Wellness

November 29, 2018 by Christine

Self Care in Wintertime

So, it finally feels like winter is upon us. For any of you following my instagram-stories you’ll be well aware that we’re knee deep in our kitchen renovation (more on this soon) The chaos of any renovation has left us with a topsy-turvy house, no central heating and with all our usual routines a little out-of-whack! Renovation aside, I know how tough the winter season can be for lots of people. I have written previously about my experiences with Seasonal affective disorder– so thought I’d share a few tips on self care in wintertime…

Relax: Take a little time out of your schedule to give back to yourself. One of the greatest things you can do is give yourself permission to just relax. Spend a relaxing day at a Health Spa with your best friend, consider it a Christmas gift to yourself. Allowing yourself a little time to rejuvenate and refuel before the full-on festive season.

Stay hydrated: The festive period for a lot of people can mean excess wine and/ or the odd too many glasses of champers. Whether you’re drinking alcohol or not, it’s so important to stay hydrated to help your body to regulate itself and aid your liver in detoxing. Drinking lots of lovely water will also help you to feel energised.

Keep moving: I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…even when the weather sucks, keep moving and get yourself outside for fresh air. It’s so tempting to slip into the habit of curling up on the couch (which is of course amazing) but you do need to offset that with some good long walks. Fresh air will help you to feel refreshed and blow off those cobwebs.

Plan in quiet times daily: Of course it can be tricky to plan in quiet time daily (especially if you have children) but ten minutes a day dedicated to something calming that you truly enjoy, can make a world of difference. I have a quiet hour first thing in the morning, which does mean getting up a little earlier than I used to, but it has revolutionised my daily routine, so worth it. I will read or listen to a podcast or flick through a magazine and take my time…I now value this hour so much.

Sleep: In winter our bodies need more rest. Be sure to get tucked up into bed a little earlier and don’t try to achieve too much. Take winter’s lack of daylight as nature’s way of telling you to slow down…

‘Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy’ -Lao Tzu

Stay fabulous

Christine

July 25, 2018 by Christine

A good night’s sleep with Leesa

A good night’s sleep with Leesa: Leesa Sleep is an innovative mattress company with one simple goal: to help people get a better night’s sleep. Mr T and I recently upgraded to the Leesa Mattress with the hope that it would provide us with back support, help us sleep better and in turn improve our overall wellbeing- we were not disappointed! Here’s a little review of the Leesa Mattress and an exclusive treat for you fabulous lot!
There is a widespread misconception that sleep deprivation is an essential element to achieving success, to quote Arianna Huffington…

“These two threads that run through our life—one pulling us into the world to achieve and make things happen, the other pulling us back from the world to nourish and replenish ourselves—can seem at odds, but in fact they reinforce each other.”

Business woman, Mother, Author and Entrepreneur Arianna Huffington named Forbes’s first-ever Most Influential Women In Media and namechecked in Forbes Most Powerful Woman in the World list writes extensively about the importance of a good night’s sleep in her refreshing book ‘Transforming Your Life, One Night At A Time’.

A good night’s sleep is essential to our health and wellbeing. If the body and mind are unable to replenish adequately then long term, sustainable success is highly unlikely and ‘burn out’ will eventually ensue!

The Leesa mattress is made up of three luxury layers that adjust to provide optimum support and comfort throughout the night. The foam layers also mean that if one of you is tossing and turning it doesn’t wake the sleeping party up! I love that the Leesa mattress feels soft but also firm enough to provide great back support.

I’ve found that since sleeping on the Leesa mattress my back has felt less achy and I feel fully rested when I wake up. Having a better night’s sleep has definitely improved my overall wellbeing, as I’m now sleeping right through the night and feel my mood and attention-span have improved!

Leesa sell exclusively online and the mattress arrives vacuum packed which is pretty incredible (you may have seen the pic on my Insta-stories) I was sure that the delivery man had fetched to wrong size! We have a super king size bed and the mattress was packed into a relatively small box making it very easy to get up the stairs, avoiding those Chuckle Brothers “to me- to you” moments- incredible!

As Leesa only sell online they offer a 100-night risk free trial so you can try the mattress out in the comfort of your own home. If you are dissatisfied, you can return your mattress within the 100-day trial period and the mattress will be donated to a local charity or recycled.

Leesa run a ‘One-Ten’ donation programme- which means that for every ten mattresses that they sell, one is donated to charities supporting the homeless as well as those seeking refuge from domestic abuse and human trafficking. As of July 2018 Leesa have donated a staggering 30,000 mattresses to charity!

In addition to their One-Ten donation programme Leesa also plant a tree for every mattress sold, helping to offset their carbon footprint. Leesa has partnered with Arbor Day Foundation to plant one million trees by 2025. If only more companies had such a dedication to giving back!!!

If you’re looking for a quality mattress to help improve your overall wellbeing I would highly recommend getting a good night’s sleep with Leesa.

Get a lovely £100 OFF your Leesa mattress with code: THEFABULOUSTIMES

Sleep fabulous!
Christine

Sponsored post- Leesa Sleep UK

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May 28, 2018 by Christine

Natural Recipes, Remedies and rituals

The Hedgerow Handbook is packed with Natural Recipes, Remedies and rituals from the unusual to the traditional. I picked up my copy of the The Hedgerow Handbook on our recent trip to Hay-on-Wye. I wanted to share a little about the book as I’ve been reading it every evening and can’t wait to get out foraging…

On my list of ‘Goals for 2018’ is to go foraging, so The Hedgerow Handbook is the perfect tool to have on hand to inspire my foray into Natural Recipes, Remedies and rituals. Each page of the book is beautifully illustrated by Lizzie Harper, making it easy to identify the wide variety of edibles growing in the British hedgerow.

Author Adele Nozedar describes beautifully the many varieties of edible plants living amongst the hedgerows of Britain. Nozedar goes into the history, the fascinating facts, the medicinal uses and provides a wonderfully creative culinary use for each plant variety. Seriously, who knew that Birch leaves could be used to treat urinary-tract infections? – mind blowing!Bursting with fascinating facts, each plant has its own history, like the common Nettle- Did you know? During the First World War, nettle fibres were used to make the uniforms for the German Army when cotton was scarce?

The recipes in the book are every bit as creative as the illustrations including delicious sounding treats like Elderberry and Almond Pie, Chesnut Brownies and Blackberry Sorbet.

Published by Square Peg Books the book cover is beautifully illustrated. The illustrations on the cover first attracted me to pick up a copy and browse, in this instance judging a book by its cover actually paid off (there’s an exception to every rule, right?)

I’m pretty besotted with The Hedgerow Handbook and can’t wait to get out and pick some ingredients to try out new recipes with. It’s so important that this knowledge is passed on as I fear that as society becomes so far removed from the natural world that we will lose the confidence, knowledge and trust in the healing benefits of nature.

‘this book is for everyone who understands the simplicity of living in the moment, and who can appreciate a nice hedge when they see one’ -Adele Nozedar

Stay fabulous

Christine

(You can buy a copy HERE)

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