» Listings for 2021

1. Holidays & Christmas Self-Care: Top 3 Essential Oils

   Posted on 9:00am Monday 6th Dec 2021

   Whilst the Holidays and Christmas are tradtionally a time of celebration, of reunions and coming together with loved ones, it can also be a challenging time of year for many reasons so we must continue to pratice good self-care.  

   Some of the common challenges that many people face during the Holidays and Christmas season are:

   • Digestive upsets due to eating too much, very rich rich foods and sometimes even emotional upset can affect the digestive system
   • Stress due to organising, overspending, feeling duty bound or torn as to whether to attend festive parties etc
   • Emotionally sad and unsettled particularly if your family situation is not ideal or you are missing a loved one who has passed on

   So this time of the year is just as important to focus on our self-care as any other.

   One quick and easy way to help ease those common seasonal imbalances is with a little aromatherapy self care.

   Here are my top 3 Essential oils for the Holidays and Christmas period, they are all traditional seasonal scents as well!

   

   Simple ways to use these Essential Oils

   • Add 6 drops to an Aromatherapy diffuser or oil burner

   Make your own Aromatherapy Bath and Body Products

   • With the exception of Cinnamon leaf, add 40 drops of essential oil to 100ml of  unscented bubble bath, unscented lotion or carrier oil like sunflower oil and apply to the affected area.  For the elderly, immbobile or pregnant or lactating ladies, halve the amount to 20 drops.
   • If you would like to use Cinnamon leaf, add just 12 drops to 100ml of unscented bubble bath, unscented lotion or carrier oil.  For the elderly, immobile or pregnant or lactating ladies, halve the amount to 6 drops.  This is because Cinnamon leaf essential oil can be a skin irritant.

   If you love essential oils and aromatherapy and are intersted in learning more, feel free to browse my self-care books and online courses here.  If you would like to get a copy of my FREE Self-Care Guide please sign up here

   Until next time

   Zoe

   x

2. Ideas for Self-Care Sunday

   Posted on 11:00am Sunday 28th Nov 2021

   If you have recently decided to take better care of yourself, then self-care Sunday is a great place to start. It is typically more of a relaxing day where we have more time to tend to ourself.

   Here are some simple ideas for your self-care Sunday

   

   If you take part in self-care Sunday for a few weeks you will start to feel the benefit and hopefully that will give you the momentum to continue and may even to integrate more self-care into your everyday life.

   Without regular and consistent self-care, your physical, emotional and mental health will start to deteriorate and you may experience:

   • Physical ill health
   • Lowered immunity which will make you more susceptible to catching infections
   • Weight loss or gain
   • Loss of physical fitness
   • Stress symptoms e.g. physical tension, recurring headaches, emotional tension, irritability, anger, brain fog, lack of focus, digestive upsets
   • Insomnia or disrupted sleep
   • Mental and emotional imbalances such as low mood, anxiety, anger and irritability
   • Lack of physical energy

   If you can slowly start to integrate regular self-care activities into your everyday routine, you will definitely start to see improvements in your physical, mental and emotional health.  It is wise to choose activities that you know that enjoy, that you can keep up with and that will fit into your routine.

   For example, this is my basic everyday self-care routine

   • I eat healthy, nourishing food about 80% of the time and indulge in cakes, chocolate and crisps the other 20% of the time!
   • I do some form of exercise at least 5 days a week: walking in the park, yoga, afro-beats aerobics, power walking videos.  As I am busy, I prefer to do 2 or 3 x 15 mins online videos in the morning, lunchtime or evening and a long walk at least once a week.
   • I diffuse essential oils throughout the day either to relax, energise or to purify my work space
   • I release what is going on internally, i.e. my thoughts and feelings by journalling and by talking to people that I trust
   • I stop watching, listening to or reading the news if it starts to increase my anxiety too much
   • I turn my mobile onto "do not disturb" at least 1 hr before bedtime, I sometimes do 15 mins bedtime yoga and diffuse relaxing essential oils
   • I love taking care of my skin, so I do have a twice daily skincare routine and do a full facial once every 2 weeks.

   This is what works for me, what I enjoy and it fits into my everyday life to the point that is almost now habitual.  So I encourage you to do the same.

   If you are interested in learning more about Self-Care, I have a number of products and services available

   Self Care E-books e.g. aromatherapy, ayurveda, skin care etc

   Self-Care Online courses - my signature holistic self-care online course, introduction to aromatherapy, 28 day stress management challenge and more

   If you would like to download my FREE introduction to self-care guide which also includes a self-care action plan template, you can do so here. 

   Until next time

   Zoe

   x