THUYEN NGUYEN
Like many of my fellow New Yorkers, I have been in a state of denial that summer is over. The transition from the Hamptons summer season to the autumn New York City grit has been part of my personal and professional routine many times over. However, this time felt different because this summer I consciously chose to experience a different lifestyle while remaining in my routine environment.
For the months of July and August, I decided to stay full-time out on the magical tip of Long Island. In doing so, I found that fantasy could be reality and that reality was what I wanted to create. Daily, I took in the fresh Atlantic Ocean breeze, ate farm-to-table, slept and awoke without pressure and worked at my spa to live, instead of living to work. This experience changed and improved many things internally for me, which—as many of you spiritually savvy folks are aware—inevitably fueled positive changes externally.
In the realm of beauty and wellness, we tend to get obsessive and compulsive about the details of what fitness craze is trending, what new product to try, which stylist or practitioner works best for us or what new miracle will give us that elusive glow. But don't you find that often those details only scratch the surface of what is most important? I’m talking about the recharging of our spirits and bodies on a profound level.
That's exactly to what I attribute my now zest for fall and my internal to external glow. Of course being a skincare expert to many, I value my own regime and those of my clients, but what I’ve never found in a bottle is the deeper serenity and awareness that came from checking out of myself the way I did this summer.
Your first reaction to this suggestion might be: “It sounds nice to remove myself from the daily grind, but it’s easier said than done.” Honestly, I thought the same thing. You’re hearing this from a guy who was raised on food stamps, always worked three jobs at a time and learned that control was the way to survive. For me, routine has always equaled stability. However, I do now believe that, when there truly is a will, the way comes forth.
Your particular sabbatical can be whatever you are comfortable with: It's amazing how much you can discover about yourself as you checkout without checking into flights and are free to roam your own hometown. You can schedule focused practices of yoga and meditation daily without time limitations or book a daily massage for an entire week, which can be more restorative than you can imagine. The point is to shakeup your routine and cross the boundaries of what you would normally allow yourself to experience.
It is amazing how these self-induced sabbaticals can pay back tenfold with a renewed sense of ownership in terms of how we live and care for ourselves. Today is just as important as where we want to go tomorrow.