More than ever, it’s smart to prioritize your health and wellness in the face of the pandemic. Eating well, exercising, and sleeping are part of the wellness puzzle – but there’s more that meets the eye when it comes to your overall health. For example, are you taking steps to protect your emotional well-being? Have you invested time creating a supportive group of friends? Are you giving yourself down time to focus on your hobbies? These are just a few of the questions you should ask yourself to determine whether or not you’re focusing enough on your well-being. 

Below, we’ll dive into some easy-to-incorporate wellness tips so you can live a better, happier life.

Practice Good Sleep Hygiene

Good sleep is critical to your mental, physical, and emotional well-being. When you don’t get great quality sleep, you can get tired and irritable. If you’re worried that you’re not getting enough quality sleep, consider creating a sleep ritual you practice each night to get your body ready for sleep mode. 

Here’s an idea of a sleep ritual you can try out in your own life:

• Two hours before bedtime: Stop using all electronics. Start to dim the lights in your bedroom and living spaces.
• One hour before bedtime: Take a warm shower or bath with lavender or chamomile soap to help relax away the day’s stresses. 
• Thirty minutes before bedtime: Turn on your noise machine or fan to create pleasant auditory background noise. Drink a sleep- or relaxation-promoting tea.
• Fifteen minutes before bedtime: Practice deep breathing and get into bed. 

In general, it’s a good idea to aim for at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep at night. You might need more of less depending on your lifestyle, gender, age, and any health conditions. Consult with your doctor if you’re not sure. 

Eat Well and Focus on What Works for You

It’s rare that you will have the time, energy, or money to put together an elaborate five-course meal every single day. But you don’t need to spend a lot of time or money in order to eat quality food. You might even want to start meal prepping simple meals like rice, chicken, and asparagus. 

Or maybe you’ve come to terms with the fact that you just don’t like to cook. That’s okay, too! You might be interested in using a meal subscription service. Some meal subscriptions like Blue Apron provide you with ingredients that you cook and assemble yourself. Others are fully-cooked meals that you simply have to reheat like Freshly. 

Overall, it’s generally a good idea to stay away from heavily processed foods, excess amounts of sugar, and large amounts of sodium. Instead, build your diet around whole foods with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables. 

Incorporate Exercise You Actually Enjoy

Not everybody is going to run a marathon as their casual Sunday afternoon exercise. But that doesn’t mean you can’t find an activity that you actually enjoy that also gets your heart pumping. For example, you can sign up for meetup groups for hiking, do an online yoga class subscription, or join a rollerblading club. 

If you have trouble staying consistent, it might be worth it to look into getting a personal trainer. Or, if you have a friend who wants to stay active as well, you can use each other as accountability buddies. After all, there are just going to be some mornings where you want to stay in bed rather than exercise. But if you have someone who’s expecting you to join them for a morning walk or run, it’s much harder to cancel on them. 

Takeaways: Staying Well 

It takes practice and consistency to stay on top of your mental, physical, and emotional help. Life is full of stressful moments, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn to cope. Use the tips laid out in this article to develop healthy habits. Start with your sleep and prioritize your bedtime over other parts of your life. Then, move on to finding an exercise you enjoy doing and finally, work on your diet. You don’t have to make all these changes at once. The path to change begins with the first step. Good luck!

The garden should be a place you enjoy. We tend to ‘inherit’ the garden when we buy or rent a property. Unless you have the budget and a keen interest in complete garden renovation, we tend to ‘make do’ with what we have.

There may be times when this works but more often than not, the garden we inherited does not quite suit our tastes nor our needs. Making it personal to you however, does not mean it should cost you heaps of cash.

Here are five reasons why designing your garden to suit you is important;

Extension of the Home

Increasingly, the garden is being used as an extension of the home. With an increasing range of stylish garden rattan furniture and accessories, it is easier to make the outdoor space work for you and your family.

Create flat areas close to your property and dine al fresco. Choose a dining set with the same care and consideration you would for the dining table you have inside your home.

If you want something more relaxed and informal, there is a growing range of informal garden furniture from hammocks to outside ‘day loungers’. Add cushions, throws and rugs to make the space somewhere you really can relax and enjoy.

Accessibility

A common issue with inherited gardens is accessibility. Narrow pathways, paths made from gravel or grey, plain concrete pathways are not always our idea of the perfect means of accessing the garden.

Likewise, if you have limited mobility, you don’t want to take on a garden that has ground level borders which would be difficult to reach and maintain or a garden that is so abundant with plants and shrubs that maintaining it could be a time-consuming nightmare.

There are means of making your garden more accessible for you. Some modifications and adaptations, such as ramps and grab handles are best tackled by a landscaping company. Other issues, such as weed control are changes that can be made on an ongoing basis.

Weed control matting, as well as bark, gravel and other material are great for suppressing weeds and are inexpensive too.

Maintenance Required

A lush, abundant garden, full of blooms and shrubs looks fantastic but to keep this look, you will need to spent time maintaining it.This means weeding and pruning, as well as thinning out plants and fertilising the soil to provide an abundance of nutrients to keep everything looking green and vibrant.However, you may not have time nor the inclination to spend much of your spring, summer and autumn curtailing rampaging plants throughout your garden.

If you are short on time – and green fingers – the easiest way is to compress the size of any flower borders you have and extend the lawn. Remember, your lawn doesn’t have to mean more work, artificial grass that takes away the need for mowing and maintenance is now becoming increasingly popular. It is  easy to look after and keeps its colour but without too much hard work.

What You use the Garden For

Of course, any garden design will revolve around what you use your garden for. Just like how you use the rooms in your home, your needs and wants in the garden will change.

How use your garden – reading, relaxing, entertaining – will be different to how your neighbours, family and friends use theirs – so why design the gardens the same? Design your garden with your own personal needs in mind, along with your likes and dislikes.

Fits You and Your Personality

Your personality flows throughout your home. It is the choice of colours, the choice of interior design style and more.

Just as you may enjoy the clean lines and uncluttered minimal design style in the house, you would enjoy the same in the garden. If you have more traditional tastes, this can be reflected in the garden too.

There are many ways of creating a garden that is an extension of your home, is stamped with your personality, which is also accessible with the right level of maintenance to suit your busy schedule and is fit for purpose.

Planting is one tool a keen eye for shape and form in the garden as well as accessories including garden furniture, lighting, fire pits and more.

There are many things that come to mind when you think about the fall season… delicious pumpkin recipes, decorative gourds spread throughout the house, the scent of cinnamon filling the air, and all of the fun fall activities you can do around the city are a few of my personal favorites.

But another thing that gets me really excited at this time of year is switching out all my summer wardrobe essentials to reflect the change in season. Out with the old, in with the new! The great thing is that you don’t have to go out and break the bank to keep up with the latest trends—all you need is a few stylish accessories that can make any outfit shine.

Not sure where to start? We have you covered! Here are suggestions for four items you can use to accessorize your fall attire so you can look great all season long.

• Beanies Are Your New BFF

It’s time to say goodbye to all those wide-brimmed hats that have been shielding your delicate complexion from the sun all summer long. As the weather begins to cool down, you’ll need a (cute!) way to stay warm, and beanies are one of the best ways to do so.

There are endless varieties to choose from, which gives you the ability to express your originality in full stride. Make a splash with a bright beanie adorned with poms at the cap, or keep it demure by wearing one made from loose knit material in earthy tones. It’s an awesome accessory to stalk up on because you can wear them in rotation with all your fall wardrobe staples to make them look like a new ensemble each and every time!

• Say It with a Statement Necklace

Speaking of wardrobe staples, if there’s one thing I’ll be living in all season, it’s my collection of cozy sweaters. Now, some people think that you can’t look trendy while wearing comfortable clothes, but that’s just not true. From layering to leg warmers, there are endless ways to look and feel great at the same time.

If you’re coming up short on ideas, try picking out a few statement necklaces that are guaranteed to elevate any ensemble. You know the type: big, bold, and immediately attention-grabbing. These pieces of jewelry are always super unique and it’s not often you’ll come across the same one twice, meaning you can really show off your unique sense of style.

Whether you need an outfit upgrade for the office, or you just want to appear a bit more polished and professional before heading out to run some errands, this is the accessory for the job. Trust me, no one will think you’ve been lazily lounging around (just remember to regularly wash your sweaters with fragrant laundry detergent to keep everyone fooled!).

• Wear Socks with Frills to Ward off the Fall Chills

Love it or hate it, colder weather is on its way—meaning no more ankles, toe rings, or bedazzled sandals. But that doesn’t mean your footwear flair has to come to and end! You just need to switch up the strategy by going with stylish socks instead.

If you’re looking for a timeless classic you can wear every year, then opt for those with delicate lace frills. The dainty details accentuate your feminine side, and you can find varieties in every height size. Pair cute knee-high stockings with tall boots and a skirt for a flirty aesthetic that’s perfect for fall, or match some lacey ankle socks with leather loafers to put a softer touch on an edgy ensemble.

• Grab a Bag for Moms’ Night Out

Summer was all about totes that are big enough to carry the kitchen sink, but now it’s time to downsize to an autumnal clutch bag that can hold your essentials for the season. You only need enough space for your phone, keys, and wallet, along with some moisturizing hand cream and lip balm to stay hydrated in the dry, frigid air that will be here before we know it. You might be surprised by how much lighter your purse feels when carrying a clutch that makes you keep it to the minimum.

What are you most excited for this season? Less me know in the comments below!