simple six tips to help you to calm down to speed up to enable you to fit more into your life!
1. Create a morning ritual
I used to answer about ten emails or messages and check all my social media apps before even getting out of bed in the morning. But starting the day off like this often sets a negative tone for the day, and I now know that most issues can wait. I’m learning that I’m much happier when I take 45 minutes to wake up slowly, spend time in my garden and shower before checking email.
Create a morning ritual to help set your “vibe” for the day. So many of us are living on auto-pilot and just reacting to whatever happens to us throughout the day. If you watch the morning shows you’ve already been subjected so much bad news before your day has even started. This puts you into a negative “vibe” with a negative filter. Your brain will start to seek out negativity.
Why does this happen? Have you ever decided that you want to buy a car and the moment you decide on a make and model, you begin to see that car everywhere? You may not have noticed that they were everywhere before, but now that you’ve set your “intention” to buy the car, similar cars just seem to pop up. This is because the part of the brain known as the Reticular Activating System automatically seeks out the information that you placed your “intention” on and brings it to your attention. Find out more about the Reticular Activating System here.
Write a list of the 10 things that you are grateful for. I do this as part of my morning ritual. Make sure you think of 10 different things every day. When you are in a grateful mindset you, increase your contentment and life satisfaction. Having an “attitude of gratitude” improves mood by boosting your feelings of optimism, enthusiasm, and happiness in your life.
I start every morning with a short 10-minute meditation using an app called OmHarmonics. The meditation helps me visualize the things I’m most grateful for and allows me to reduce negativity and design my perfect day. I find that early morning meditation increases my self-awareness and helps me put into perspective what really matters. This practice helps me start the day more positive, energetic and happy.
Meditation helps us counteract the stress we all face on a daily basis. By detoxing the mind and letting go of thoughts and feelings that don’t serve us, meditation helps us reduce stress and all of its negative effects, allowing us to have the capacity to fit more into our day.
You can start off by just doing this for five minutes every day and build up to 20 minutes of meditation on mindfulness every day. Try to do this at the same time every day and make it a ritual. I usually do this as part of both my morning and evening rituals.
3. Do something relaxing that you love regularly
Do something you love, something that you really love and savor every moment you are doing it. You can be something as simple as taking a bath, or listening to beautiful music or indulging a hobby such as gardening, painting or taking in the sights of a beautiful view. If you have a pet, spend some time playing with or cuddling them. Or if you have children spend some quality time or play time with them.
Write a list of all the relaxing things that you would love to do. All those things that you’ve meant to do but haven’t gotten around to yet. After you have done this schedule them into your calendar and set reminders. Keep your list of things that you would love to do somewhere where you see it often. This will remind you of the things you love to do so that when you are busy you can easily refer to this list.
Try to do one thing each day no matter how small, just because it makes you happy. You’ll be flooding your body with “feel good” endorphins and feeling great.
4. Disconnect the devices and Re-connect with nature
We spend far too many hours in front of a screen or hunched over our phones these days. Switch everything to air-plane mode and disconnect from the constant social media and email alerts for about one hour a day and re-connect with nature. You can sit under a tree at lunchtime and read a book or walk barefoot on the grass or wet sand. Go for a swim in the sea or lay down and simply watch the clouds in the sky.
Our bodies respond to touch, whether from other human beings or the earth. The texture of sand, earth, or the grass underneath our feet or back or the protective canopy of a huge tree above our heads helps us to ground ourselves and reconnect with the natural environment that surrounds us. Be in the moment paying attention to all the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations that you experience. This is such simple a thing to do that can be invigorating we so often overlooked in our busy digital worlds.
5. Keep a journal
Keeping a journal is a wonderful tool for self-examination, goal setting and celebrating your successes. You can use it to track your progress, encourage yourself and especially when you are trying to encourage better self-talk. It is a great outlet for dealing with challenges and a place where you can process your thoughts. It really helps to get some feelings that you have bottled up inside out and on paper. I have found I have gotten to know myself better by keeping a journal and by writing down my thoughts have more understanding about how I feel about things.
6. Schedule in some more “me time”.
Think of some ways you could schedule in more “me time” and the practice self-acceptance and self-love. It could be having a massage, relaxing at a beach or giving yourself at home beauty treatments. Having a Day Spa at Home at home is an excellent way to do this so schedule in some “me time” regularly for relax, restore and rejuvenate.
I hope you have enjoyed hearing the simple ways you can slow down to speed up and if you got something out of this feel free to share, like or comment. I’d love to hear your thoughts and your stories.
How often have felt like this? You feel like you have just gotten to sleep and the next thing you know your alarm is blaring. It’s time to get up, again. You reach out for your phone, hit the snooze button, “just a little more shut eye before I get up”. And then before you know it, you’ve already pushed snooze three times to find you’ve only got enough time to have a quick shower, rush to get dressed and bolt out the door.
You push through the day fuelled on a cup of coffee and a donut without any time to prepare a good nutritious meal, or for exercise. And the thought of setting aside some time for self-care to nourish your spirit seems to be a luxury that might occur in the distant future once you’ve caught up with everything on your plate.
Sleep, wake up, work, repeat. Sound familiar? This kind of daily grind will eventually lead to burn out. This is what happened to me. I worked and studied hard. I didn’t set aside time to look after myself. I was so focused on my goals, achievements, and meeting the huge expectations I had of myself. I thought I was bulletproof and that I could handle juggling all the balls I had in the air.
I always thought “I’ll take that vacation when I get that promotion, or after that project finishes.” Or “I’ll have a massage after work” only to find that I would have to cancel my appointment as something urgent had come up at work.
I thought work came first and my work related goals were my priorities which left me little time for anything else. Eventually, my body forced me to take a vacation, but it was not at a beautiful resort. I was bedridden, completely burnt out, and it took a very long time to recover.
It is so vital that you set aside time for self-care, to look after yourself. I know. You’re busy, and finding the time to take good care of yourself can be difficult. But it’s important to ensure that you avoid being battered from exhaustion and operating in a mental fog where it’s hard to care about anything or anyone.
Are you stuck in an unhealthy daily grind? Here are ten simple ways to incorporate self-care into your life.
I used to answer at least ten emails or messages before even getting out of bed each morning. I’m learning that I’m much happier when I take about 45 minutes getting ready for the day by spending time in my garden, showering and then performing my morning ritual before looking at my emails. Most issues can wait and are better dealt with when you are ready to deal with them.
I start every morning with a short 10-15 minute meditation from an app called Om Harmonics. We spend so much of our time in a hyperactive stress out state that we often forget that it isn’t our natural state. Relaxation through meditation gives us a chance to reconnect with our inner self and helps us ward off unnecessary after-effects of stress, which ultimately put a strain on our bodies. Follow the link for more information on Meditation.
After my meditation, I then write down the ten things I’m most grateful for which helps me to start the day intentionally focusing on finding good things rather than reacting to anything and everything that is going on around me. I then set my intention for the day. I find that if I write down my intention I usually find that I have the type of day I wanted.
This morning ritual helps me to start my day on a positive note. It also increases my self-awareness helping me to put into perspective the things that matter the most. I have also found that by setting aside time for this morning ritual, I am more productive as well as happy and relaxed.
2. Schedule some me time in first
When you put yourself on your schedule first , you won’t have meetings and appointments that prevent you from taking care of yourself. I prefer to put myself as my first appointment of the day on my calendar that is linked to my phone and my laptop as well as my other devices. This way I ensure that I follow my morning rituals and not get caught up in the day, deciding later to skip on important things that keep me grounded, like exercise and meditation. This is so helpful when you have people at work who look for free time in your calendar to schedule a meeting. If you have time already reserved some “me-time”, you will be more likely to keep your appointment with yourself, and the bonus of having reminders increase the chances that you will keep your appointment with yourself.
3. Set specific time slots when you don’t work.
Focusing on work is a great excuse for not taking care of yourself. I schedule work-free slots first thing in the morning (before eight a.m.) and dinnertime (6 to 8 p.m.). During these time my computer is off and I answer my phone for only those who important in my personal life. Block off work-free times in your calendar. This is the best way to ensure that these times are clear for your “no work” time.
Exercise is one of the most critical components to staying healthy and maintaining optimal wellness. Sedentary lifestyles produce mediocre bodies and fast-forward the aging process. To achieve greater health and feel your best, you must move your body. Of course, there are virtually thousands of ways to exercise, but each one of us has different needs and health concerns. How you choose to exercise isn’t as important as simply being active. In other words, whether you decide to run 5 miles every morning or shoot for a quick 20-minute walk around the neighborhood, as long as you are moving you can attain physical fitness.
For me, I love yoga. It has many so many benefits, from helping to keep you physically fit to helping relax the mind and washing away feelings of stress and anxiety. With our busy lifestyles, it is common for people to forget to take a little bit of time out for themselves to de-stress and recuperate after a hard day of work, and yoga has the potential to achieve this. Yoga is a low-impact exercise and, therefore, can be done by people of all physical levels and all ages. It’s the easiest way to reset your mind and body in 60 minutes.
Most of all choose something you love doing and aim for at least 30 minutes 5 times per week.
5. Keep a journal.
Keeping a journal is an excellent tool for self-examination. You can use it to track your progress, encourage yourself and especially when you are trying to help better self-talk. It is a great outlet for dealing with challenges and where you can process your thoughts. It helps to get some feelings that you have bottled up inside out and on paper. I have found I have gotten to know myself better by keeping a journal and by writing down my thoughts have more understanding about how I feel about things. .
6. Have a chat
In studies conducted in places where there are the greatest concentrations of centenarians (people over 100 years of age), such as Okinawa Japan, one of the most important factor attributed to their long lives were family and friends and their sense of community. Your friends and family are your biggest supporters and are a great source of encouragement. When you are having a very stressful and busy day, pick up the phone for a few minutes just to say hi to Mom or have a chat with your best friend. You don’t have to talk about your problems, just talk about the good things that are happening in their lives or just have a laugh. It will keep you grounded and connected.
One of the best ways to refresh your mind is by taking an afternoon break from your workflow and escaping to another world. Fictional stories help to stimulate right brain activity, sparking creativity. This might contribute to making your day go a little smoother by helping you to think in a different way. Biographies are wonderful for inspiration as well. Choose someone you really admire and become engrossed in the story of their life..
Another great thing to do in your afternoon break is to go outside, get fresh air and listen to an inspiring podcast or a Ted Talk with the podcast app that now comes standard on the iPhone.
Or you could simply go for a run or a walk and listen to some uplifting music by using the iTunes radio or Spotify app on your phone.
8. Make time for play.
It is vital to incorporate play time into your life. Do something you love, and savor every moment you are doing it. You can be something as simple as taking a bath by candlelight, or listening to beautiful music or indulging a hobby such as gardening, painting or taking in the sights of a beautiful view. You can plan a holiday to somewhere you’ve always wanted to go to. If you have a pet, spend some time playing with or cuddling them. Or if you have children spend some quality play time with them. Make a habit of doing something fun at least once a week.
9. Remember to Pamper Yourself
Pampering yourself facilitates relief from stress and helps you to connect with your inner self. It is a good way to practice self-care and self-love. However, some feel that pampering yourself is selfish. The truth is that this type of thinking is flawed. When you practice self-love, you have more of yourself to give to others. In fact, when you think about it this way, the practice of self-love is a really a selfless act. There’s nothing more important than making sure that you are just as happy and just as healthy as can be, especially in the stressful and pressure-packed modern world we all live in today.
Make time regularly to have a Day Spa at Home. It will help you to have beautiful hair and skin while letting the stress and pressure of day to day life just melt away.
The health, well-being and beauty benefits of sleep are incredible. Getting the sleep your body needs helps lead better mood, energy levels, focus and concentration. Not to mention that many detoxification processes are performed while we sleep and helps your brain to process what you have done during the day. To do perform at and to be your best, it’s critical to consistently recharge your batteries by getting adequate sleep.
It is so easy to get stuck in a grind. I know, I’ve been there myself. All of the stress and pressure of life in our busy modern lives is having an adverse effect on our sense of self-worth and our ability to love ourselves—nothing could be more detracting from leading the happy and fulfilling lives we were meant to lead. It is so vital that you set aside time to look after yourself, inspire yourself and to do something completely different to work, study or just the same old routine. I hope this article has given you some ideas to incorporate some self-care into your life. They are so simple but make such a difference.
