{this is me, at the end of the day, lounging outside at the hot springs. taken with my phone for my family and friends that were inquiring how i was feeling. i think this photo says it all. especially because i still have mud in my dreads!}
On my birthday, I woke up to a spa packet on the table with a note that said something a long the lines of..."You have given so much to me and Cedar and have lost countless hours of sleep without much alone time. We want you to be pampered."
He sent me away yesterday to Glen Ivy Hot Springs for a day full of treatments (massage, detox wrap, facial, pedicure and an underground body mask & shower). I then went to a hotel and spent the night in a huge bed, sleeping longer than I have in two years, without interruption.
Holy tears. Boho Boy often tells me that he sees and recognizes all the little things I do as a stay at home mother and wife but there was something so beautiful about him planning this for me. It was a testimony to "actions speak louder than words", you know? I really FELT that he got what I was needing and honored me and created this space for me to renew myself...even if it meant that the weekend would be extra hard on him having to manage both work and Cedar, with no help. It was selfless and I do not take that for granted.
So, I love mud now. ; ) There was this area called Club Mud where you walk into a muddy pool and in the middle is a pillar with a huge clump of mud and you smooth it all over your body, step outside, lay out in the sun until it dries and you exfoliate your body with a towel and then stand underneath a tiny cave with a shower in it. I have never done this before. My body loved it.
These particular hot springs were not exactly what my husband imagined for me. It was actually a bit club med-like...with cement and pools everywhere and people drinking and partying and making out. It was definitely a social place to gather and I think I was the only one alone. But there was a moment when I was in the Grotto, which is an underground cave-like place where when you first walk in, someone brushes your body (with your bathing suit on) with a lotion type mask and then you walk into this other dark room where you rub the lotion into your body for 20 minutes. I was surrounded by couples rubbing lotion all over one another getting so totally heated if you know what I mean and there I was sitting by myself. It was then that I had an epiphany. Hey...this moment is all about self love for me. This whole days is. So I closed my eyes and gave my body love...especially those parts that I can often feel disconnected from and I sent those bits energy of acceptance and forgiveness and pure unconditional lovey love.
This ritual was all this weekend needed to be about. A time to reconnect with my spirit, my body...to breathe and listen...to be gentle and quiet and empty the mind. I am so grateful for this gift my husband gave to me.
Today I am home and I feel so renewed. It is wonderful to be back with my boys. I walked in the door to a husband that greeted me with a big romantic kiss and a long hug. He sunk into me and I could tell he missed me as much as I missed him. I spooned Cedar in our bed until he fell asleep for his nap. My nose was nuzzled into his curls all dried and crispy from daddy's breakfast that morning. He smelled like dirt and eggs and I loved it. My senses feel heightened. I feel rested. I have more energy. I even feel a bit more sexy.
I think if we were to go to another hot springs, it would be more the hippy kind. You know...where the pools actually are in the ground and you can be naked or not and it is a quiet space where people aren't talking. Do any of you know of a place like this? I'd like to send my husband there and perhaps go there together one day. We do know of Esalen...but are there others?