Your budget is tight, and you’re cutting back. You’re eating fewer dinners out, skipping the morning latte on your way to work, or maybe settling for a “staycation” rather than going away. But wellness treatments such as facials, massages and yoga can actually be wise investments in your health and well being. Spending a few dollars now often translates to better health and well being down the line.

Massage

A massage is more than relaxing. The Mayo Clinic reports that massage can help control your blood pressure. Are you feeling tense and worked up? Massage can also help lift a depressed mood and relieve stress. If you’re a weekend warrior, massage is also an accepted treatment for pain and stiffness associated with sports injuries.

While it’s nice for a friend or a romantic partner to give you a massage, a trained professional can incorporate different techniques to address specific concerns. For instance, deep tissue massage is designed to ease away the pain of injured muscles, while Swedish massage is ideal for easing away everyday stress.

Facials

You know that facials feel great. But facials are more than a feel-good luxury. Facials can rid your complexion of pore-clogging debris and dead skin cells that can trigger acne breakouts and make you look tired and older than you are.

In healthy skin, dead skin cells are regularly sloughed away, and replaced by fresh, new skin lubricated by sebum. However, as you age, skin turnover slows, so that dead skin cells accumulate. Combined with sebum and impurities in the atmosphere, dead skin cells can clog pores, causing inflammation that results in blackheads and whiteheads.

The steam in facials loosens the grip of impurities blocking your pores, allowing blackheads to be washed away. Facials also loosen the grip of dead skin cells that dull your complexion. Combined with regular exfoliation treatments, facials can help you look fresher and younger.

Yoga

More than twisting yourself up like a pretzel, yoga has benefits that can improve your health and your quality of life. The Mayo Clinic reports that yoga is routinely recommended as an enhancement for treating a variety of disorders, including cancer and depression. Maintaining a regular yoga practice can increase your flexibility, relieve joint stiffness and even help you lose weight. Yoga can also reduce your blood pressure and relieve insomnia and anxiety.

While it’s true that it’s possible to learn yoga on your own, joining a class with an experienced instructor ensures that you learn the proper techniques. Your instructor can also help you modify poses to accommodate limitations such as a bad back, reducing the chance that you might hurt yourself. It’s also just more fun to enjoy the camaraderie of other students, especially if you’re a beginner.

An Investment In Yourself

It’s understandable that you might feel as though wellness treatments are a selfish indulgence, especially if you have a family. But wellness treatments are a relatively inexpensive way to help you look and feel your best. And when you’re at your best, you also have more to give to your family, your work and to your community.