Self-care after the holidays

by Lori Bradley

November and December are giving months. Giving to others is the theme an refrain to which we are constantly subjected in most media and conversations.

The giving months can be invigorating and beautiful, but can also drain our stores of energy. When the quiet months of winter finally come, we can be left feeling utterly empty and exhausted. Yet with the New Year celebrations comes social pressure to make self-improvement resolutions that have more to do with meeting the expectations of others than caring for ourselves.

How can we use the quiet winter months to seek out some true self-care that improves our physical and psychic wellbeing? Visiting the gym or a fitness center is an option, but are there places where we can focus on our wellness in a relaxing, low-key atmosphere with a personalized touch? Fortunately, a more personalized approach to wellness can be found in the many retreats and day spas opening to fill this niche.

The Southcoast is home to a growing number of spas and yoga centers, with varied approaches to helping clients develop individualized self-care strategies that lead to healthy connections between body and mind resulting in an enhanced quality of life. Establishing a personal liaison with a wellness provider is a gift to yourself that lasts a lifetime.

According to the National Wellness Institute, “Wellness is an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence. This definition describes a shift from unconscious living (where you do not think about your health until you have a problem or experience symptoms) to conscious living (where you are actively making healthy choices to promote your success and wellbeing)”

Personal touch

A cornerstone of wellness is massage, and a variety of massage treatments are available at local spas. According to the Mayo Clinic website, massage is increasingly used to address medical conditions such as fibromyalgia, sports injuries, anxiety, lowering heart rate and blood pressure, and reducing headaches and insomnia. (Of course, anyone with a medical condition should consult their doctor before receiving a massage.) The personal touch of the massage experience can help improve painful conditions but “beyond the benefits for specific conditions or diseases, some people enjoy massage because it often produces feelings of caring, comfort, and connection.”

Drift Day Spa, at 77 State Street in Dartmouth, offers an appealing menu of options, including Swedish and deep tissue massage for relaxation and muscular therapy. Clients can book customizable treatments from 30 to 90 minutes. Hot stone massage can soothe muscle pain and induce deep relaxation. Other Drift therapies include relaxing full facial and hydrothermal massage that cradles the body in warm water and induces a feeling of weightlessness. In addition, the spa offers aesthetician and nail services for a full self-care day of relaxation and beauty.

Yoga is a form of mindfulness through movement that, with regular practice, can profoundly contribute to mental and physical well-being. According to the Mayo Clinic, “Yoga is a mind-body practice that combines physical poses, controlled breathing, and meditation or relaxation. Yoga may help reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and lower your heart rate. And almost anyone can do it.”

Owner Dawn Oyenuga thinks there is both a need and a niche for smaller wellness paces, “I truly feel that the salon/ spa industry needs to be a smaller, more customer-service focused businesses. It should not be about turnover and volume. I think wellness deserves time and precision from start to finish.”

Dawn shared how her highly-trained staff work together to make every client feel personally acknowledged and cared for. “A smaller setting allows for the details, such as having tea and water brought over to you, your jacket taken and hung safely, the offering of the restroom and the friendly chat and smiles from all of our service providers walking around the spa who know (or get to know) all of our guests personally. You’re welcomed into our space immediately! At the conclusion of your service, your jacket is brought back to you, water is offered again, we recommend products tailored for your home-care routine, and you are always thanked for your time and invited back to visit. Wellness for us isn’t just about the massage or facial or nail service, it’s about an experience with kind people bringing stress relief, peace of mind, and a much-needed pause from the chaotic lives we all live.”

Learn more about Drift Day Spa at driftdartmouth.com.

Mindful movement

Yoga is a form of mindfulness through movement that, with regular practice, can profoundly contribute to mental and physical well-being. According to the Mayo Clinic, “Yoga is a mind-body practice that combines physical poses, controlled breathing, and meditation or relaxation. Yoga may help reduce stress, lower blood pressure, and lower your heart rate. And almost anyone can do it.”

Direct health benefits of yoga are improving range of joint motion and pain reduction, improving the function of the nervous system, moderating stress response and anxiety, cultivating dynamic balance in mind and body, and reducing falls in older people. For people wanting to explore mindful movement, there are many options studios in the Southcoast. Solshine Yoga, located in the Kilburn Mill complex at 127 W. Rodney French Boulevard in New Bedford’s South End offers “yoga with a view.” Wide floor-to-ceiling windows look out on the sea and sunset and expansive polished old wooden floors and high ceilings add a sense of visual transcendence to the yoga experience.

The Solshine studio offers a variety of wellness services including beginner, intermediate, and hot yoga and higher intensity Buti Yoga classes, in addition to breathwork, reiki, meditation, aromatherapy, sound healing, positive affirmations, herbal medicine, and the sharing of ancient spiritual philosophies, all with the intention of bringing students into an elevated state of mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

Andrea DeVeau-Cabral and Neil Cabral are co-owners of the Power and Grace yoga studio housed in the beautiful Howland Mill complex at 675 Orchard Street, also in New Bedford’s South End. Both are highly trained and experienced yoga instructors offering a variety of classes including Radiant Flow Yoga and Sva Ha Yoga.

Music and sound are integral to the classes at Power and Grace. Sound healing employs aural waves that reverberate throughout the body and induce a deep state of mindful relaxation. Power and Grace instructors offer a sound-immersive light yoga and sound healing class which is “a light and deeply restorative practice. Oftentimes, we don’t even stand up. You’ll be guided to rest in postures in a way that feels comfortable and supportive for your body. Practice closes with an extended sound healing savasana which is a yogic meditative nap.” Learn more at powerandgrace.org.

For those seeking a comfortable and simple yoga experience with small class sizes, Yoga 101 at 106 State Road in Dartmouth offers personalized group classes and individualized instruction. Tucked away behind a row of shops on Route 6, the studio is small, quiet, and cozy. The yoga is accessible to people of any age and ability with an emphasis on gentle, simple movement in a peaceful environment. Clients can come in for individual classes or purchase a subscription for multiple classes. Learn more at yoga101dartmouth.com.

These are just a few of the many and varied wellness experiences available in our immediate area. In our stressed-out world, wellness will continue to be a growing and ever-changing field, guaranteed to offer new roads to healthy relaxation for our exploration. Make it a point to give yourself the gift of self-care and connection this post-holiday season.