While we might be grounded for a little while, transporting to our favorite far-away place might be easier than you’d think.

How to Keep Calm Like You’re on Vacation

It’s no doubt these are stressful times, but you can still keep calm like you’re on vacation even when there’s no way to ‘escape.’ These DIY at-home spa tips and tricks will help take your body and soul to soothing far-away places. Originating from luxe resort properties around the world, they will transport you away from the chaos, while dreaming of your next getaway.

Keep Calm and Satiate Your Sweet Tooth / Jade Mountain, St. Lucia

To keep calm like you’re on vacation, chocolate always helps. And with more than 1,000 cacao trees on property, St. Lucia’s stunning Jade Mountain produces signature chocolate in an on-site lab and incorporates chocolate heavily into their spa programming. Treatments range from a mocha massage to a chocolate facial, “Chocoodhara’ Ayurvedic healing treatments, a hot chocolate candle massage, and more.

“Chocolate really is a comfort food, it makes one feel good and it’s a mood booster. It also provides emotional comfort and promotes positive feelings as it helps in the release of multiple peptides of the brain and gut.

Dark chocolate helps in the release of endorphins that affects the brain and helps in inducing a calming and soothing effect. Its abundant aromatic flavor seduces our mood and relieves stress.” – Allen Susser, Chef and Chocolatier.

Jade’s at-home chocolate facial recipe

1. Cleanse with cocoa powder and aloe vera gel mix (1 tbsp. of cocoa powder with 2 tbsp. of aloe vera gel)

2. Scrub away dead skin cells with a mixture of sugar, cocoa, and coconut oil

3. Mix chocolate and honey to make a face mask, apply liberally to skin.

4. After 15 minutes, rinse with warm water

5. Repeat as desired

Keep Calm and Soak & Sip Your Veggies / Marriott Cancun Resorts

“From creating your own scrub to pranayama breathing techniques, there are a few ways to practice self care at home with ordinary ingredients you can find right in your pantry. Scientists say that taking a warm bath can calm the nervous system and makes blood flow through the body more easily. If you feel stressed, a herbal bath is the answer.

If you have rosemary at home, its herbaceous scent will give you a boost. Start by filling your bathtub with warm water and adding a couple dashes of rosemary. You should start to feel the benefits right away. You can also complement your herbal bath with a green juice to detox. Use orange juice, green vegetables such as celery and cucumber. Add ginger and sweeten with honey or stevia if desired.” – Minerva Toledo, Marriott Cancun Resorts Spa Manager

Keep Calm and Scrub Away the Stress / Wymara, Turks & Caicos

“When you think about a spa, the most common elements are candlelight, soft music, plush robes and slippers, and aromatherapy — if you have access to these items at home, it will be a great way to set the tone. I am also a big fan of making scrubs with items you are likely to already have at home, such as sugar, coconut oil and olive oil, and if you have essential oils, you can add a few drops.At the Wymara Resort Spa, we use a firming peel by the organic line, Éminence. These products are available online from the Éminence website and here’s something you can feel good about: Éminence plants one tree for every product sold. Our spa sales have resulted in over 1,400 trees planted.” – Christina Stephens, Spa Director

Wymara Resort’s Detox + Refresh Salt Scrub

*Naturally detox & purify the skin

1 cup coarse sea salt or pink Himalayan salt

1/2 cup of unrefined extra virgin coconut oil

For an uplifting scent – add 5-10 drops of grapefruit essential oil

For a calming scent – add 5-10 drops of lavender essential oil

Lime zest/lime juice optional

Don’t Forget Your Egg Whites! / Couples Tower Isle, Jamaica. “First, open up your pores with a facial steam by pouring hot water in a small bowl with a few drops of peppermint essential oil. Place face over the bowl and inhale. You can also dip your feet in warm water and take your relaxation to the next level by adding sea salt and a few drops of lavender essential oil to elevate your at-home relaxation. To make an at-home egg white firming mask, whip egg whites into a foam and leave on your face for 10-20 minutes. Rinse with cold water and moisturize.”- Denise Morrison, Couples Tower Isle Spa Manager

No doubt these treatments will invigorate and energize you. That in turn will enable you to keep calm like you’re on vacation.