Thursday 22 October 2020

My Autumn Audio Playlist

I love reading, I’m a big fan of snuggling down with a blanket, cup of something hot, sweet and frothy and a good book or magazine, and I still love catching up on my favourite blog when I can because bogging is NOT dead!!

However as a mum of 3 between 1.5 and 10yo, a small blog/biz and a part-time job I don’t always have the time to read as much as I want but I still want to keep in touch with the things I love so a massive life hack for me has become consuming them through audio.

So this week I’m sharing all the things I’ve loved listening to lately, this has been my sound track to the last few weeks and is keeping my wellbeing ticking along through these autumn months. When I need a boost or sometime to chill out from the craziness of the world I’ve been indulging in these songs, podcasts and meditations.

Lauren from Hunters and Heels Autumn Playlist on Spotify - full of soft and mellow tunes that invoke so much emotion and are gorgeous to listen to on a grey day. It’s been my background music while I’ve been working lately.

Deliciously Ella Podcast - so many episodes I’ve found comfort, inspiration and joy in, I especially liked I especially like the episode on Mindfulness, Bakings and Slowing Down with Pauline Beaumont from Bread Therapy. I love what she says about how practicing mindfulness can help us to train our brains to not be so distracted by worrying, anxious thoughts.

Self Care Club Podcast - this one is new to me but I’ve loved discovering some of the wellness trends out there that this podcast looks at - particularly the episode on Awe Walking! This podcast’s host’s Lauren and Nicole are a joy to listen too and had me laughing out load with their witty thoughts and insights into the latest self care news.  

Koya Webb’s Remember Who You Are Meditation on Insight Timer has been a real uplifting tonic and given me so much food for thought lately. This meditation has helped me come home to myself whenever I needed a loving, guiding hand.

Erin Burn’s Reiki Visualisation for Autumn Abundance again on Insight Timer is like a warm hug in a blanket with a steaming cup of hot chocolate on the side! This meditation is so soothing it’s been helping me to feel much more relaxed and keep my emotions balanced when everything feels a bit too much.

I’ve also been dabbling in a bit of audio for wellbeing myself and last month I recorded a crystal meditation for my most recent wellbeing workbook call Crystal Wellbeing for Autumn. This workbook takes you on a seasonal journey with your crystals by exploring what self care and wellbeing means to you, how to use your crystals and how they can help you stay on track with your wellbeing goals this season, you can get your copy here.

So what’s on your audio playlist this autumn, share with me over on Instagram.

*NB — these recommendations are my own personal opinions and I have not been compensated to share them in anyway.


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Monday 5 October 2020

5 ways to learn, grow and thrive this Autumn

We’ve finally said good bye to the summer, the last bit of warm weather has left us and it’s time to step into a new season - Hello Autumn!

As the dark nights draw in, the mornings feel colder and the weather turns a dismal grey it feels like my mood changes along with it. It’s really easy to feel flat and a little fed up at this time of year but I think you’ll agree with me that taking care of our wellbeing is even more important right now.

However you may find yourself lacking in self care inspiration right now or unmotivated by your current routine — sound familiar? So as the colour of the leaves start to change, now could also be a good time to change what you do to take care of yourself too.

I’m a big fan of seasonal self care — this means matching my self care routine or practices to the season — and it’s makes a big difference to my wellbeing. When I connect to the energy of the season and create practices that focus and align with changing year I really notice a positive difference.

So with that in mind here are 5 simple but effective ways you can connect your self care to this new season and keep yourself thriving all throughout autumn.

1)  Create yourself self care mantra, I promise you it works! With all the best intentions in the world we can’t avoid those rubbish days when we feel like the world is against us and we all lose our shit over the craziest of moments or stuff going wrong — life happens, and sometimes it feel too hard - BUT you can learn to get through those moments and days with a mantra. Mine go like this “Allow everything in this moment is enough right now” - this one helps me when I fall into the comparison trap, when I mess something important up or feeling like I’m failing as a mum. Another favourite of mine is “ You can’t think clearly from an angry brain!” This one stops me from blow up at my husband, shouting unnecessarily at the kids or sending a grumpy text message to a friend or someone who has upset me in the moment.

Find your mantra, use it when things feel hard, then glide through the moment with more ease.

2)  Celebrate EVERYTHING! When autumn comes round it’s really easy to get a bit down about everything because when know the weather is changing and so are the clocks, it may feel all damp, dark and gloomy and that can create a really negative mindset. So instead challenge yourself to celebrate all the things that are positive and see your mood and mindset elevate! What’s important here is to look for joy in everything, even the small things, the everyday things, the things that seem normal but actually make your day feel a little bit better. Give thanks through a gratitude journal or cooking a nice celebratory meal or reward yourself a big mug of hot chocolate at the end of the day!

Try a new way to celebrate, especially after a rubbish day, even a dance around the kitchen will lift you!

3)  High vibe your self care practices with something new, because change in season can mean a change in routine, activities or lifestyle and this can help your self care feel refreshed if you feel it’s lost its meaning lately. See if there are any new projects or classes you can try out in your community, ask your friends what they do for self care for some new inspiration or try a new practice like reiki or crystals — you might like to download my new workbook Crystal Wellbeing for Autumn for some fresh seasonal self care ideas.

Change can feel scary but embracing something new also leads new ideas, opportunities and passions.

4)  Clean up and clear out — don’t just leave a home refresh to spring take the duster and mop to the house in autumn too! One of the easiest (and cheapest) ways to feel better is to detoxify our environment — throw out old products and papers that you no longer use, declutter your bedroom and living area, revamp your seasonal wardrobe and clear out all the leaves and weeds from the garden. Plus don’t forget to give your standing orders a revamp too, as winter draws closer and we use more energy to keep our homes going can you get a better, more efficient deal with your energy provider?

Our home becomes our hub of comfort over the next few months, reflect that in the space you live in.

5)  Slowly does it — now you may of heard of or seen the online movement that #slowliving already, but autumn really is the perfect season to embrace it. Slow walks through the leaves with wellies on or a simple cup of tea next to the fire with nothing much planned. The essence of slow living is to keep things simple and relaxed, without the urge to make everything fast and furious we can really notice the small, gentle moments in our life that can be so nourishing when we soften into them. 

If there’s something that feels like it’s too much, slow things down to feel a sense of calm control again.

So there you have it, choose one to focus on or embrace them all, the important thing is to do something that nourishes your wellbeing this season so that you don’t get stuck and overwhelmed by the changes that unfold with autumn or the chilly months ahead.

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