Spa Etiquette — How to Benefit Most from Your Spa Experience
If you are heading off to a local spa for the day, or to a spa retreat for that well deserved break, be sure to follow these handy hints to get the most benefit from your spa experience. Whether you are hoping to achieve deep relaxation, enjoy health benefits or see the more visible benefits from a variety of spa treatments, read on.
1. Take the right clothing
Many spas provide a gown and slippers for you to use during the day, in addition to shampoo and shower gel in the changing facilities. Whilst it might sound really basic, do check in advance what the spa you are going to offers.
For gym work- outs or fitness classes, take your workout gear and trainers. To enjoy the many benefits of the water and heated facilities, bring your swimming costume. Some places may request a full body swimsuit rather than an itsy bitsy bikini, and a swimming cap in the pool may be obligatory for hygiene reasons.
2. Be on Time
Consider the spa as a well oiled machine. Do turn up on time. If your spa treatment is booked for say, 2pm, don’t dawdle over lunch and turn up at 2.10pm. Your spa therapist will then have to try to rush through your spa treatment to ensure she is available for the next booking. Not only will you have your spa treatment curtailed, you will have lost out on some magic massage minutes — and the benefits associated with them.
3. Your spa therapist knows best
Remember that your spa therapist has studied for many years to understand the functioning of the body, the effect of massage techniques and the properties of the active ingredients in the products used.
If you have any health concerns or specific aches and pains, make sure she knows in advance. She will then direct you to the most appropriate treatment and will adapt the massage accordingly. The benefits of a massage could be completely lost if she starts working on a problem area without being forewarned.
4. Keep the noise down
No-one wants to be parted for a long time from their trusty mobile phone, but at least leave it in the locker in the changing rooms whilst you are in the spa. Other clients don’t want to be bothered by the ringing of mobile phones, or loud one-sided conversations when they are on a long anticipated spa break. And don’t spend time with your friends a-giggling and a-squealing in the pool — or everyone will suffer with their stress levels a-rising!
5. Feeling hot, hot, hot!
The sauna and steam room may beckon you seductively, but if you are not a regular user, be careful and limit your time in them. Overdoing it can result in faintness and dizziness when you are trying to induce the known benefits of sweat bathing: cleansing, detoxification and relaxation.
6. Easy does it
You opt to join a fitness class for all the health benefits it provides: a sense of team spirit, to get the heart pumping, increase circulation and overall to have fun. Don’t aim too high and overdo things, especially if the class is new for you — or all those fabulous benefits will be lost if you have to take to your bed for a nap for the rest of the day!
7. Weight loss programme
If you sign up for a weight loss spa programme over a week, make sure you do as directed. There’s no point in eating all the carefully prepared low calorie food during the day if you then sneak back to your hotel room to gobble down a few chocolate bars. Who are you kidding? Ain’t no-one gonna see a benefit with that sneaky behavior.
8. Follow the rules
If the sign says sit on a towel in the sauna, sit on a towel. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, as your mother used to tell you. Does the sign say ‘No Diving’? Then don’t dive. Simple isn’t it. There are reasons for rules: hygiene and safety being the main ones. Do follow them or you will cause distress to your fellow spa users and a lot of hassle for the staff. And you won’t feel the benefits of a relaxing stay at a spa.
If you follow these simple tips and remember that you are not the only one enjoying a spa experience, both you and everyone else will feel the numerous benefits of taking time to spa.
