4 Ways to Enjoy Me-Time | Add a Sense of Ceremony in Solitude

Do you feel anxious when your friends don’t have the time to hang out on weekends and that you have to be alone? Maybe you haven't quite learned to relax yourself, or that you haven't found life experiences that you can enjoy alone. Spot On is here to introduce 4 ways for you to enjoy me-time at home, so that you can feel comfortable when you’re on your own. Let’s add a little sense of ritual in life, and learn to be kind to ourselves and our body. Even alone time on weekends can become the most desirable time of the week!

The Importance of a Sense of Ceremony in Life

The term sense of ceremony is most often heard when we are in relationships. For example, a couple that has been together for a long time may well have one of them complaining about not celebrating a holiday, anniversary or birthday. One of them might say, "I'm not asking for any fancy gifts, I just want some sense of ceremony to make the day feel special!"

In intimate relationships, little ceremonies or celebrations mean that we are valued, and the things that our significant other does for us, such as making a restaurant reservation, putting candles on a birthday cake and buying flowers, make us feel loved. A sense of ceremony is important to our busy and routine lives to give us something to look forward to, and therefore be more motivated to live each day.

But when we're alone, and no one asks for or expects a ceremony, we often neglect our own need for ceremonies to pamper ourselves. If this goes on, we may feel that life is boring and monotonous. We also become anxious at the idea of being alone, because we feel that being alone means that we can't share the happiness that our family and friends have. Worse still, we may even feel that there is nothing to look forward to in life, and lose the ability to enjoy our lives.

Sense of Ceremony in Solitude

In the relationship with others, we will try our best to fulfill each other's expectations and demands. We would go to our significant other’s favorite restaurant, join their favorite activities with them on weekends, or try to bake cakes (which we aren’t even good at) for them. When our significant other feels happy, we will share their happiness. This, however, left us no time for ourselves. When we try too hard to satisfy other people, our happiness becomes more and more inseparable from their happiness. Eventually, we may lose the capability of feeling happy when we are on our own.

As mentioned, ceremonies make us feel loved and valued, but we often fall into a blind spot where we feel that only other people can add a sense of ceremony to our lives, as we add it to theirs. We should be the one who knows our needs best. We, not our families or partners, are the ones that know what to do to make us feel most comfortable.

The sense of ceremony in solitude doesn't have to be complicated. We can start by buying ourselves a small gift once in a while, just like how we treat our loved ones. We can also eat our favorite cuisine without worrying, for example, that our loved ones do not fancy our favourite Thai food because they couldn’t stand the heat; or read a book quietly for hours and not feeling the need to talk to our partner from time to time so that they don’t feel left out. Slowly regain the love for a quality me-time, and you’ll think, sometimes it’s good to be alone.

Pamper Yourself - 4 Ways to Add a Sense of Ceremony to Your Weekend Me-Time

Our daily lives are overloaded with so many different tasks that we may find it difficult to wind down even on weekends and holidays. The first thing we should do before pampering ourselves is to calm down the busy mind and appreciate the idle hours of a day off. Then we can start adding a sense of ceremony to the routine life, and gradually learn to enjoy me-time. As we gain the capability to enjoy solitude, we don't have to be anxious about having no one to hang out with anymore!

1. Take a Healing Hot Bath

Pampering yourself starts with taking care of your body. The body is the container for our feelings and senses. When we are too stressed or worn out, the body will give us signals. Yet, with the excuse that we are too occupied with daily tasks, we often ignore these signals, which wears out the body even more. It’s a well-earned holiday! We should treat our own body and let it know that we are trying to take good care of it.

We often need to sit or stand for a long time at work, not to mention people who are involved in physical labor. Presumably everyone's body muscles have a certain extent of tension or fatigue. Hot baths help relieve stress in the body. Warm water helps soothe the muscles and the buoyancy of the bath relieves the weight on the joints. While enjoying the warm bath, you can also free your mind from the worries of work and let yourself totally relax!

Hot water itself has a relieving effect, but a hot bath can be more indulgent if you add bath salt! Known for its detoxification qualities, mineral bath salts can facilitate the body’s excretion of toxins and relieve pain and soreness. A majority of bath salts have essential oils and other ingredients blended in to add aroma, which gives that bath a fragrant steam to give us more relaxation. Soaking in a hot bath before bed is also one of the most natural and effective ways to relieve insomnia.

“Westlab 100% Natural Bath Salts” are now available on Spot On. We have 2 products for different purposes - one for nourishing sensitive skin and one is lavender flavoured for inducing better sleep. Choose your bath salts according to its function to better respond to the signals your body gives. After a healing hot bath, you can enjoy life to the fullest with a rejuvenated body!

2. Body Care Routine

We understand that apartments in Hong Kong are very small. Without a bathtub, how can we take good care of our body? We have also prepared other body care methods that anyone can try at home!

Facial treatment: Apply a mask

Outdoor work and makeup will both gradually wear out our facial skin, especially for people with dry skin. Our skin is losing nutrients everyday and we need to spend some time taking good care of our skin. In our daily skincare routine, we may be so tired that we would simply wash our face and go to bed. Those who care more about skin care may apply the necessary skin care products, but there is hardly any time for a mask. For those who wear glasses, applying a face mask means 15 minutes without a clear vision and many tasks have to be put aside in that period. It may even be difficult to scroll your mobile phone! Having time for a face mask is almost an extravagance.

This is exactly why applying a face mask is perfect for adding a sense of ceremony to your weekend me-time! Let's celebrate the arrival of the weekend and your hard work throughout the week! Apply a mask, comfortably sit on your sofa and literally do nothing except for feeling your skin slowly moisturised by the facial essence! Spot On’s mask series have a range of products including masks from well-known brands in Taiwan, South Korea, perfect as a small gift you treat yourself! When you see your skin glowing with nourishment, you will be boosted with confidence and your mood will brighten as your skin does. This is exactly the change that self-care can bring!

Hair treatment: Apply a hair mask

In order to maintain a good look, we often dye, perm, and style our hair with a straightener or curling iron, neglecting the damage it causes. We find cures for the problems with our body, why don’t we do the same to our hair that is no less precious? When you’re alone on the weekend, it's the best time to apply a hair mask and repair the damage our hair took.

We have in stock several hair masks for different hair types, including Enliven 3-in-1 Softening Hair Mask for dry hair, XHC Argan Oil Hydrating Hair Mask for fragile, damaged hair, and Enliven Refreshing 3-in-1 Hair Mask for all hair types. Regardless of your hair type, you deserve a quality self-care during me-time. We feel extra confident and bright on a good hair day - give your hair proper care, and naturally every day becomes a good hair day!

3. Cook Your Favorite Dishes

Do you have to take care of your family’s or your partner's taste when you cook? When it’s me-time, of course, you should pamper yourself and cook your own favorite dishes! Cooking is definitely one of the best me-time activities that requires our full attention. Just think about the next step, and forget about the annoying trivia for a while. Spot On’s cooking utensils are here to make cooking easier and more efficient!

If you don't know much about cooking, or consider yourself a kitchen destroyer, you can easily experience cooking by starting with the simplest pasta dish! We have prepared various kinds of delicious pasta and sauce for you. Simply add your favorite ingredients to complete you first dish!

4. Relax before bed

Rest and sleep are closely correlated. No matter how busy or relaxed you are during the day, you always need a good sleep to recharge your mind and body for the next day. Many people think insomnia means that it is difficult falling asleep. In fact, frequent waking in the midnight, or difficulty getting back to sleep after waking up at midnight, are also symptoms of insomnia. The most common causes of insomnia are stress and anxiety, which can be alleviated by relaxation before bed.

Let's make good use of the last me-time to give a perfect ending to the holiday! Use Derma V10 Gentle Warming Eye Mask that’s available on Spot On before bed to relax your eyes, especially for those who spend a lot of time on a computer or phone. For those who are into aromatherapy, use Derma V10 Lavender Pillow Spray, which contains lavender and chamomile extracts to naturally help you fall asleep and relax your mind. In addition, you can also try meditation. After clearing your mind of distractions, not only will you fall asleep more easily, but also wake up feeling refreshed and energised the next morning and you can begin the new day with ease!

These are a few ways to add a sense of ceremony when you are alone at home. Hope they work for you so that you can pamper yourself and enjoy your me-time without feeling anxious about an unoccupied weekend!