These 3 words keep popping into my head – all the time, this week: AN EVEN KEEL.

So maybe I’m supposed to share this “message”. I’ve also included 7 RITUALS FOR 7 DAYS to help keep things on an even keel (even when it feels like everything around you is s..t?!)

One of my favourite words is equanimity, a close relative of “even keel”, it reminds me of that triumph and disaster quote.

I was thinking yesterday how, in a year full of shocks, worrying news, uncertainty graffiti’d onto our horizon and lots more challenges generally, if we can just keep ourselves on an even keel until the rough waters calm down. That’s a good goal.

We’ve navigated the roughest of times and the quietest.

What we do during them is what matters though.

The quiet steadiness (and low key joy?) of keeping on an even keel has been “speaking to me” lately. A bit like contentment v full blown happiness, there are blessings to be found in keeping on an even keel.

Fortune favours the brave, and if we can just keep ourselves steady and keep moving forwards in the meantime, that’s big. Maybe not giant leaps (or maybe sometimes – yes?) but there is much to be said for “just” keeping well, safe, and as steady as we are able while stormy waters whirl around us.

Speaking of fortune favouring the brave, I’m happy to say the energy around the 2021 Beauty Shortlist Beauty and Wellbeing Awards has been extraordinary considering everything going on this year.

Upbeat and very positive. Some brands have been sending me personal notes saying how excited they are to be taking part,  I don’t remember getting as many enquiries and personal emails as this year.

I thought I’d  share what I am doing from today onwards, I’m feeling really motivated today, I’ve been up since 5 am, relishing the quietness of the early morning. Please feel very free to share any suggestions you find usually help you, as anything helpful is always helpful for all of us, we’re all in this together.

7 DAYS, 7 RITUALS 

1. Have an Epsom salt bath at least twice a week. Better than sleeping tablets not that I have had to take any but these are such a huge help if you find insomnia sometimes ruins your nights. Wonderfully muscle relaxing, and I love how they make you feel very very ready for bed!

2. Eat more grounding/root vegetables, like orange butternut squash, sweet potatoes and a lot more dark leafy greens. (I also take chlorophyll tablets, chlorella and spirulina, plus wheat grass and barley grass sometimes as well).

3. For 30 days I am going to script my goals and life wishes as a letter, written as if they have already happened. I’ve never done this before so…! (Have you?) And read it out myself when I wake up and just before I go to sleep. Are you in?

4. Watch the sunrise. (Or – sunset). Every morning I get up before sunrise, but that comes naturally to me, I really love the zero radio frequency pure quiet of the morning. The fresh air, just  watching the sun come up. There is a special energy that comes from the sun at sunrise and sunset and I find the very early mornings or like a tonic for me before everything gets busier.

5. Meditate (MORE). I’m not a big meditator, but I do listen to meditation every day (guided) before bedtime. A quiet mind is a happy nervous system. I have been sleeping like a very happy log recently, after a horrible bout of insomnia after my mum passed away in May.

BTW…If you are in need of any recommendations (products) I’ve written posts on sleep and natural anxiety-reducers (eg, see: RELAX MAX: 9 TOP-SCORING ALL-NATURAL SUPPLEMENTS TO HELP TAKE THE EDGE OF STRESS)

6. Talk to strangers. (Who look like they might need a helping hand).

The other morning I saw an elderly man trying to cross the road, quite unsteady on his feet, so I wound down the window and blurted out “Hello! If you want to cross the road now is a good time! I’ll wait for you”.

He looked a bit surprised initially then really pleased and then came up to my car window and said hello. He was beaming. He seemed happy that somebody had “seen” him. When I drove on I wondered if he lived alone or he had a wife at home, why he was having trouble walking, all those things…All I knew was that he was not steady on his feet and apprehensive about crossing the street.

Yesterday evening I saw two women who had got out of their car and were looking quite lost so I said to them “why don’t you follow me in your car, you’re very close..”

Every person commuting to work, every person looking for work, every person newly heartbroken, every person struggling, every person facing an illness, every person juggling family responsibilities, every person short of sleep and very short of hugs, every person who feels their hope is turning to dust into thin air – every person on this planet is currently dealing with his or her own battles, and I find myself acutely aware of this, and not least this year.

Another thing (and you probably already do this?) might be to find somebody who motivates you and I’m talking about on YouTube. Someone who posts regularly to keep you strong-spirited and on track.

When I was utterly alone in a two month lockdown this was such a godsend!  I made a revolving menu of really delicious, nourishing dinners most nights, cooking and listening to a good podcast or semi watching YouTube. It was an antidote to the eerie silence of just me rattling around in my flat, not a soul on the street.

7. Stay close to nature – my NUMBER 1. 

Be in nature as much as possible, and at the risk of repeating one of the previous points, get as much sunlight and daylight as you possibly can, this is such a tonic for the brain and our general wellbeing. I’ve mentioned this before – bringing nature inside, making an autumn arrangement, diffusing a sweet orange oil or a wintery, woody oil, dotting some pine essential oil scented fir cones on book shelves. Twigs and berries woven around a chubby glass candle…

(No. 8 would be Keep Active).

As some of you know, I’m barely able to work at the moment. I’m having to dictate everything because of tennis elbow in my right arm. The pain is less now but the minute I start typing or hit a screen it sort of screams back at me! I have had to continue working so I keep re-injuring it.

Not the best timing smack bang in the middle of the entry window for the 2021 Beauty Shortlist Awards, so there won’t be (m)any reminders about the deadline other than social media and one newsletter.

I’m very happy to say it’s starting to look like a really interesting year. Firstly, there is a clear focus on wellbeing, secondly the standard is extremely high, and thirdly international entries are especially strong.

And a lot of brands that are BOTH “solution-orientated & feel-good” are coming in – it’s a combo I particularly love.

This year the 2021 Awards theme is:

NATURE FIRST

I’ve never felt more determined or passionate about supporting ethical natural beauty, grooming and wellness brands – the ones who are doing the right thing and deserve the spotlight.

Without nature there is no future. For any life form including us.

So, to end this post on a high note this morning, I’d like to say…

Thank you to everyone who has entered the awards so far, I’m so excited about them this year, more so than usual I think because it’s just so heartening to see such good energy in a not great 2020 year overall for almost all of us – and let’s do our best to keep on an even keel, let’s keep looking after each other. More so.

And please let’s keep on keeping a look out for anyone who might need help or perhaps is feeling worried or alone and forgotten.

There’s a lot to be said for keeping on an even keel, even if it’s all we can do. Slow but steady. And peace of mind loves a safe harbour.

Storms don’t last forever.

As somebody said to me yesterday: “Life is TODAY”.

Wishing you a healthy, fruitful week and a clear road ahead x

 

2021 Beauty Shortlist Awards

Beauty | Grooming | Natural Health | CBD | Green Home | Eco-Lifestyle

Reminder! Entries are closing on FRIDAY 6 NOVEMBER

SAMPLES DEADLINE: 11 NOVEMBER

To submit your brand, click HERE

“AN EVEN KEEL”

Noun

even keel (plural even keels)

1. (nautical) The situation in which a watercraft is floating or proceeding in a smooth and level manner.
2. (idiomatic, of emotions, etc.) The state or characteristic of being under control and balanced.
3. (idiomatic, of a business or other activity) The state or characteristic of being well controlled and running smoothly