Slow Living: Our Take on Self-Care

For most of us, life can be an overwhelming juggling act of career, partner, family, friends, and our health (just for starters!). This constant rush can leave us feeling depleted and on the edge of a breakdown—think Britney Spears circa 2007.

Unfortunately, we can’t avoid all our responsibilities. But we can take a slow-living approach by creating balance in our lives.

Slow living is a lifestyle that emphasises creating slower approaches to aspects of everyday life. It’s about implementing activities and habits that let you take care of yourself mentally and physically through attention to your wellness and comfort. We can do this by consciously creating small self-care moments throughout the day, by turning off our autopilot and tuning into ourselves.

Let’s explore some ways you can embrace the concept of slow living and improve your health and well-being.

Are your mornings normally centred around cramming everything in before work? Perhaps it’s showering at lightning speed, slapping on a serum, getting dressed, and dashing out the door. It’s time to reframe your morning routine as a reset button by creating some self-care rituals that can support you instead of draining you. You’ll start the day feeling refreshed instead of stressed.

First, add a slow-living moment to your day by transforming your shower into a mindfulness activity.

Connect with yourself and take time to get focused by taking 10 deep, slow breaths. Bring your awareness to how the water feels. And use a luxe product that creates a soothing experience, like L'Occitane Aromachologie Relaxing Shower Gel . If you’re really brave, end your shower with cold water to improve your energy and decrease stress levels.

After your shower, try using the facial tool you’ve seen all over your IG stories. The SALT BY HENDRIX Jade Face Roller promotes circulation by stimulating the lymphatic system. This will leave your face de-puffed and looking so refreshed, the girls at work will think you’ve already had your morning coffee.

Although we all love a beauty moment, physical self-care is another form of slow living that can improve your overall health and life. There’s a strong connection between how you’re feeling physically and your mental health. That’s why it’s important to take the time to find small ways during the day to look after yourself.

The first thing that probably pops into your head when it comes to physical self-care is activities like heading to the gym or a yoga class. Physical self-care actually comes in many forms, such as going to that doctor’s appointment you’ve been putting off, getting to bed on time, or being mindful of your nutrition.

If you’ve been working hectic hours and constantly choosing coffee over water, The Beauty Chef Hydration Inner Beauty Boost is a quick way to improve skin hydration and support gut health. Leave it at your desk at work and make it into a habit by pairing it with another activity, such as a lunchtime walk. Even though they seem small, these habits help you slow down during the day and get present with your body.

Alternatively, if your diet has mainly consisted of UberEATS and chocolate lately, it’s time to get back to basics. After work, take the opportunity to slow down and cook yourself a nourishing dinner. For some extra nutrients, you could also sip on The Beauty Chef Cleanse Inner Beauty Powder (Super Charged formula), a supergreens supplement designed to help detox and purify your body.

We're all guilty of it: saying we’ll put down the phone yet checking our email or having a sneaky social-media scroll one last time before bed. They seem minor, but these habits can greatly hinder our sleep. Research from Harvard Medical School shows that the light emitted from digital devices such as phones and TVs signals the brain to stay awake.

When it comes to winding down, your night-time routine should involve activities that make you feel centred and relaxed. This will result in a more restful and higher-quality sleep, so you’ll find it easier to tackle the mornings.

Switch off your phone and other electronics, and mindfully check in with yourself. Run yourself a bath, pop on a face mask like the MAAEMO The Elimination Mask 45g, to unwind.

To feel totally pampered before bed, use Sodashi Serenity Body Oil and take time to massage it in—no rushing! For those night owls who can never get to sleep, the Frankincense, Mandarin, and Cardamom in this oil promote deep relaxation and can help with sleeplessness and reducing fatigue.

End your night peacefully by reading a book or doing a self-reflection activity like journaling or a relaxing meditation. Remember: adults should be getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night, so don’t stay up too late!

It’s important to note that a transition to slow living doesn’t mean completely changing your life. Simple slow living is about taking time throughout your day to pause, come back to yourself, and check how you’re feeling mentally and physically.

We all need activities that promote inner peace and calm, that allow us to unwind from stress and get in touch with our needs. Hopefully, creating these small moments for yourself will become so positively reinforcing, you'll want to find more ways to slow down and practice self-care in your day-to-day life.