Take time to treat yourself

Does a spa day seem like an overindulgence you can't justify? Heidi Scrimgeour - fresh from an unforgettable experience - shares five reasons why you should reconsider...

- Heidi Scrimgeour

While clearing out my office recently, I stumbled on an old copy of this magazine. About seven years ago, I wrote my first feature for Psychologies, on the value of taking a duvet day from life. Life was something of a whirlwind - my children were three, ten and 12 years old, and I was juggling the demands of full-time parenthood with building a writing career. Suddenly overwhelmed by chaos, I felt compelled to go AWOL from my life for a day.

It was an impulsive coping mechanism - the domestic equivalent of reaching for the emergency pull cord - but it later evolved into a regular self-care routine. I wrote: 'Elbow-deep in dirty dishes and battered by the noise of squabbling siblings, I wanted to walk out and leave everything that clamoured for my attention to someone else. So I did. But, what began as a desperate, one-off measure has since evolved into a ritual; I take a regular day off from life and that keeps me sane.'

I even explained my formula for a life duvet day; I treated myself to a spa day every few months, paid in advance so I couldn't wriggle out of it when other commitments inevitably competed for my time.

But reading this took me by surprise. For all the confidence with which I espoused the virtues of a duvet day, I couldn't remember the last time I had taken an afternoon off for anything except a medical appointment. And as for a pamper day, I hadn't set foot in a spa hotel since before Covid.

And, yet, life now is more hectic than evermy children are ten, 17 and 19, and instead of the flexibility of freelancing, I am deputy editor of a parenting site, and increasingly needed to support my mum following the sudden death of my dad. If ever I needed a duvet day, it's now.