I've been pretty burned out lately. There's been a lot going on at work and at home, as well as, I've injured my lower back and shoulders.
My go-to remedy when it comes to burnout is typically to travel because escapism, and/or a spa, which is exactly what I prescribed for myself this trip.
Let me tell you all about it!
Recently I wrote an article on how to travel without a car and in that article I briefly talked about Flix Bus. This is a bus company that travels to different cities. When writing the article, I had never been on this bus before, but I had an interest. So, not long after publishing that article, I decided to travel with them, which just to happened to be this trip. Oh boy, was that decision a mistake. Let me tell you why.
On my first ever experience with Flix Bus, our departure was delayed well over an hour as our bus driver was lost. He actually drove right past us since he was on the wrong side of the street. It took him over 15 minutes to try to turn around, but eventually ended up on the wrong side of the street again and moved the stop to around the corner.
When we did finally get to board, someone was in my assigned seat and was quite rude about moving to the correct seat. It was ice cold in the bus. The bathroom, if you can even call it that, was essentially a porta-potty. There was urine all over the seat, no sink, no t.p., not even hand sanitizer. It was disgusting. Needless to say, I will not be traveling with them again.
In fairness, this trip only cost me about $20 CAD, so you get what you pay for. If you are a budget traveler and are okay with giving up some luxuries to save some money, you might not mind Flix Bus. I am definitely someone who is willing to pay more for a better experience though.
Speaking of paying more for a better experience, while on the trip, I went to a spa!
As I mentioned earlier, I've been pretty burned out lately with work and everything else I have going on. On top of that, I've been having some trouble with my lower back and left shoulder. So, I thought a trip away from home and to the spa would do me some good.
Usually, we have a sauna where I live, but with the pool room under construction, the sauna is also closed. Saunas are fantastic for sore muscles and joints, and I used to relax in there with a good book most nights. So, to get my sauna fix, I decided to go to a sauna spa.
I booked an infrared sauna for an hour long session at Salt Therapy Wellness. I'd never been to this spa before, so this whole trip was full of new experiences (granted, some better than others).
For those who don't know, an infrared sauna is different from the typical dry sauna (we have a dry sauna at home). Infrared saunas heat up the body from within using a lower temperature, whereas dry saunas tend to have a higher temperature that simply creates an externally hot environment.
The best way I can explain it is dry saunas would be like sitting inside an oven - an externally hot place that makes you sweat - while an infrared sauna would be like sitting in the sun. You feel the rays on your skin and within, whereas a dry sauna just feel hot and humid.
Some infrared saunas also have the ability to emit 3 types of rays, the full spectrum being near, mid, and far. Each is said to have different health benefits, anti-aging being one of them which is enough to convince me!
Due to the lower temperature of infrared saunas, they aren't as overwhelming as dry saunas can be (great for people sensitive to heat like me), but still offer all the benefits of a traditional dry sauna. Mine was set at 55c/131f degrees.
My sauna session was wonderful!
This particular sauna has so many cool features. By far one of the coolest feature was definitely the bluetooth speakers. I could connect my phone to the sauna and play my own music, podcasts, or meditation tracks. They also had a compartment in the sauna for your phone where it wouldn't overheat. That was definitely a new, but very welcomed, experience.
I put on some of my favourite christian music and laid down to relax in the heat. I will say though, I could lay down and stand up because I am 5'5 (165 cm). If you are any taller than me, it might be a tight squeeze.
Some of the other features of this sauna let me change the temperature from a control panel within, control the spectrum of the infrared rays (50%, 75%, 100%), change the intensity of the lights, turn them on and off, or change the colour.
As the attendant was showing me around the room, she explained that I could change the colour of the lights in the sauna to take advantage of chromotherapy. In the room they have a whole sheet detailing the benefits of the different colours.
If you've ever seen those girlies on insta who have those red light masks or hair growth helmets, this is chromotherapy. It's the idea that coloured lights have an impact on the the body's health. I'm not promoting the ideology, but rather trying to share information I learned.
Does shooting different colours of light into your skin do anything? I can't be certain, but I do enjoy it. If it's not your thing, than if anything, it simply adds to the ambience of your sauna session.
Since I've been having a lot of back and shoulder problems lately, I had the light in the sauna set on strong blue. This colour is said to "lubricate joints, help address infections, stress, and nervous tension". I was willing to try whatever would alleviate the pain I'd been in lately. I found the heat definitely helped me relax, so much so that I nearly fell asleep.
I wonder if this is part of why I like Austin, Texas so much? It's always so warm there, so I feel relaxed a lot of the time.
Remember, however, to take as many breaks as you need while sauna-ing and drink water. The temperature may be lower than traditional saunas, but it's still intense heat.
Also, if you're like me and have dry skin and airways, the heat are really dries you out. Moisturizer and drink a lot of water during and after your sauna session.
The room outside the sauna was so cold, which is great for you blood circulation. It's a similar idea with cold plunges, abrupt temperature changes, but I'm not about that life. Ice baths have never sounded like a good time to me.
In the room, there were also a few amenities such as a bath robe, multiple towels, cool water, a skin care fridge with a cold towel, and a shower. All pretty standard stuff in a spa.
For my budget travelers interested in a spa experience, this one is definitely worth it and pretty inexpensive when it comes to spa services. The whole thing costed me $50.85 CAD (tax included). If you're looking for a inexpensive spa experience with indoor and outdoor thermal pools, Himalayan and Finish saunas, as well as a cold plunge, check out my Niagara article.
The sauna definitely helped me forget about the horrible bus trip.
I am a creature of habit in some ways, so naturally after the spa I went to Starbucks and got an iced coffee. I recently got back into coffee and goodness have I missed it. The iced americanos at Starbucks are heavenly!
I really think my perfect day would be going to the spa alone, going to a cafe alone, getting Chipotle, and curling up at home to watch the latest show I'm binge watching. Definitely an introvert through and through.
What do you do to remedy your burnout?
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