Yes, only in this day and age do we actually have to make an appointment to relax. Well, if you haven’t done so already, block off some time on August 15 to de-stress, because it’s National Relaxation Day. (How “official” this holiday is remains unclear, but do you really need a decree to take some time off?)
If wondering how to spend your National Relaxation Day is causing you stress, we have a few suggestions that go beyond your typical spa massage or yoga class.
Breathe in the Salty Air
Think back to those blissful beach days by breathing in the salty air at one of Breathe Easy’s salt therapy rooms. In addition to filling your head with images of crashing waves and sand dollars, Breathe Easy claims that salt therapy is good for the skin, improves lung function, and reduces allergy symptoms. That all remains to be seen, but, when one of our editors tried it, she said she “left the booth feeling a bit euphoric, and dusted with a fine residue of salt.”
Breathe Easy
The Yoga Sanctuary, 951 E Boston Post Rd, Mamaroneck
50 Livingstone Ave, Dobbs Ferry
(917) 400-7258; www.breatheeasyusa.com
Learn How to Meditate
It’s impossible to relax if you can’t stop your mind from running through its never-ending to-do list. Enter the Vajra Light Buddhist Center, winner of 2012’s Best of Westchester award for Best Meditation Center, which offers meditation classes. “Part of what makes Vajra Light so great is that it is accessible,” the Best Of write-up proclaims, adding, “the classes and meditation workshops are taught by English-speaking, Western teachers who have been trained in the Kadampa tradition.”
Vajra Light Buddhist Center
234 N Central Avenue, Suite 200, Hartsdale
(914) 607-3583; www.meditationinwestchester.org
Get in Touch with Your Inner Artist
Hey, it worked for Bob Ross, right? You don’t have to be an artist to participate in Paint Nite. You don’t have to own a blank canvas or paints, either. You just have to show up to one of the Paint Nite events, which are usually held at one of our local bars/restaurants. (Elements, Sofrito, and Beechmont Tavern in White Plains are regulars, but there are Paint Nites in Sleepy Hollow, Hartsdale, and other towns as well.) There, an artist will hand you the supplies and walk you through the steps of creating a wall-worthy painting. And, if that doesn’t relax you, there’s always the booze.
Paint Nite
Multiple Locations
www.paintnite.com
