Fall Beauty - Healthy and Colorful

Autumn is a time when we are more sensitive to nature. Being surrounded by a plethora of colorful leaves, fading flowers, and crisp air fascinates us. At the same time, we try to blend in with the environment by dressing in fall colors, changing hair color, and decorating our houses. The melancholy of passed summer is not overwhelming anymore. Fall is a really good time to take care of dry and tired skin. Summer with outdoor activities in the sun and water definitely has a big impact on our skin. Do not forget the benefits of massages.

During this time of year we should get deeper and more intense massages (Deep Tissue, or Shawnee Mixology Massage) that will strengthen your muscles AND skin. This form of forced muscle relaxations helps with the elasticity of the entire body, and will also make your skin firmer. 60 Minutes of a Swedish massage will have a tremendous effect on your body. You can also extend the effects of the massage at home – by an energetic rub with a bath towel. Better blood circulation is guaranteed.

We need to remember our face – which is exposed to the sun and pollution at all times. Make sure to deliver lots of vitamins through your diet. Face treatments like masks, fruit toners, and moisturizers are also helpful. This time of the year we should start using heavier lotions, creams and moisturizers filled with vitamins to make our skin look lighter, smoother and what is most important – healthier.

Enjoy the colors and nature!

Sea salt continued….

We mentioned some benefits of sea salt few weeks ago and now it is time to give you some more tips for your home spa. Sea salt is much more beneficial than regular iodized salt because it contains less sodium chloride. Like we mentioned earlier, sea salt is filled with micro and macro-elements (calcium, iron, selenium, silicon, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, and many more) that help control our metabolism. Besides, sea salt helps in blood circulation. Peelings and scrubs made with sea salt make the skin smoother and firmer. Overall your skin will look healthier.

Home spa recipes:

Baths: Add about 500 g of sea salt to your bath – depending on the amount you add it will relax or energize your body - Use when tired or overworked.

Peeling: Wear a bath glove and use pure sea salt or mixture of sea salt and oil/lotion. Massage the mixture onto your whole body in circular motion. Do not be too harsh – it may cause skin damage. After this treatment your skin will absorb active ingredients from other products easier and quicker.

Compresses: Apply sea salt on warm and moistened towel. Put towel over your cleaned face. Keep for 2-3 minutes. Compress like this in antibacterial, and calming. It will also help with your acne, or in case if you are tired

Wraps:
*Add 2-4 tablespoons of sea salt to 1 quart of hot water; soak cotton bandages in that water. Wrap your body in those bandages and keep them on for at least 30 minutes under warm cover. It will help your skin to retain moisture, will make it firm, and help with aging and sun damage (do not use it in case of sun burn!)
* On your moistened skin apply sea salt using a brush. Keep that part of your skin under warm cover for about 30 minutes. It is ideal preparation for body wraps, masks, etc. You may use this treatment if you have problems with falling asleep.


Relax, Restore, Rejuvenate!

Music Therapy

One of the various proven prenatal therapies for moms-to-be and their unborn child is a music therapy. Listening to music involves many different parts of the brain. The left side recognizes the rhythm and pitch of the notes; while the right side – tone and melody. Everyone reacts differently to the sounds; the right music can bring peace and let you concentrate on a specific project. In adults, music therapy influences the brain, nervous system, blood pressure, hormone production, pulse, breathing, and mental balance.

For newborns and prenatal babies, contact with music starting at the earliest days of their lives teaches them harmony, feel the rhythm, and increases their sensitivity and flexibility of their nervous system. Japanese neurologists prove that listening to music at the early childhood influences future sensitivity to sounds. It is also proven that music helps to build nerve connections responsible for the development of language, memory, and equilibrium.

Research showed that the first sounds babies hear starting by the 6th week is their mother’s heartbeat. By the 26th week she/he can hear rhythm and melody, so the more sounds babies hear, the more developed their systems may become. Besides, music relaxes and calms the baby. Choosing classical and relaxing tones will make the baby feel happier and fall a sleep easier.
For Moms-to-be music can release the muscle tension, some pain, bring overall relaxation and harmony. Some women may feel overwhelmed by their pregnancy, but music, massage therapy, yoga or any other type of holistic therapy will bring peace and may ease those tense days.

We at Spa Shawnee offer our guests sounds of nature, classical music and calming melodies before, during and after their treatments. Our therapists qualified in prenatal treatments welcome pregnant women. Just let us know while scheduling your appointments, so we can prepare for you and your baby.
Enjoy the sounds of the Poconos!

D.Y.I Spa

Among other treatments - our spa offers services that involve sea salt and sea salt products. Our customer’s most favorite product is sea salt exfoliation performed with sea salt butter. This product leaves your skin so smooth, regenerated and soft that it is hard to describe. However that is not the favorite part of the treatment. Our guests will want to take a sample of this product not only for its health benefits, but also for the smell! All employees love when the door to our hydrotherapy room opens after one of the exfoliation treatments. The whole spa is fulfilled with sea salt butter aroma. You should come and try it. We also use sea salt mixed with organic oils for regular exfoliations, foot soaks, and pedicure services. As we all know, sea salt has many microelements and it is very beneficial for our health. Sea salt helps reducing acne, eliminate toxins, and helps to dry oily skin. Here are some examples of treatments for your home spa:


Two teaspoons of sea salt (not regular salt, which will hold water in your body); dissolve salt in a small amount of water – to get consistency of cream/mask. Put the mask on your face and set for 20 minutes. You may feel a little tingling sensation - that means the mask is working. Rinse with warm water. Your skin will be smooth and soft. You should test your skin’s reaction to the mask on a little area of your skin before, just in case your skin does not tolerate sea salt. You could mix that sea salt with olive oil or any other oil to get body scrub – for you feet, hand or the whole body.

Another tip: Warm compress with sea salt will help reduce breast pain for breastfeeding mothers.

More tips and sea salt benefits next week!

Think Before You Think

I believe that we all (including me) are individually responsible for everything that happens in our life – both good and bad.

Our thoughts create our future. Have you heard it before? I truly believe it. Each of us create our own experiences through thoughts and feelings. Our thoughts and spoken words create our destiny. Often times our own thoughts create certain situations, then we deny our power of creation blaming others for our frustration.

There is no person, place or thing that influences us, because only OUR mind is able to create our thoughts. We are able to create experiences, our reality, and everything that follows that. If we think of peace, harmony, and balance, we will find them in our life. If we think of all bad things that happen to us every day, (traffic, long lines at the store, somebody did not show up for their appointment, and so on...) then we put ourselves into a bad mood, we get frustrated more and more.

There is no end to those small unfortunate things around us. Believe me, I went through that so many times. Last week was an example of an avalanche of awful events. And you know what, I had that thought in my mind, that all those things will go away by Sunday. Guess what! They did. I knew that Monday would start a new cycle of my life and it started really well, with more peace and creativity. Also, I do not feel like the whole world just collapsed on my head any more, although I do not have less things and issues to solve today than last week. If you do not believe me, start analyzing your life; note your ”bad days” and ”good days”. They all depend on your thinking. We just have to realize that only one thing can change our life – it is our brain and mind. It is all in there – dreams, memories, feelings, and finally – THOUGHTS.

Summer Hair

Although we think that going on vacation goes hand-in-hand with doing nothing; not taking care of our hair while swimming, surfing, sun bathing, and many other wild outdoor voyages – may not be a good choice.

The most damaging is salt, especially if we do not rinse our hair after swimming. A combination of sea salt and sun bathing may be destructive. Sunrays trigger chemical reactions with water and hair that are actually similar to coloring hair. The cuticle of hair (outer layer) gets damaged, and hair tends to split or break. Sea salt makes our hair dull, dry, stiff and rough. The smartest way to protect your hair is to use a swimming cap, but it is not something that you want to flash around with on the beach.

It is better to take care of your hair before, while and after a vacation rather than repairing the damage afterwards. Here are some tips:

- Go to the hair stylist. Cut your hair short or just a trim. It will make the hair stronger and your hair do will be easier to manage. Ask your stylist about products that will fit your hair’s needs the best.

- Buy products made for summer. They contain UV protection, minerals, pro-vitamin B5 and vitamins A, E, F, and H. By using these products your hair will get moisturized, smooth and replenish.

- Add more energy to your hair – even if your hair is in good condition, use moisturizing shampoo and mask at least two weeks before vacation

- Instead of using a hair dryer, take styling product – it will minimize the impact of additional hot air blown in your hair

- Use a natural mask – do it once a week on washed, damp hair. After application, wear a plastic hair cap and towel (to keep the temperature). Rinse after 30 minutes – make sure that you do not use any harsh shampoo. You will need: egg, lemon juice, and olive oil. In a bowl combine an egg and three tablespoons of olive oil, after that add lemon juice out of ½ a lemon. Mix until smooth.

This treatment will make your hair moisturized and smooth.

Have shiny, healthy hair and a wonderful vacation!