Tuesday, October 11, 2016

#ReadersWorkouts -- Pampering

V

Joy at Joy's Book Blog has built up a community of people who love to read and work out. You know that I enjoy both of those things, so I'm joining in.

Anyone who visits my blog regularly knows that I'm all about exercising. According to my Fitbit weekly report, I walked 102,000 steps last week, more than 44 miles. But if I'm not careful, I can get too obsessed about exercising, which these days consists of running, walking and lifting weights at the gym three days a week.
So to prevent myself from going overboard, I take some time to pamper myself. That's all about wellness too, right?
So today, after a walk with my friend Sheila, and after I reached my 10,000 steps about 10 a.m., I went to a new salon for a facial and a pedicure.
Yes, it can get pricey, but luckily, I had collected enough Pure Privilege points with my Aveda products, so I had a $75 coupon that paid for the facial.
Some people talk about facials being painful. That has never been the focus at Aveda. It's all about the relaxation, the massage and the glorious scents of the Aveda products.
So I put on a wrap that covers my breasts down to mid-thigh and climb onto a massage bed. I told the guy doing the facial that I was congested, so he included a lot of blue mint oil for me to inhale. The entire hour that I received my facial, I had no congestion at all.
As I lay there while he rubbed various oils and cream on my skin, massaged my arms and hands, wrapped hot towels on my face, I found too often that I focused on hoping this wasn't the end.
Isn't that hilarious? I was so worried that the facial would end so I didn't relax and enjoy it as much as I should have.
Don't get me wrong, I definitely enjoyed it, lying for an hour in a darkened room having someone slather my skin with creams. My favorite part is when he used a thick brush, like a small paintbrush, to paint a masque on my skin. That is such a lovely feeling.
All too soon, the lovely facial ended and I walked blinking out of the dark room.
Don't feel too bad for me though, I only moved to soak my feet in a hot tub while a woman scrubbed some of the calluses off my feet. My doctor told me in the past that I needed regular pedicures to keep my feet healthy since I run. So I was only following doctor's orders.

Now my toes are a lovely steely blue-gray and the skin on my face feels soft and young.

4 comments:

Joy said...

What a terrific way to treat yourself!

Anonymous said...

Partly inspired by you, I got myself a FitBit. It is eye-opening to see how much I (don't) move. As a writer, I spend most of my time in front of the computer. My commute is a few feet, because my office is in the house. I make an effort to go running for about 45 minutes most days, but even then it's tough to top 10K steps. Pilates counts as ZERO. I don't know how you do it. I'm in awe.

Paulita said...

Thanks, Joy. It was worth it.
Francetaste, You must get close to 10,000 steps when you run 45 minutes. On days when I teach, I don't even have to think about steps because each of my classes are in different buildings. I make a point of walking to the library, walking to the coffee shop, sometimes even walking to the grocery. You'll probably be surprised how much you increase steps now that you are thinking about them.

Just Me said...

I know exactly why you are saying about your facial !!! I've had one in my lifetime and I remember nearly every single thought and feeling you described. Nothing better in my opinion than a facial and I would never have believed it.

Cockadoodle Doo or Cocorico?

 We stood in the middle of the road, having walked together 13 miles that day and Claudine grasped my forearm. "Mais non! It doesn'...