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After a trip through Peru that was pretty taxing on my body, I needed something to bring my body back into balance and ready myself for the daily grind. Since spa treatments are definitely not in my budget right now, I wanted the next best thing, so I decided to create a home spa treatment day for myself. I used ingredients and items I had on-hand to bring it to life, and ended the day feeling relaxed and refreshed.

You can obviously vary this to suit your own tastes, but here’s a general list of what I do to set things up:

• Draw the blinds and light candles around the house
• Put on soothing music (my favorite for this is a Reiki music CD)
• Draw a lavender bath that will fill the house with a soothing scent
• Lay out all the tools for a mani-pedi
• Dig out my soft, fluffy bath robe

From there, the schedule is mine to craft. I’ll usually start with a soak in the tub, then slather my body in a soothing lotion — my favorite is Burt’s Bees Milk & Honey. (Note: You can find Burt’s Bees at significant savings at Vitacost.com. They didn’t pay me to say that.) I use an olive oil and sugar scrub on my face to exfoliate and deeply moisturize, and mani-pedi time follows, along with a nice hot cup of Honeyed Chai Tea.

If you are fortunate enough to find yourself home alone for more than a few hours, finish it all with a peaceful nap, and perhaps a yoga session. I’ve found some great free videos on MyYogaOnline, which I also download to my iPod and take with me when I travel.

A big part of life’s enjoyment is to be found in treating yourself well, so indulge yourself.