Massages and Floats and Love, Oh My!

Health-quest update: my scans and blood work and all that "jazz" all came in fine. Yippeeee! Consult with the dietician was great. She told me I am doing all that I should be doing diet and exercise-wise and I left with some recipes and her personal contact info in case I have any questions going forward. I need to keep an eye on salt intake, but when I'm working out hard I need to make sure I'm getting enough salt... All is well!

But I did turn a corner with another area of wellness. I've been a student of yoga for about 10 years. Haven't practiced much in the past year due to time issues. I need to get a better handle on that and make the time. Something that I do love, and never feel that I should spend the money on, is massage. When I travel internationally, I will often partake in a massage. As an incentive to our group, we will give vouchers for a set amount to use towards a spa treatment or excursion, and due to timing, I often chose the spa and have a massage. My first one was in Costa Rica and I was scared to death. I only did it because the president of the company dragged me along with a group and I felt like I should at least give it a try. I did. I loved it. Loved it. Didn't think I would because I'm not keen on people I don't know touching me. But I threw caution to the wind...and afterwards felt sad that I resisted it for so many years! After that, I reserved massage only for when I traveled as a bit of a bonus- a treat that I never felt like I could justify paying for myself.

Last year, Terry gave me a gift card for an introductory massage at Massage Envy. I'll put a link at the bottom if you want to check them out. I received this gift card more than 13 months ago. Yes. More than 13 months ago. It sat on my desk and I looked at it at least 5 days a week... for 13 weeks. Yesterday I decided to book an appointment. Today, at 5 PM, I had a Swedish Massage...and a sugar foot scrub. It. Was. Wonderful. I bought a six month membership and will be going back bimonthly for those six months. I've had a knot in one of my shoulders for about 5 years. It would get so bad at times I'd end up with a migraine. I asked my doctor if I should see a chiropractor and he said I could, but he thought massage would help as he felt it was in my tricep. Know what? Massage helped. Biweekly will help keep this at bay and relax me to the point of being jellified. I like jellified. I love jellified. I felt no stress when I left that office. So, I arrange my budget a bit and I splurge on me. Because I am worth it, I will make it work.

This Valentine's Day brought me another  most-wonderful experience (not the most wonderful- those are reserved for the wonderful-most-amazing-boyfriend-EVER, my Terry). My Valentine's Day was actually an entire weekend. This man does everything big. Everything. ;)  On Friday, I received a poem that he wrote for me along with chocolates, a card and wine. He asked me to read it aloud and he stopped me at points. First stop he gave me scratch-off lottery tickets (I still have one left; fingers crossed!). Second stop was a gorgeous garnet anklet (my birthstone). And third was a three pack for float sessions. O.M.G. Float sessions. I have been wanting to do this for...ever. They just opened a float center close to me and I have been wanting so much to try it but. But. You know. There are other things that take priority. So not only did he gift me with three sessions, he booked my first appointment for the following day. Happiness overload!

A float center is a sensory-deprivation tank that you float in. You start by going into a small room by yourself. There is a place to hang your clothes, shower (you don't want to be putting lotions, perfumes, etc into the water.) You then enter into the tank. My tank was probably 12 feet high. 8 feet long and 4 feet wide. The tank is filled with 10.5 inches of water, and 900 pounds of Epsom salts.  It's at 95.5 degree F as is the room temperature. Same temperature as body core. Each room has different colors. Mine was blue. There were tiny little blue lights (like stars) in the ceiling, and the tank lit up blue as well. You have the option to turn these off and be in total darkness. You are provided with ear plugs (a great wax that totally seals the ears shut...important when lying in a tub of water). You enter the tank, lie  back and float. You just do. The salt in the water suspends you and it is amazing. I put my arms over my head and my back cracked. I could feel everything aligning and it felt blissful. No exaggeration. The float starts with soft spa music and it slow fades off. It is quiet. I turned the lights off. It's dark. No sight. No sound. No gravity or feeling of anything touching you. After about half hour I really relaxed. Completely. And I have never experienced anything like it. I've meditated for years and only twice have achieved the state that I achieved in that tank. And I only did it for a few minutes while meditating. I was in this state for almost a half hour while in the tank. I can't describe it, but I can tell you that I am so looking forward to my second session. When your time is up (I had an hour), soft music starts up to signal that you are done. You leave the tank, shower the salt off of you. The tank then filters itself 5 times to clean and purify (I heard it and opened the tank to check and it was doing as they said it would). I moved over to the hair and makeup room to dry my hair and reapply a little eyeliner and mascara. I then moved to a quiet room to drink water (they had tea , which I will try next time) and slowly come back to reality. And you need it. The experience far exceeded my expectations. I'll be back. A lot.

Without Terry, I most likely would have never tried this. Without him booking the appointment for me, I probably would have hung on to it for a year. Or more. Because truth be told, I didn't book my massage until after my float session. And what I realized mid-massage tonight is that I need to start allowing myself to be pampered a bit. I can do this for myself. I don't need to go crazy with it but I can fit it into my budget and take care of myself.

As a footnote, the rest of my Valentine's weekend consisted of a beautiful flower arrangement in a heart-shaped vase, a Bloody Mary breakfast and a steak, crab-leg, and grilled zucchini and asparagus dinner, all made and cooked by the man I love. There could be no better day and no better man in the world for me. I am blessed. I am loved. And I will show him that he is loved and adored until my very last breath. I love you, Terry. Now and until the end of time.

❤️  Cat

massageenvy.com
floatcentershiloh.com