My 5 Tips to Rest and Recharge this Winter
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It's February... for many people this January- March slog is the hardest time of the year. We leave for work in the dark, we get home in the dark. The English weather (can be) pretty cold and brutal and we just all wish Spring would come around already!
I have been working on a change of mindset in the winter months. I have been trying to savour them and not wish them away. To me, these dark months can be a great excuse to truly "hibernate" guilt-free. If you are quite an active person like me, I normally get a lot of guilt in the summer months if I all I actually want to do is retreat to the sofa and watch Netflix... If the weather is good, I constantly feel I should be doing something useful, making the most of it, gardening, walking, running, doing some painting outside...
BUT in winter we don't have that struggle! We can slob around guilt-free and enjoy a nice bath and a glass of wine if we want to. It is okay in the winter to REST. It is ok in the winter to HIBERNATE. It is okay in winter to just BE. We don't always have to be busy-bees rushing around all the time!
So I invite you to embrace February. Embrace the opportunity to hunker down "guilt-free" for a few more weeks. Use them as a time to rest & recharge... so when those glimmers of spring start appearing we will be ready to embrace them with all our energy.
Here are my top 5 tips to best help you rest & recharge this winter:
1. FIND YOUR SANCTUARY
Find your quiet place in the house; a small area you can truly retreat from the outside and call your own. This might be your bedroom, this might be your bathroom, or even a small office space just for you. Clear it of clutter, light a candle and create yourself a space where you can really be calm. For me this place is my bathtub! At this time of year, I find you can't beat the healing benefits of a bath to warm you right to your core! I love to light a candle (the "Spa" range from The White Company takes some beating!) and use some bath salts (check out "Phoenix and Providence" bath salts from St Martins, Isles of Scilly... heaven!) and sit and stew in the bath. My husband knows if I'm going to have a bath... he won't be seeing me for the next few hours! Sometimes this is all I need to reset my mind after a busy day!
2. MUSIC
Music is a huge mood-booster for me. It can completely change how I feel. It is a key tool I use to unlock creativity in the studio. I find it can stir me to approach a painting completely differently and with a fresh energy. I have included here my WINTER STUDIO PLAYLIST. Feel free to give it a listen and embrace your inner creativity!
3. EXCERCISE. TAKE UP A TEAM SPORT (MAYBE GIG ROWING?)
Sometimes in the rubbish weather, the only thing that will motivate you to get outside is doing something as a team. For me, this is definitely a huge reason I love Cornish gig rowing. I have been gig rowing for the last 10 years (on and off). What I love most about it is that a lot of our hardest training is done through the winter months. (This training is all in preparation for the World Championships in the Isles of Scilly in May. What other activity would get me out on the water, charging through howling wind and hail at 7am on a Saturday morning?! (The coffee and cakes after are absolutely worth it too!)
For me gig rowing is the most amazing way to get the benefits of exercise during the winter months. But whatever your sport, whether its meeting a friend at the gym, hockey, netball, or dog walking KEEP DOING IT. Even when that weather is rubbish and you don't feel inspired to do it! The endorphins are worth it and such a boost in these dark months!
4. GET SOME VITAMIN SEA / GET OUTDOORS
My favourite ritual with my friends and their little ones is to head to a sheltered beach, have a flask of tea (and cake of course!) The little ones can wrap up warm and play outside on a nice empty beach. We can have a lovely cuppa and a natter in the elements. We even get in for a cheeky cold water swim if we are feeling up to it! The power of being outside with friends and taking in the gorgeous ocean, is a much needed refresh! Particularly if we have been cooped up working indoors all week!
5. FENG SHUI READY FOR SPRING
For me in January and February, I often look at my home and wonder about how I could Feng shui my furniture to achieve a sense of a "fresh start" in spring. Sometimes all it takes is the addition of some new calming art in your home. It can bring new life to a tired space. It can alter your mood in your home-space completely. Visit my original and print store to have a browse of some new paintings that could bring some ocean escapism to your walls.