I Learned How to Sleep on Vacation
There’s an art to relaxation. And napping is a skill.
I used to be an expert napper and a deep dreamer. But lately, I’ve had trouble falling asleep and feeling refreshed. Maybe it’s getting older, maybe it’s my uptick of “eat my feelings” diet, or maybe it’s the constant juggling of freelancing and feeling like there’s just not enough time for everything!
You see, I should know better. As a yoga teacher, I gently remind people to relax, be inspired, and feel empowered. But when I’m guiding others, I don’t get to meditate or move myself as much. Working to relax takes intention, connection and focus. We could all use some extra TLC.
Don’t get enough sleep? Fairmont Scottsdale’s Well & Being program is here to help. (Illustration by Erik Mace for Yahoo Travel)
So I arrive at the Fairmont Scottsdale feeling bloated and totally stressed out. I’ve signed up to try aspects of the “blissful sleep” and “healthy executive” package through the Well & Being program, which was born out the demand and the awareness of what Arianna Huffington has called a sleep epidemic. Well & Being’s own chief medical officer Dr. Tieraona Low Dog calls sleep a drug. It seems we’ve come to a boiling point for a giant prescription. According to the National Sleep Foundation, good health is related to good sleep. The more zzz’s we catch, the less stress and pain we feel.
One of the coolest features at the desert property is a So Sound Acoustic Resonance Room. You take a nap and can add on services like melodic reflexology, harmonic reiki, and harmonized acupuncture. No, this isn’t kindergarten. Yes, it costs money.
The author, practicing the art of sleep at the Fairmont Scottsdale. (Photo: Ko Im)
On a Saturday morning, I sink into the So Sound Lounger, which looks like a big, comfortable office corner chair that goes into “zero gravity” mode, or basically an upright, spine-aligning fetal position that resembles astronauts in space. I’m directed to put on headphones that play harmonizing sounds. But I can’t tune into the meditation-inducing vibrations coming from the chair. I’m trying too hard to go to my happy, floating place instead of letting go of my expectations. The irony is, it takes work to relax. And I’m actually working — I’m thinking about what I’m going to write and how I’m going to produce a video.
I’m normally a calm person, but I feel out of balance and out of whack. We all have bad days. I feel bad for coming with this bad energy. Then I start feeling bad about feeling bad. I barely make it into my subconsciousness. My therapist Lyndi can tell my mind is still racing and that I’m having digestive issues while she’s giving me reflexology — I can’t get out of my head and into my heart, despite the aromatherapy.
During lunch, I’m scheduled to have an interview with massage therapist turned treatment manager Erik Sears. I’ve become too good at multi-tasking. I’m fully awake, sitting in a robe, eating a salad, and listening to Sears talk about how more men are taking advantage of the services like golf massages and fitness pedicures (even a trucking company hosted a retreat on-site). A lot of locals use the nap pods. It’s the golden ticket to relaxation.
“So many Americans are go, go, go,” he says sympathetically, as I write down notes.
Well & Being at Willow Stream’s Waterfall Treatment Pool. (Photo: Fairmont Scottsdale)
Liver problems aside, Lyndi had directed me and my brain to really try to take the rest of the afternoon off. So I stash my camera and my papers in my locker. I head into a massage treatment still tense. Somehow during a facial, I finally have a breakthrough and fall asleep. But I feel so much better and make my rounds through the inhalation room, the sauna, the steam room, and the Swiss shower. I’ve forgotten how much I love spas and need them.
Sometimes, even the “experts” need to enlist professional help. The point of this program and others along the holistic, wellness, travel wholesome trend is to provide a little more guidance. I don’t have everything figured out, and could have probably benefitted from a personalized consultation. That afternoon, I take another step backwards when I mean to take a nap and instead take a business call. That night, I have a crying fit in my bed — probably something I’ve been trying to avoid by attempting to always be strong and optimistic.
“Get out,” I say aloud to my negative monkey mind.
Maybe all that touching of the pressure points finally had its teary release. In the law of real life physics, all the stress we bring in is so much harder to let out. We’re all working on something, but the pressure we put on ourselves for efficiency and to do it all (look good, be good, feel good) becomes counterproductive.
Sleep aids. (Photo: Ko Im)
The next morning, I take a mineral wellness soak after taking an aerial yoga class. As I sit on the airplane writing this, I feel more focused after nodding off during takeoff. I feel reinvigorated and recentered. We don’t realize what we need until it seems a little late. But there’s always time to hit the reset button. I’m back to New York City starting off the workweek with a welcome kit that includes oils, homeopathic sprays and a book by Dr. Low Dog. In How Life Is Your Best Medicine, she writes:
“it’s important to think of nighttime as a period of rest and tranquility rather than as a battle to be waged between our waking and sleeping selves… when we think about night as a time of quiet and calm, instead of only as a time for sleep, we can actually create a more relaxed space for sleep to occur.”
Scottsdale is the beta test for these sleep packages. The Well & Being program is looking to expand to Dallas and possibly Las Vegas. And from what Sears tells me, it looks like resonating mattresses and vibrating yoga floors aren’t too far behind. We could all tune into our needs and deserve “me” time without guilt. America needs to take a chill pill and get to bed.
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