Enjoying a spa experience shouldn’t be the sole purview of the wealthy or pretentious. It should be for everyone.

ISPA'S (International Spa Association) definition of a spa is:
“Spas are places devoted to overall well-being through a variety of professional services that encourage the renewal of mind, body, and spirit.”

Pertinent parts for personal spas: Your personal spa is a place devoted to overall well-being through a variety of best practices that encourage the renewal of mind, body, and spirit.

Unique personal perspective: I’m personally turned off by spas that cater to wealth and pretentiousness. Everybody deserves well-being and a healthy mind, body, and spirit. The people who need to be pampered are people who actually work hard for a living. The problem is, hard-working people are often priced out of the very professional services they could truly use. I’m not faulting the spa workers—everybody needs to make a living. I’m faulting the wealthy and pretentious clients and society who have hoarded spas for themselves and made the spa life an exclusive experience…until now.

There are plenty of health and self-care best practices that are virtually or even totally free. Most are just a shift in attitude: Just thinking of going to a spa has a positive effect. I know. I was suffering from a significant period of inertia, possibly even depression. I’d start a fitness effort, diet, exercise, whatever, only to quit within 1 or 2 days. I began thinking about all of the things I could do to make myself feel better and realized that these were the very same services usually offered by a spa. So, I thought I’d reframe my efforts by imagining that my daily routine could become like I was taking a retreat to a spa.

It worked like magic. I was immediately inspired and uplifted.

I researched basic spa services and planned my day accordingly. I played soothing music from Pandora. I unplugged from the news and the rest of the world. I looked up how many hours of sleep a person my age should be getting and created my schedule around that.

I realized that all of these things were free—or very nearly. And they made me feel better.

I also realized that I didn’t have to stop living this way once my “retreat” was over. I could live a S.P.A. Life™ every day.

Putting these two realizations together, I realized there was an opportunity to share my experience with others who also don’t have a disposable income, and who could use the kind of renewal spa services provide.

So, what follows is a journal of my experiences, a curation of constantly evolving best practices that lead to well-being and renewal of body, mind, and spirit that cost nothing—or very nearly.

The S.P.A. Life™ should be for everyone, not just the wealthy. And it should especially be for hard-working people, not just people who have the time and money to care for themselves. And for men, not just for women. And for children, not just adults. Sano Por Amasso!