365 Inspirations—284: Friday

"Relax. It's Friday!"

 It's Friday and I don't have much to report tonight. I went to yoga this morning, walked around Greenlake with my husband, cleaned my office and now we are housesitting on Puget Sound.

I bought Udi's gluten-free pepperoni pizza and added grilled onions, mushrooms, orange peppers, fresh basil and rosemary, kalamata olives, salami and a little extra mozarella. The result was amazing. Almost like a homemade pizza.

I will definitely make it again.

My husband is watching Men Who Stare at Goats in the basement  on the big screen and I really want to join him. We love housesitting here and taking care of the cats. It's such a retreat for us and it's right down the street from where we live. It's like going on vacation in our own neighborhood.

Friday night signals the start of relaxation time and that's exactly what I'm going to do tonight!

Hope you all have a happy Friday.

What are your plans for the weekend?

365 Inspirations—283: Korean Spa Day!

This is a repost. I think the Korean spa deserves TWO spots on my inspiration list for this year! Have you been yet? This was Inspiration 66 of 365 Inspirations. I went to the Korean spa back in March and I was long over due for another spa day. After a short, but intense week of teaching, my best friend came over this morning at 10AM and we drove together to the spa. What a great way to start the weekend and what good company too....here's the post about the Korean spa I did back in March:

"Take care of your body.  It's the only place you have to live."—Jim Rohn

 This quarter, I promised myself that I would visit the Korean spa between my classes. I have a split shift on Tuesdays and Thursdays and there is a Korean Spa called Bella Luna Spa just down the street from the college. I'm lucky to have all the things I loved about living in Korea right here near the Seattle area.

 For some reason, I kept postponing it. Finally, while I was getting ready for my morning class, I instinctively started gathering my shampoo, soap, scrubby and other material for the spa. Today was the day! I hadn't really planned for today to be the day, but given that there is only really one week left of school, I thought it was perfect timing.

Have you ever been to a Korean spa? They are wonderful and fairly inexpensive. $20 gets you in for an entire afternoon of pampering. If you want to pay a little more, you can get the body scrub or massage. I like to just go to the spa.

Korean spas, called mogyoktang, are an important part of Korean culture. Long ago, many Korean homes didn't have bathing facilities, so people often went to their neighborhood spa or bath house to bathe. Now they are really more like spas which still have some of the original features.

For example, the spa I go to has several hot pools and a cold pool in the women's area. There is also a dry and hot sauna. Upstairs, there is a jimjilbang. A jimjilbang has different sauna rooms that vary in temperature and have different healing elements in each one. For example, there's a charcoal room, a salt room, a clay room, and a crystal room. They are typically more like caves. Some of the rooms have medicinal herbs inside. Each room is known to heal a certain part of the body depending on what the room contains.

I love the charcoal room. Charcoal is what is in our water purifiers. Charcoal is known to extract toxins from air and water, leaving only a clean, pure air and water. I always feel like my lungs completely open up in that room. I feel so refreshed upon leaving it.

Another thing I love to do at the Korean spa is walk on the pebble circular walk. You walk in a circle on stones and it is extremely good for the body—a kind of reflexology.

There's even a restaurant inside the spa and I often get a cold drink. Today I had an iced coffee and read a magazine while sitting on the sofa between sauna rooms. While sitting and enjoying the serenity of the spa, I rolled my feet back and forth on a little foot massager.

If you've never experienced a Korean spa and there is one in your area, I highly recommend visiting. It can do wonders for your body and peace of mind.

Have you ever visited a Korean spa or another kind of spa? Have you ever given your body and mind a special treat?

365 Inspirations—265: A Visit to Soul Ease Spa in Kirkland, WA

Last Valentine's Day, my husband gave me a spa gift certificate to Soul Ease spa in Kirkland, WA and I just used it today. When I told people this, they said, "Are you kidding? I would have been there the very next day!"

The thing is, I generally feel pretty good and don't have too many aches and pains, so I don't feel like I really must go to the spa. I do always enjoy my time at any spa once I'm there and I absolutely LOVE hot springs!

So after our adventurous trip to Peru and hikes over mountain passes taller than the tallest mountain in my state, I decided to treat my feet and face to some soul easing.

It was blustery and raining elephants when I left the house for the spa. I had to make it over the bridge to the Eastside. Whitecaps were forming out on the lake and I could barely see two inches in front of me. It wasn't the most relaxing journey to the spa.

But when I stepped inside Soul Ease, things changed.

 A lovely woman at the front desk greeted me with a smile and got me a cup of green tea with mint. I filled out a few forms and then I was guided to a room in the back passing beautiful art and scented candles on the way. I was given a hanger for my clothes and a robe, towel and slippers for the infared sauna I'd be lounging in for 30 minutes before my foot detox.

I brought my tea in, but there was a cup of cool water waiting for me in the spa as well as other towels and magazines.

After 30 minutes, my foot detox therapist knocked on the door and led me to another room. She fetched me water and got me situated. I was now in the robe and slippers. She checked my body to find out my ph balance, and it turned out that I was a bit on the acidic end of things. I was at 6 and ideally I needed to be at 7.5 or so.

She put my feet in the detox machine full of salt water and after about 30 minutes the water turned dark brown. This was an indication that toxins were coming out of my body, most likely metals and other polluntants. I felt really alert and relaxed after the foot detox and she massaged my feet with cream and geranium oil. My ph after the foot massage was closer to a 7, so that was good!

I was then led to another room where a lovely therapist gave me an hour-long facial. She filled me in on all sorts of interesting facts and info I did not know and a few home remedies for the face. She then put me under a big heated blanket with my feet elevated and went to work on my face. The soothing music, low lights, aroma therapy and soft touch made me almost fall asleep. I received a face, neck shoulder and scalp massage as well and she moisturized and applied a face mask to my face. It was so lovely.

I don't know why I waited so long! My husband used to be a yoga teacher at Soul Ease, so I knew the foot detox was good because I had the opportunity to try it one time.

I feel alert, yet calm. I feel a huge weight has been lifted and I feel balanced again.

Do you ever treat yourself to massages or spa therapies?

365 Inspirations—191: Summer Weather

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time."—John Lubbock 

 Summer is the best season in Washington State. It's not too hot and it's not too cold. For the last couple of weeks we've had very little rain and it's been between 70-80 degrees everyday. For Seattlelites, seeing that shiny, yellow thing in the sky for days on end is really a treat that we may now be taking for granted.

Washington State tends to have a lot of rain in other months, so we really need to make good use of our summers. Our state has beautiful mountains and hiking trails everywhere. We've got the Olympic Mountains on one side and the Cascade Mountains on the other. On a beautiful day, the view is spectacular.

I try and get a walk in or sit out in the sun a little bit everyday! Gardening is another great pastime in the summer.

Today I went to yoga class again. I'm trying to get in the habit of going regularly. But today, after I type this post, I'm going to get ready or class and sit in my garden and do some lesson planning. I teach ESL on Mondays and Wednesdays in the summer, so today is my Friday! I chose to only teach two days a week in the evenings in the summer because I want to enjoy the days and the weather outside!

How's the summer in your part of the world? Is it the best season where you live?

365 Inspirations—119: Sleep

"Sleep is the best meditation."—Dalai Lama

Last night the bright moon woke me up. It filled my entire bedroom with light and I couldn't sleep very well. My mind was overflowing with ideas while I was soaking in the moonlight!

Tonight, after teaching a long stretch of classes, I'm pooped.

Time to get a bite to eat, take a bath and settle into bed with a great book. Sleep is my inspiration today. The idea of laying horizontal after being on my feet all evening teaching sounds oh, so lovely.

I made it through Monday! I enjoyed the day, but now it is time to rest.

Do you get enough sleep? How many hours do you sleep per night?