Self-care and Me: A helpful little guide with a few of my favourite things to help you cling on to some chill time this September…

Even though I left school over 15 years ago and don’t have children at school yet, September still feels like a new start to the year. This can be great, but it can also be exhausting as life gets busier, plans seem to ramp up, and we can all end up feeling a little frazzled. Sound familiar??

I feel I am (finally!) getting better at snatching some time for myself here and there and really making the most of it; spending those few minutes doing things for myself and enjoying some relaxing time rather than frantically trying to respond to those 5 million whatsapp messages/do all of the things in the world.

So I thought I’d share them with you all in the small hope that they may help you too…

Massage and ME TIME: A few tips on how to use some snatched relaxation time wisely…

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James Blake in the Bath!

I’m a little late to the party here but I am currently loving the most recent James Blake album, Assume Form (link to listen on YouTube on his beautiful face) My ultimate time to chill out to his tunes is currently in the bath before bed.

With the sticky summer, my current favourite thing before bed is to take just 20 minutes out, run a bath with my Clarins ‘Bain aux Plantes Relax’ - (just a few drops will do, it lasts forever) and listen to a couple of these album tracks. They really help me to relax, cool off before bed and get my head ready to switch off for the night…

Lekker Creative: Keeping you in the loop!

I am currently loving this Instagram account (link is via the photo here) . The amazing brains behind Lekker have amazing features and stories if you want to keep up with current and social affairs but have zero time to do so.

They do excellent round-ups on their Insta grid and stories accounts to save you time on scrolling, watching or reading. Highly recommend!

Limiting your App Time

I feel I have times when my phone is permanently attached to me. This makes me a little sad and worried!

I’ve now set limits on my phone so that I can’t use most of them between 10pm - 6am and also set limits on some of my social media accounts. The tricky thing is sticking to this, but so far so (mostly) good. I just feel like it’s a constant distraction and makes me less productive in other areas of my life.

I’ve also put some apps like whatsapp to the back of my phone pages so that I can just deal with them when I feel like it rather than seeing that big red number and feeling like I’m constantly behind on life!

Incense Sticks

Something about burning incense takes me back to being 15 again and makes me feel all nostalgic! I find it instantly relaxing, especially with scents like ‘relaxation’ and ‘stress release’ available now. They are super cheap and instantly comforting for me.

Why not combine three of the best things out there and light some incense, run and bath and pop on some James Blake?! Aaaaand relax…

Podcast: How to Fail with Elizabeth Day

I only get 30 minutes a week in the car by myself usually, and I have started to listen to podcasts during this time. It really helps me set myself up for the day and I’ve found it makes my driving more relaxed and less rushed which I think can only be a good thing.

I would really recommend this podcast by Elizabeth Day, where she interviews well-known people about experiences they have considered failures in their lives which have actually then gone on to shape who they are today. I always find it good to know that even successful people have failures too!

It covers really moving issues from losing loved ones to career lows, miscarriage, marriage breakdowns and struggles to conceive. I’ve probably not sold it well here but I promise it is uplifting and very interesting - actually managing to make me switch off which is no mean feat!

A few pages a day...

I’m embarrassed to say that it’s taken me a year to read this wonderful book! That’s not because it’s boring or difficult to read, but because I seem to find it hard to find the time to read nowadays between work, life and Theo. Any little gems of time I did find though, I couldn’t wait to open these pages and get back to people I seemed to think were my own friends.

If you grew up in the era of chatting for hours to friends on MSN Messenger, then this book is for you. I found it beautifully written, funny and easy to pick up and read one page or twenty at a time. A wonderful escape for my brain before bed…

So voila - just a few little thoughts. I’m sure this is nothing revolutionary but again a recommendation can always be great for saving you time and reminding you that you deserve some time to chill out every day. Hopefully these bitesize chunks will make it more manageable!

Have a great September everyone and hope to see you in the beautiful M&M Treatment Room soon!

M&M x