You’re busy, I get that.
In the stack of demands that make up your life, your wellness & well-being often take a position at the back of the queue. I get that too!
But that doesn’t make them any less critical or important. Which is why more & more products are starting to address the well-being needs of time-stretched people, offering you easily accessible bite-sized moments of beneficial calm within each day.
Sound good to you?
‘Family, I have a surprise for you!’ announced my husband with a triumphant smile on his face. Fairly certain that the news wasn’t going to be we’re pregnant – I mean I would know right?! I listened in with much anticipation.
‘For Mum & Dad’s anniversary next week, we are all going to Center Parcs’ [cue screams of excitement from the kids.]
I on the other hand – whilst very appreciative of the gesture – was slightly more apprehensive. You see, I know of Center Parcs, but I’ve never been to a Center Parcs – Isn’t it all just about trees and cycling?
How special was our 15th wedding anniversary going to be there – was this something I was actually going to enjoy?
Well, yes, it was actually. I really enjoyed it, we all really enjoyed it.
Spas have been around for centuries! OK maybe not the type with the fluffy robes & flip flops but some version of them has existed – well I believe – for a fair few thousand years now.
Given how quickly things come & go out of the public psyche nowadays, it’s surely a testament to how beneficial a spa is to our well-being that these wellness institutes have stood the test of time.
Yes, the benefits of spending time at a spa have long been known, but in case you weren’t fully sure…
My husband said he would be home at 7pm. It’s now 7.20pm and he’s not here. He’s obviously had an accident. He’s probably dead (or paralysed). Our poor kids. How will I tell them? How will we cope? We won’t cope. Our lives will be ruined. 7.21pm, he walks through the door, perfectly fine (and probably wondering why I’m over-the-moon ecstatic to see him – I mean it’s only Tuesday).
This is just one example of where my mind has been known to take me.
Anyone who has sat in my home office (or accompanied me on a shopping trip), is aware of my love for Kikki.K, a beautiful stationery brand designed to inspire & empower you to live your best life every day. What’s not to love about that?
This year I was fortunate to attend a well-being event where Kristina Karlsson (the brand’s founder) held a talk on living your dream life.
Kristina started her business (which is now a global empire) from some simple dreams she wrote down on a humble notepad. She wanted to love her Monday morning commute to work, she wanted to have a connection to her native Sweden, she wanted to be in charge of her own business and bring in $500 per week – little did she know how big and wonderful these relatively unassuming dreams would become.
They happened because she worked to make them happen. In the words of John .C. Maxwell, Dreams don’t work unless you do.
Here’s the third and final part of my Happy Travels Malta mini-series. You can catch up on the first two here: 10 Things you should know about Malta and here: Happy Travels: Where you absolutely should go in Malta
This time I’m concentrating on the little ones! As a parent, picking a destination that will also make my children happy is a paramount part of the decision making process.
Malta is a perfect family destination, not least because of the family-friendly culture everywhere you go.
There are so many fun places to visit despite it being a really small island. Actually, the fact that it is such a small island makes it ideal as there won’t be any long car journeys to contend with. Such a win!
In our quest to connect, learn, earn & grow we often have to throw ourselves into new situations. This can lead to us feeling anxious and worried about being the new person.
Hands up, does anyone really like to be the ‘newbie’? Nope, didn’t think so.
I’ve done it so many times now – new jobs, relocation to new areas, marrying into a family, joining parent & baby groups or even just starting a new exercise class – I have been the new girl a lot.
Over the years I’ve developed loads of techniques (well about 10, actually) that have helped me to feel more confident in these new situations.
So if you’re feeling nervous or worry is stopping you from going for some golden opportunities, I hope these tips will help you too!
Earlier this year, I finished a course of EMDR therapy, which stands for eye movement desensitisation & reprocessing.
What follows is my perspective & experience of the EMDR therapy I received.
Last year I had everything I wanted & needed – I was in a place where I should have felt on top of the world. But often I would still feel tormented inside. Strange thoughts of this happiness won’t last forever, something terrible is going to happen and sometimes even the wish to no longer be here.
What was going on inside, made no sense to me at all. Why couldn’t I just be happy? I was tired of this battle going on inside my head. And I refused to live any more of my life being controlled by these thoughts and feelings. So I got assessed and was referred to Laura.
Laura is a Clinical Psychologist specialising in EMDR therapy – She helped me to realise that despite my positive outlook on life, inwardly I held a lot of negative beliefs about myself that sprung from a series of un-dealt-with past traumas. The wounds these traumas had caused were blocking me from experiencing my life in the way I wanted to experience it.
This is not a how to get your body ready for summer post… Your body is summer-ready! This is more of a beauty housekeeping post. Sharing some of my top tips to get yourself pretty effortlessly and easily into summer mode.
Taking on some of these tips will help you avoid the ‘my feet aren’t ready for sandals’ panic and will also have you braving the shorts with a ‘leg hair what leg hair?’ attitude.
*This article contains affiliate links. Find out more here.
Continuing on with my Malta mini-series (and assuming you’re up to speed on 10 Things you should know about Malta) let’s talk about things to do in Malta!
As you may be aware by now, I have grown-up visiting Malta and WITHOUT FAIL, these are the places I visit absolutely every time I’m there.
Thank you for being here. Thank you for reading. Thank you if you choose to like this post, or share it or decide to stick around and subscribe to further posts – or not, still, thank you! Your time is precious and I’m grateful that you choose to share it with me.
Well, that’s what I want to talk to you about today. Practising gratitude (through giving thanks) is a powerful tool for improving your life satisfaction.
Alongside focusing on well-being and adopting a positive mindset, for me, gratitude is a key ingredient to feeling happy.
Seriously? Spots appearing when we’re adults? Didn’t we deal with that trauma as teenagers? Why do these little puss-filled joy killers feel the need to reacquaint themselves with us and invade our faces?
Yes, unfortunately, spots in adults is really a thing! It’s more common than many of us want to acknowledge. Whether you’re in your late 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, (and I can go on) spots aren’t necessarily done with you yet.
They started making an unwelcome appearance for me in my 30’s. In my opinion, spots are complete confidence stealers and as such, an affront to my well-being. So as soon as one appears, I always go to war. Over the last year, they seemed to be setting up camp and it was actually quite upsetting. But through lots of research and slight changes, I’m finally reclaiming a clearer complexion!
Want to know how I did it? Well OK, you’ve twisted my arm, I’ll tell you.
If you’re here, it’s because you’re blessed to have a mum or gran or a mother-figure in your life who you wish to celebrate.
Someone who has nurtured, loved and supported you. Who has made your well-being their top priority.
Wouldn’t it be lovely to find a gift this Mother’s Day, that in some small way offers the same in return to this amazing woman in your life?
Well, allow me to step in here and help! I have collated some beautiful well-being gifts where happiness, nurture, and appreciation will be offered to the recipient for as long as they choose to use it.
Sleep has long been heralded as one of the 3 pillars of wellness alongside diet and exercise. Counting the Zzz’s is as essential to our well-being as breathing, food and water. But for so many of us, it’s one of the first things we’re likely to forfeit.
The importance of getting a good night’s sleep has been reinforced into us since birth (although maybe that was more for our parent’s sanity rather than our increased well-being). However, until we’re suffering the apparent effects of lack of it, we rarely seem to make it a priority.
When it comes to our sleep habits, if we’re not putting in the right amount of attention and effort, we’re actually causing ourselves harm. Far beyond being a bit snappy and sporting some puffy under eye bags, we’re damaging our physical and mental health.
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You know how they say you wait ages for a bus and then two come along at once? Well whilst this has nothing to do with buses, I have actually been really honoured to receive two nominations for the Sunshine Blogger Award this week! You can imagine the sunshine-y, grateful, smiley, happy dance I’ve been performing!
And by two of my blogging favourites no less! Kerry from Kerry, Life & Loves and Lisa from Glowology! Both of these inspiring ladies run their own awesome blogs, which I highly recommend you check out if you’re looking for some more positive inspiration in your lives (and let’s face it, we could all do with more of that now couldn’t we!)
You would think it would be exceptionally easy for me to write about Malta. I mean over half my family live there, I have Maltese blood running through my veins and I’ve been going to Malta for as long as I can remember. So I guess the problem is I have too much to say about this little gem of a Mediterranean Island and feel more than a slight bit of pressure to make sure I do it justice.
Plus talking about Malta makes me more than a tiny bit desperate to return, you see – emotional attachment to it aside – I flippin’ love this place!
The sights, the people, the weather, the history, the food, the wine – oh the wine! And because it’s such a small island you can cover so much of it in a short space of time. Yes there is an awful lot to love about Malta (even if I am a little bit biased).
Without further ado, let’s kick-off my Happy Travels: Malta – mini-series, with…
