Do you 'Spa"?

Well, do ya?  The concept of visiting a Spa (day or destination) seems to me the *ultimate* luxury on so many levels.  In fact, I recently subscribed to "Spa" magazine, which itself is a superfluity, only because I'm a sucker.  We all know this already, but to further illustrate, they offered me a subscription for $12, which seems like a crazy good deal because the cover price is $6.99...but they only publish about 6 issues a year, and the back third of the magazine is just a listing of magazine-approved spas you can visit.  HA!  Like I have the time, let alone the gazillion dollars needed to visit a spa...

In fact, this issue has an extensive article about "splurge vs. steal" destination spas, which was laughable.  Their version of Splurge is spending $10,000 per person to "Spa" in the Maldives for 7 days.  Their "Steal" is a trip to Malacca, Malaysia where you can get a full body massage for $55.  Sounds great, except when you remember that you probably need to spend $1500 to fly there, and then stay in a room for $250 a night.  If you stay for 7 days, you're inching closer to that $10,000.  Wow.  That's a lot of cash (and time!) that I don't have.  Who is this magazine written for, anyway?  Is it possible that it's written by a bunch of people who decided they love "spa-ing", but couldn't afford their addiction, so they started a magazine to put advertising dollars to work for them?

Further on in the magazine comes an article about "why" people visit a spa.  Here's where things start to make sense for me.  Education - you can learn more about your body and spirit.  Balance - after these treatments you may feel as though you've restored balance to your career and busy life.  Self-acceptance - you begin to stay grounded in the present moment.  Those body-parts you're not so fond of?  You don't have to be critical of them, because visiting a spa can let you relax, press the "restart" button and shift your perspective.  All sounds good...and familiar...

 Uh oh, I've let my sucker guard down!  I had to wait until I had Spring Break to find time to get a half-hour haircut.  What makes me think I have 90 minutes and $250 for a Spa treatment - ESPECIALLY when I can get all of this from a 60 minute yoga practice for $20 or less!  Sure, when it's a yoga practice, I have to actually do all of the work myself, but then isn't that a source a self-satisfaction?  So, as great as all this sounds, how about I take that $10,000 and re-do my master bath so that it's a spa-like experience everyday.  Now...where am I going to get that 10 grand...??

It is important from time to time to slow down, to go away by yourself, and simply be. - Eileen Caddy