Lifestyle
-
Returning To Writing After a Hiatus
In August 2020 I made the painful, but necessary, decision to take a break from blogging. I usually love to write, and this labour of love was one of my biggest hobbies. But by this point it had become stressful, and tiring, and just another thing on my to-do list that I couldn’t keep up with. Did the pandemic have an impact? It’s hard to say. All I know is that I was spending every day preoccupied with page views and how to increase them, so much so that it sucked the joy out of writing completely. It was supposed to be a short break, a month or two tops,…
-
Sleep With Me Podcast: My Secret Weapon for Sleep
Sleep is such an important part of our lives, it’s essential. Yet so many of us struggle with it. I myself find it really hard to fall asleep, and to stay asleep. If you’ve tried many of the tips for a good night’s sleep that are out there, and found nothing that works, I’m here to introduce you to my secret weapon: the Sleep With Me Podcast. My main issue when I am trying to sleep is that I just cannot shut off my brain. Sometimes I am thinking so quickly when I try to sleep that I actually get dizzy and light headed. I think about absolutely everything –…
-
YWA Breath: What I learned doing 30 days of yoga
Before I get into this I am fully aware the yoga is one of those things that is unhelpfully recommended for people with both chronic illnesses and mental illness. I also know many people are sick of it. I am not here to tell you that yoga will solve all your problems or make your life easier, I am just here to tell you my experience of YWA Breath. So no pressure here. You know your own body better than me. But, for me personally, yoga has been a great help – a way for me to get the excercise my body needs without putting me completely out of action…
-
New Year, New Me (Or Not)
This time last year I was writing about how I’ve been moving away from New Year’s resolutions and trying to just set goals and intentions instead. Looking back on these goals though I don’t think I managed to properly achieve any of them! However, with the state this year has been I don’t think I can be too hard on myself about that, as none of us could have predicted the turn things have taken. I have worked on some things this year though that I am hoping to continue into the next 12 months. I still stand by my view that New Year’s resolutions are not a way to…
-
6 things to be grateful for from 2020
I am still in disbelief at the sheer madness that was 2020, and I am sure many of you are as well. It’s been completely unpredictable, messy, and just plain difficult. But as it is FINALLY over I am trying to spend some time looking for the good amongst the bad, and that’s where I came up with my list of things to be grateful for in 2020. This is absolutely not a ‘what I’ve achieved last year post’, as to be honest my greatest achievement was simply getting to the end of it in one piece. And if that’s all you’ve managed as well then please know that is…
-
My Favourite Reads of This Year
I must admit, I’ve been really struggling with what to write about this week. My inspiration has flown out of me like a bird out of a cage, and I’ve just been a bit lost really. But when I find it hard to write, I read. So if I can’t think of what to write about I will talk about what others have written! This year I have really got back into reading. I don’t think I’ve enjoyed it this much since I was a child! I often find reading exacerbates my tiredness – my eyes start to burn and my arms ache from holding up the book (I really…
-
Self-Love Journal Prompts
Self-love is something we all need in our lives to help us get by, because life is very difficult and bleak when you struggle to find things you like about yourself. In an effort to help myself, and all you lovely readers, with that I have put together some self-love journal prompts. I’ve found that as a woman, it’s pretty frowned upon to actually like yourself. If someone compliments you and you agree with it you’re instantly seen as rude or full of yourself. And as someone who has always struggled to like myself even a little bit, this has been pretty difficult to overcome. That’s not to say that…
-
How to Hygge in the Summer
I love hygge. I just can’t get enough. And while it is mostly associated with the winter months, there is no reason why you can’t also enjoy it in the summer. For those of you who don’t know, hygge (pronounced hoo-gah) is a Danish practice that is all about the warm and fuzzy feelings. Like when you’re reading a good book in front of the fire or surrounded by candles in the evening. But the feeling of hygge isn’t only reserved for the cold months, where you want to wrap up warm and be cosy. There are so many ways for you to create the hygge feeling in the warmer…
-
Weekly Substitute Challenge
Before I get into talking about my weekly substitute challenge I want to make something clear. However you want or need to spend this lockdown period is fine. If you are spending this time resting, managing the many emotions you are experiencing and just trying to survive, that’s good! There’s no blueprint for how this time is to be spent. No right or wrong way to do this. This is just about a way I am coping and surviving, and it’s in no way a comment on how you should spend this time. If it inspires you to do something similar then great, but if it feels daunting and unhelpful…
-
5 things I’ve learned from yoga
Living with ME/CFS comes with a long list of trials and challenges to deal with on a daily basis. Among them is the inability to exercise normally. Unfortunately, along with the sheer exhaustion it brings, another symptom is post exertional malaise. Put simply, the worsening of symptoms due to physical activity. For me, I find it quite difficult to predict, but I know one thing that causes it every time – exercise. Going for a run (or even a walk), doing Zumba, tennis, literally any form of cardio is enough to make me completely unable to function the next day. My body just shuts down, even moving takes too much…
