HEALTH Files
YOUR TIME OUT
PALLAVI PATIL, Spa Manager at Spa by CLARINS in MARSA MALAZ KEMPINSKI shares with us the importance of taking time for yourself. the only essence of being a woman is identifying as one. Women today have been told we have it all - careers, families, kids, community involvement, and relationships. But all too often, having it all leaves us with no time or strength left for ourselves. Whether you’re wrangling toddlers, sleeplessly awaiting your teen to come home, caring for your ageing parents or all of the above; every woman needs an occasional break for sanity’s sake. This means taking time each day to do something for yourself. The times we live in make us want to escape into another world every so
“A day spa can be a blessing, a place that helps you indulge in some muchneeded ‘me’ time, to switch off and relax, recharge, reflect, detox and beautify.”
To be a woman is more than just flowery clothing, a
long skirt, earrings and makeup, the ability to birth children. It’s not to be a feminine character from a Jane Austen novel. Femininity has many different “faces” and not all of them are pretty, but they are all beautiful. There’s no one right way to be a woman. Not all women want to be mothers, and not all women can have children. Some women are quite feminine, some are not feminine at all. You can find things that most women like or most women go through, but none of them are really essential to womanhood. So really, 84
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often, even if it’s just for a few hours, to shut off from external stimulation. This urgent need to get away, especially in the urban scenario, is becoming an increasing reality. This is where a day spa can be a blessing, a place that helps you indulge in some much-needed ‘me’ time, to switch off and relax, recharge, reflect, detox and beautify. The benefits of visiting a spa start with intention. Taking steps for your own well-being can have positive effects. The ‘power of intention’ has been popularised by modern-day healers including Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, ‘The Secret’ and many others. Simply having the right intentions and a place to go to focus on your own well-being can have a powerful effect. Spas help us to benefit from the mind’s powerful healing properties, even when we don’t fully understand them. A visit to a spa usually consists of a certain amount of time simply being in a quiet space, enjoying the experiences one is having or reflecting on whatever is on the mind at that moment. Often the hour that you spend in a spa treatment is the only hour of waking time you have disconnected from technology, disconnected from telephones and disconnected from the demands of a fast-paced world. The most powerful benefits of visiting a spa may come simply from being in a safe space, separated from the interruptions of technology, where you can become present and tune into the thoughts in your own head. Research has shown that people also have a physiological reaction to human touch. Touch not only reduces heart rate, but also levels of hormones such as cortisol that are associated with the stress response. Given the long list of serious physical medical conditions associated with these stress hormones, the ability to lessen their impact makes touch potentially one of the most powerful healing therapies. This “Women’s Day” make a promise to look after yourself as it’s time to take time for you. Don’t wait for the time to just magically appear. Make it happen… ‘cause you deserve it!