The thought of running off to a spa to be soaked, slathered and indulged in every way known to woman sounds downright dreamy — but who has the money and time? We asked the pros at the country's top getaways to translate their secrets into home-spa how-to's.
Go ahead — give yourself a great massage
Rub this way. For a tingling massage you'll feel all the way up your spine, try this trick from Travis Anderson, mind and body fitness manager at California's Ojai Valley Inn & Spa. Drop two golf balls (or other hard balls) into a thick cotton sock and tie the end in a knot. Place the sock on the floor and run your feet back and forth over it.
Use your "noodle." At Canyon Ranch in Tucson, instructors recommend Feldenkrais rollers to reduce tension. These four-foot-long, six-inch-wide foam cylinders resemble pool noodles. At the end of the day, nothing feels better than stretching out on one and letting it press against the length of your spine.
Know this drug-free headache cure. To relieve a tension headache, press gently but firmly on the inner corner of your eyelids near the brow with the tips of your thumb and index finger, suggests Lynn White, aesthetician and trainer for Miraval Resort & Spa in Catalina, Arizona. Then, using both hands, press along the brows, starting on the outer ends and going across and up the middle of the forehead, along the hairline to temples and down the underside of cheekbones.
Get hot stoned. "The idea seems weird at first," says Diane Trieste, director of treatment development at Canyon Ranch. "But a massage with hot stones just melts your muscles." Heat a smooth stone (one that fits comfortably in your hand) in the oven until warm, then coat it with a massage oil (vegetable oil will work in a pinch). Lightly push it up and down the arch of your foot.
Try these tricks for spa-softened skin
Take a "facial nap." At the Golden Door, in Escondido, California, pampered clients relax while de-puffing tired eyes. To try it at home, store a mild toner, such as Golden Door's Confidante Toner, or a bottle of highly diluted green tea in your fridge. Wet two cotton rounds and place them over your eyes before lying down for a half hour.
Steam-clean your skin. Throw a sprig of fresh rosemary (for oily skin) or a chamomile tea bag (for normal to dry skin) into a pot of boiling water, says Jo Abbey Briggs, executive director of Golden Door skin care. Remove pot from heat, place a towel over your head and shoulders and hold face 18 to 24 inches above the pot for three to five minutes; the steam opens pores and encourages skin to give up clogged dirt.
Try a facial smoothie. Blend three tablespoons of plain yogurt with four large strawberries (the fruit contains a light glycolic acid that exfoliates and rejuvenates skin), recommends Heather Sackman, instructor at The Institute of Beauty and Wellness, a day spa in Milwaukee. Smear on and let sit for 10 minutes, wiping it off with a wet cotton washcloth.
Hydrate the air to hydrate your skin. Walk into Golden Door and you'll notice beautiful water-filled bowls sitting at the foot of antique Japanese screens. "A couple of years ago the screens began to crack from the dry desert air, so we added the water bowls and the cracking went away," says Briggs. You can apply the same concept to your skin at home by keeping water bowls in each room or using a humidifier.
Make your own skin scrub. For a do-it-yourself exfoliant, try this trick picked up at Canyon Ranch, Tucson: Combine a cup of Epsom salts and a cup of rock salt with two tablespoons of grated orange peel. Use in the shower or bath. For a coarser rub add more rock salt; for a lighter one, more Epsom. (Store any leftover mixture in a jar in your bathroom.)
Wax yourself. (No, not your bikini line — your hands and feet.) White exfoliates spagoers' hands and feet, then applies warm paraffin and covers them with plastic bags and a warm towel for pillow-soft skin. You can do the same with Poetic Spa Paraffin Pack, available through Blissout.
Relaxed? Good. It's time to get fit!
Try interval training. At Golden Door, spagoers hike on flat terrain for 10 minutes; uphill for 20 minutes; then return to a flat path for 10 minutes and so on. It burns more calories than going slow, but isn't as hard on your body as training full-blast the whole time.
Make room for mini-workouts. Try pliés while drying your hair, wall sits while talking on the phone, suggests Ashley Lewis at the Spa at Cordillera in Edwards, Colorado. Or try one of these 10-minute workouts.
Practice these absolutely great moves. Barbara Morrow, executive director at Avanyu Spa at La Posada Resort & Spa in Albuquerque, tells clients to keep stomach muscles taut by imagining they're wearing a bikini (a sure incentive to suck it in). And when doing sit-ups, she reminds them to double the payoff by contracting muscles on the way up and down.
Home-cure your soreness... Relax with this mini-treatment from Trieste: Wrap 1/2 cup grated ginger in a piece of cheesecloth and steep in a gallon of hot water for several minutes. Next, place a hand towel in the water, wring it out, and wrap it around feet, arms or legs. Leave it on until it cools.
...Or work it out. When spagoers at Avanyu Spa are sore after exercise, executive director Barbara Morrow urges them to try doing some form of exercise other than what made them achy. (Runners, for example, are told to try swimming.) Keeping active brings blood to the area, says Morrow, which helps clear out soreness-prompting lactic acid.
Try our favorite yoga pose
Learn this now! If you do only one yoga exercise, make it the warrior pose — it tones nearly every muscle and improves flexibility and posture, says Vandita Marchesiello of the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms straight overhead, fingers pointing to the ceiling, palms in. Lunge forward with your right leg (don't let your knee extend past your toes), keeping your left foot extended behind you. Hold for three slow, deep breaths. Switch sides and repeat.
Reward yourself with a hearty, healthy meal
Add flavor, not fat. Instead of marinating chicken, fish or red meat in oil-based sauces, let them soak in this easy red wine vinaigrette marinade used by Greg Smith, chef at the PGA Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida: Combine 2 oz red wine vinegar, 6 oz low-sodium vegetable or chicken stock, 1 T. chopped basil, 1 T. chopped parsley, 1 tsp. minced shallots, 1 tsp. minced garlic, 1 T. cornstarch, and salt and pepper to taste.
Get cubed. Chefs at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort & Spa, in Farmington, Pennsylvania, use naturally low-fat vegetable stock or low-sodium chicken stock instead of oil when sautéing meat or veggies. Try this at home by filling an ice cube tray with the stock so you can pop out a cube when you need one.
Jazz up brown rice. At Rancho La Puerta, bland foods such as brown rice are spiced up with toasted sesame seeds. To toast seeds, coat a frying pan with a fine spray of oil, then toss in the seeds and cook over medium heat until golden brown.
Build a better bagel. Golden Door executive chef Michel Stroot scoops out some of the bagel's bready middle and tops what remains with a mixture of nonfat cottage cheese, pineapple, currants and cinnamon.
Ditch the mayo. Spread plain yogurt mixed with Dijon mustard on your sandwich instead, recommends Kathie Swift, nutrition director at Canyon Ranch, Berkshires.
...but don't skip dessert! Peel and freeze fresh bananas, pitted mangoes, strawberries and oranges (sans seeds), then put them through a juicer for a scrumptious, all-natural sherbet, suggests Phyllis Pilgrim, fitness director at Rancho La Puerta.
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