Wellness

I have a confession to make: sometimes I treat my gym time as spa time. I know, I know. But let me explain…

I have a membership to a really awesome gym just a few blocks from my house. If you’ve read my “About the Author” section, this should not surprise you. My husband is on his way to becoming a Certified Personal Trainer and is a workout junkie regardless, so he spends a lot of time there. The best part (for me) about a family membership to the gym is the child care that comes with it, and their expanded hours. I would get a membership to pretty much anywhere if it had drop-in child care included, no joke.

Somehow the time got away from me this morning, and all of a sudden I was running late for my yoga class. It’s an 8:45 am class, so it shouldn’t be hard to get to on time, however, life with a toddler is unpredictable sometimes/most of the time/always. I packed my gym bag to the max, stuffed my yoga mat under one arm and my wild 2 year old under the other, and headed out the door. Much to my dismay, our arrival to the gym at 8:50 dashed my hopes of making it to class (because there is no way you could convince me to open that door to the yoga studio once it’s been closed. Are you kidding? And have all those people look at me as I walk in? Me, “the late girl”? No thank you, not in a million years.).

I was frustrated, because I was really looking forward to the class today. It was a flow class, but with a new instructor, and I just felt like I really needed that “me” time, you know?

But instead of packing it in and going back home, I decided to kill an hour and just treat myself a little bit.

There is a smoothie bar in our gym that serves up protein smoothies any way you like (I know, right?), so I stopped and hit that up first. Peanut butter and banana? Don’t mind if I do.

Smoothie in hand, I headed to the women’s locker room (which is sort of like a mini-spa in and of itself). I traded my tight fitting gym clothes for a towel and parked myself in the steam room for a good 20 minute steam. You can read more about the benefits of using steam rooms here, but I love them for opening the airway and removing toxins from the body.

After that, I took a long shower, shaved my legs, and even exfoliated. It was like some kind of small miracle – I never get the time to do crazy things like that at home. I put my hair up in a towel and moisturized to my hearts content. The absolute best part, though, was getting to sit down at their extremely well-lit mirrors and take all the time I wanted to do my makeup. I did it all, you guys. Concealer and foundation. Contouring and highlighting. Three coats of mascara to get every lash perfect? Heck, why not. It was truly glorious.

By the time I left, I was no longer upset about having missed my yoga class. How could I be? If you’re anything like me, you probably have a gym membership that you wish you used more. Instead of the negative self talk (which I am totally guilty of), try treating yourself to an hour or two of positive self care. Even if it is at the gym, when you’re supposed to be doing cardio or pilates or whatever. Totally worth it!

Have you ever skipped a workout to do some self care instead? Let me know your thoughts!