We all know what relaxation is, even if we’re not very good at it, but how about active relaxation? The words alone seem to contradict themselves, yet active relaxation can be as good for us as any other form of relaxation. In fact, I think we’re a lot more experienced in active relaxation than we perhaps realise.
Tag: mindfulness
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Happy Sunday! I hope you’ve had a productive week and a fun weekend. It’s been a busy week at the Mindful Gingernut HQ as I’ve been beavering away writing client newsletters and social media posts, as well as working in the background creating my first Mindful Gingernut newsletter! I’ve been toying with the idea of…
Olhos de Água and Praia da Falesia
This post was originally published on 7th February 2019 and updated on 21st February 2021. It follows my adventures in Portugal as I visit Olhos de Água and Praia da Falesia for the first time. Olhos de Água After a relaxing day on Tuesday, I was back in explorer mode yesterday. I decided to head east of the resort…
Early Riser
This post was originally published on 10th November 2018 and updated on 30th August 2020 I love being the first to wake up, especially at the weekend. When I first moved in with my now ex, I was always the first to wake and would lie in bed reading or checking my social media until…
Finding Respite for my Muddled Mind in Holland Park
This weekend, I found myself with some alone time. I needed some space and time to think, reflect and soak up the late October sunshine. I headed to the local market yesterday thinking I would stop by to look for some upcoming birthday presents. The market was celebrating its own birthday and was busier than normal.
Solitude
This post was originally published on 16th September 2018 and updated on 2nd August 2020 As I get older, I find myself enjoying my own company more and more. Perhaps it’s an age thing, but whatever it is, it crept up on me and took me by surprise. Pre-London, I would be quite happy to…
Kicking Imposters Butt
This post was originally published on 21st September 2018 and updated on 19th July 2020. Last night, I managed to stop the little blighters from attack! Who are the little blighters? I hear you ask. That would be the ‘imposters’. Before you think I’ve gone completely nuts, the ‘imposters’ are the little nagging voices in…
Crash and Burn
Why is it that I always crash and burn by the time my annual leave arrives? Over time, I’ve come to realise that if I don’t take a significant break from work every 12 weeks, I struggle to function. Yet, despite knowing that, I still end up feeling burnt out by the time my leave…
New Followers and a New Logo
Happy Friday everyone 😀 We’ve managed to get through another working week during lockdown. I’ve lost track of how many week’s we’ve been working from home now. I seem to have got stuck on week 10, and since then, I feel like my days/weeks/months have just morphed into one. On a positive note, although the…
My Top 5 Essentials to Surviving Lockdown
Whilst we sit here eagerly awaiting the Government’s next big announcement on Sunday, which will hopefully mean at least starting to understand what the Governments plans are for loosening social distancing restrictions, I wanted to share with you my Top 5 things which are currently helping me to get through lockdown. I’m not talking about…
Tips for Working from Home during a Pandemic
Tuesday 17th March 2020 will remain in my mind for a long time to come. My boss had scheduled a company wide ‘test’ working from home day. As the spread rate of Coronavirus started to increase in the UK, our ‘test’ day had been brought forward by a couple of weeks. Little did we know…
Day 2 – Working from home during a pandemic
Day 2 of working from home, and the struggle is already real. We’re not yet in lockdown in the UK, although I sense we’re not far off, particularly in London. The Government’s decision on Monday to ask people to work from home where possible, came at a reasonable time for us. We already had Tuesday…
The End of the World as we Know it?
As I left the office this evening, you would never have known we were in the midst of a pandemic. The birds were singing happily and the air felt fresh, but with the hint of warm spring days to come. Yet just a couple of hours ago, it was announced by the UK Government that…
The Return of Self Care Sunday
With the tragic death of tv presenter Caroline Flack this weekend, I felt it was time to have some ‘me’ time today. Not only is her death a reminder to be kind to each other, it’s also a reminder that we need to remember to be kind to ourselves. I’ve neglected my self care regime…
Valentines
This post was originally published on 14th February 2019 and reposted on 14th February 2020. Happy Valentines to you my lovely followers ❤️ Whether you’ve been celebrating today with your partners, your friends, or by yourself, I hope you’ve been kind to yourself today. This is my first single valentines for a couple of years….
Top Blog Posts from 2019
Happy Belated New Year to you all 🎉 I hope the new decade has been kind to you all so far 💕 I feel as though i’ve neglected my blog lately. December turned a little bit crazy as I prepped for an early Christmas, celebrated my birthday, and finished off getting everything in order ready…
Setting Boundaries and the Power of Mute
Isn’t it funny how sometimes the smallest changes can have the biggest impacts on your life? I’ve been having a battle for much of this year with one of my colleagues. He was constantly sending messages in our group chat outside of working hours (and inside sometimes, despite the fact we all work opposite each…
Follow my blog with Bloglovin
I’ve finally worked out how to link my blog to Bloglovin 😀 To link in with me at Bloglovin follow the link below: Follow my blog with Bloglovin
Reflections
When I decided to book my trip to India earlier this year, I knew it was a life changing decision. I still find it hard to explain the feeling I had at the time. It was a mixture of excitment and overwhleming emotion, just knowing that this was absolutely something I had to do. I…
Why do we exercise?
Ok, so a large part of exercising is about us looking after our physical fitness. Keeping in shape, improving our health, as a way of letting go of our frustrations after a long, gruelling day in the office, to improve our mental well-being. All perfectly valid reasons to exercise. Whilst many people choose to join…
Self-Care Neglect
As I write this blog post, I’ve been trying to think of a suitable word to sum up how I’ve been feeling during the last couple of months. All I can think of is… ‘meh’. A pretty nondescript word, but sums up how I’ve been feeling. Life has been a little bit all over the…
Honesty
This post was originally published on 29th June 2019 and updated on 24th August 2019. Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post called Love or Loyalty? For me, without love, there is no purpose. However, since writing the original post, I have found myself asking if love and loyalty are the most important things…
Milestones, Republishing and Rebranding
Milestones With the first anniversary of The Mindful Musings of a Gingernut approaching, I’ve been taking some time to reflect on my blog, to read through old posts, and to think about where I’d like to take my musings over the next 12 months. Republishing Over the course of the next few weeks, as we…
Is self care easier if you’re single?
A few weeks ago, I attended a friends hen party. The hen party was fun. But something was troubling me. I was staying in a hotel that night with another friend. While we were busy getting ready for the hen party, she started pouring her heart out to me. It appeared that her marriage was…
Knife crime, dirty laundry, and self care
The last couple of weeks have made me realise just how important it is to have a self care bank. If I hadn’t been able to cash in on some of my self care reserves, I definitely wouldn’t have got through it as well as I have. Most of the drama that has unfolded, has…