By Abigail Funk-Gifford, Spa Director at Rasa Spa
After more than a year of virtual work meetings, FaceTime calls with family members, and (at times) more hours on our hands than thought possible to scroll social media, we are really feeling the urge to disconnect this spring. And we wanted to encourage you to do the same!
The weather steadily getting warmer is pulling us outside more and more, which is making our intention to lessen screen time easier. Vegetable garden plans are solidified by now, flower beds are being prepped, and we’re trying to take walks on the regular—even if a short outing, the fresh air is energizing and clarifying. By not taking a cell phone with us, we’re noticing more signs of spring and the beauty of the Finger Lakes area than ever.
Here at Rasa, we’ve begun to relax some of our more streamlined visit policies and are encouraging clients to slip into a robe and sandals, have a cup of tea in one of our Tranquility Rooms, and spend more time in our welcoming spaces before and/or after an appointment. Rasa is a device-free spa, which makes it easy to have forced time off from your mobile device screen. How convenient!
And if you’re not ready for a spa visit quite yet, we encourage you to follow some of our visit protocols and set time aside for yourself at home. You could make an appointment to take a hot shower with an indulgent body scrub, spend some time in a robe relaxing with a cup of tea or lemon or cucumber water, and turn your phone off during your “appointment” at home.
If you’re still working from home, we encourage you to space your virtual meetings out as much as possible so you get breaks to move you body and rest your eyes in between. Speaking of resting your eyes, blue light filtering glasses have certainly been worth the small investment for us.
The next time that you catch yourself reaching for your phone to scroll, or notice that your virtual meeting calendar is getting crowded, we encourage you to push back on behalf of yourself. Join us in taking a break to disconnect this spring—we think you’ll be glad you did!
Abigail Funk-Gifford is the Spa Director at Rasa Spa, where she has been working on the management team since 2013. Originally from Vermont, Abby attended Ithaca College for a degree in sports information and never left the area after falling in love with the Finger Lakes. She loves calling both the Finger Lakes area and Rasa home.
