When most of us think of health, we think about eating healthy and exercising. What we forget about is mental health. You can eat all the nutritious food you want and exercise regularly, but if your mental health is off from stress or worrying, you cannot be truly healthy. When you have high stress levels, your body does not absorb nutrients properly and healthy intestinal bacteria is destroyed.

Lately I’ve been stressed due to changes going on in my life. I needed something to help me unwind. Sometimes when you ask, you receive.

My husband, 2 friends and I planned a trip to visit my sister-in-law in Vermont to go skiing. We would stay at her house, along with her husband and daughter, Ashley. Now, I used to ski, but was never that great at it. Also, I am not a fan of the cold. It just so happens that we are going to Vermont during a cold spell…just my luck. It was zero degrees during the day. So like any sane, cold, crappy skier, I opted out.

So what to do while everyone skis? Ashley and I decide to hang with each other and she plans an awesome day for us. First, she cooked me breakfast, then we head off to a yoga class. We took a Vinyasa  class, which is all about flowing movements. I haven’t taken yoga for some time and this class was a struggle for me. I even had to take a break hahaha. Of course I got the guy in front of me who took off his shirt and had the worst body odor. Why does this always happen to me? The class was hard, but it got our blood moving.

After class, we went to this really cool tea house. I think that’s what you call it. Picture a coffee shop, but they serve you tea and everyone looks like a hippy. We sat in this little nook where we had to take our shoes off and sat on pillows. We had our creepy waiter that liked to stare bring our fancy tea as Ashley and I caught up. We don’t see each other often because she lives in VT and I’m in NY. Next, we got hungry so we go to the soup place. I got a potato soup and Ash got a tomato soup. I tried her soup and it was good, but it felt like I was eating tomato sauce. Ashley and I are many years apart, but we get along so well.

Our next stop was the best stop of them all….an hour massage!!!! All I can say is coming in from the freezing cold and getting a warm massage is like heaven. The woman I had was awesome and she didn’t talk my ear off during the massage. I didn’t even tell you the best part…the entire day was my Christmas present from my sister and brother-in-law.

Back at the house we took naps as we waited for everyone to get back from skiing. We couldn’t get reservations anywhere so Ash and I cooked everyone an Italian dinner. We sat around the table and shared stories and laughs. It truly eased my mind and put things into perspective. I really believe laughing is the best medicine. I wasn’t worried about everything anymore. Yoga, tea, soup, massage, friends and family…if I had to create a perfect day, this would have been it….minus the stinky guy lol.

Remember what’s important and enjoy life!