I know it’s wise to break up your working day with some fresh air and a wander – we have a particularly pretty canal near our offices, so I have no excuse. But there are some days when deadlines loom, you have no choice but to lunch at your desk. Despite my well-chosen words of wisdom in various wellbeing features to the effect of “get outside in your lunch hour, or you will be Vitamin D deficient and totally stressed out”, you will often find me deskbound, sandwich in one hand, typing away with the other, crumbs getting stuck in the keyboard.
This is not ideal on so many levels: I am certain the quality of my work – let alone my digestion – suffers when my mind is in two places at once. So, I have reached a compromise, a mini mind-break in the middle of the day while I eat my lunch. I take myself to some far-flung places, most recently via the holiday website Travelzoo. It’s amazing how, when scrolling through the travel temptations their front page, I can actually picture myself in these places.
Today I took a whistlestop tour of Santorini in Greece, a 5 Star French Chateau in the Loire Valley, a Middle Eastern Cruise, and a tour of India & Nepal. I found two fantastic hotel deals near Good Spa Guide rated spas – for example, Broadoaks Country House a five-star hotel in the Lake District for just £169 including a 4-course dinner and cream tea, which includes free access to Low Wood Bay Spa – you can bring your dog, too, for £25 (not to the spa, mind).
If you are looking for inspiration, they have a blog written by their Deal Experts – for example, their feature on Midweek Breaks includes car hire ideas, so you can turn up in style.
This is not time wasting or dilly-dallying, oh no. I see it more akin to daydreaming, for which there are scientifically proven benefits - recent research has shown that day dreaming can improve memory and creativity, as well as lower your blood pressure (how I wish I could go back in time and tell my teachers this).
It is also useful research as Travelzoo have some spa deals, too. In fact, they inspired me to take myself off to a Shepherd’s hut this year for some restorative alone time. So even if you can’t leave your desk right now, you can make plans to do so in the future in spectacular style. Excuse me while I go back to browsing…
Favourite Listen: en route to work and when I get home, me and My True Self get to hang out courtesy of meditation guru Tara Brach - her website carries a treasure trove of free guided meditations and talks.
Favourite TV: Unbelievable on Netflix. Important issues and a true story wrapped in the best ever TV detective drama.
The Spa Spy
27th September 2019
Spy Likes:
Intuitive masseurs, inspired or outlandish treatments and design, posh products and celeb spotting.
Spy Dislikes:
Anyone po-faced (guests and therapists) or stupid, boring design and treatments.
