Between family days out, home renovations and long-awaited BBQs, it can feel impossible to sneak in some well-earned rest. Whilst a Balinese break may be off the cards this year, we’re planning our very own wellness retreat and inviting you to join us!  

Take some mindful moments for yourself with our wellness weekender. Join in on our sleep hygiene tips, incorporate exercise into your workday and get some sunlight. We challenge you to get involved. Join us in our four wellness challenges from August 16th to 19th, and you might just win something special! 

We love to make wellness simple, and our team of experts have pulled together a virtual retreat, featuring a schedule of activities that can be done from the comfort of your own home, garden or perhaps somewhere you haven’t discovered yet.  

So, what can you expect? View the entire weekend line-up below or join us on our Instagram for videos, so you join in with the full itinerary from Friday through Monday.

friday: reconnect with a special someone

What better way to kick off the weekend than to unplug your phone, and reconnect with someone special? Tuning out of the digital world creates the perfect opportunity to tune into and connect nature, your partner or a fluffy friend. 

Switch off your screens from blue light emitted from screens to positively impact and help regulate your circadian rhythm. Combining light exercise and afternoon light with a golden hour walk also helps to counteract the negative effects digital devices can have on us during the day and release those feel-good hormones. Exposing the receptor pigments in the eye to this lower angle of light helps to anchor the body clock and trigger the timed release of melatonin which helps us fall asleep smoothly later on in the evening. 

Turn screens off for an evening and opt for a book, practice breathwork or immerse yourself in something creative like painting or trying a new recipe. 

saturday: let’s get moving! 

After a well-rested Friday night, are you in the mood to move? Light exercise helps regulate neurotransmitter levels, which means it can help us feel mentally and physically healthy. The most important thing to be mindful of when you exercise is to do something you enjoy. 

Many people cite lack of exercise down to hating the gym, but pumping iron alongside bodybuilding men and women is just one way to focus on your fitness. A simple walk, stretching or and at home workout (especially those done outside) are all ways to get your body moving in a positive way, and varying your exercises can help you navigate different phases of your life too.  

Falling into routine is where many of us feel comfortable and change can be a stressful thought, but adversity is good for our brain, and while sticking to the status quo feels safe, it can mean that we lose our ability to be resilient and accept uncertainty. There are few better ways to improve our resilience than through adventure. Pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone by doing things like taking a walk in an unfamiliar place, bike riding on a bumpy track, or putting on our old ice skates can help us build confidence and demonstrate to ourselves that we’re able to deal with things that feel unfamiliar – and have fun whilst doing it! 

If you’re in the mood to boost your dopamine a little more, why not try something a little different? Walk to somewhere new, cycle to a different spot, or perhaps try some cold-water swimming (we recommend some great spots here!).

sunday: self-care 

Enjoying moments of self-care, beauty or skincare routines trigger the reward hormone dopamine in your brain. Not only is looking after yourself good for your skin, but it’s good for your brain too. 

Start your self-care Sunday with a mood-boost by getting outside and soaking up morning light. Getting outside in sunlight for just 10-30 minutes a day (as soon after waking as possible) is an effective way to trigger the release of dopamine and peak cortisol levels early in the day. This helps tell the body it’s time to wake up and increases our ability to focus. If you’re lucky enough to have a garden, try drinking your morning coffee (another natural way to give yourself a quick dopamine hit and energy buzz!) outside, facing (but not looking directly at) the sunlight, or take your dog for a quick walk around the block before getting ready to take on the day. 

Self-care can look different to all of us, for some it may be meal prepping or finally tackling the never-ending washing pile. Whatever self-care looks like to you we recommend taking some time to check in with yourself and your body with mood-boosting bodycare routine that leaves your skin feeling smooth, soft, and radiant with our Perfect range. 

Our perfect legs 100% natural scrub is a buttery exfoliating balm that buffs away dead skin to leave you feeling silky smooth and your mood boosted (thanks to our functional fragrance*). Massage into the skin whilst breathing in sweet orange oils to uplift and keep you glowing. 

Don’t forget the upper body, treat your neck and cleavage with perfect cleavage and neck serum. Smooth and brighten delicate areas prone to signs of ageing with hydrating Hyaluronic Acid. Soothe inflammation with Vitamin C-rich Marine Algae and protect from environmental aggressors with Ginseng. Comfrey Root helps boost cell renewal and provides long-lasting hydration.  

*Pilot fMRI Study 2022 

monday: start the week off right 

If you work from home on a Monday, we’ve got a few tips on how to start your week off the right way! 

Getting outdoors in fresh air and amongst nature is the perfect way to start the day off before you go to the office, working from home, or the daily juggle that is modern life which is often sedentary and spent indoors under harsh lighting and conditions. 

Get outside and let the morning light get into your eyes before you start working, perhaps take your morning cup of tea into the garden or go for a stroll before you log on. Throughout the day, instead of being glued to your desk or spending your lunch break on your phone, moving your muscles is one of the most effective ways to stabilise your mood and balance your hormones. Walking, stretching and at-home workouts (like a quick Pilates routine) are all ways to get moving in a positive way. 

Creating a relaxing pre-bedtime ritual that includes a warm bath, low lighting, some self-care, and science-backed sleep-promoting bodycare can help improve the quality of your sleep and (fingers crossed) put you in good stead for those extra hours of shut-eye. 

So, you’ve slipped into bed and the lights are off, but you can’t get your brain to do the same. What gives? Well, a good night’s sleep starts way before your head hits the pillow. Warming up your body and environment before bedtime, utilising light exposure, and creating a pre-bed routine that includes calming functional fragrances like Lavender, Camomile, and Vetivert can help your brain and body get ready for sleep. 

Way before you get into bed, switching off the ‘big lights’ in your home, lighting candles, or turning on warm lamps will not only create a calming ambience for the nervous system, but it helps to trigger the release of melatonin too – the hormone needed to help us get ready for sleep. Bright, artificial lights should be totally avoided between 10pm and 4am, as these reduce sleepiness and can throw off the circadian clock. Using a sunset simulator, such as Lumie’s Bodyclock can help replicate evening light cues that we usually receive and is an effective way of reducing bright light exposure and signaling to the brain that sleep is imminent. 

reading list 

1. Brown TM, Brainard GC, Cajochen C, Czeisler CA, Hanifin JP, Lockley SW, et al. (2022) Recommendations for daytime, evening, and nighttime indoor light exposure to best support physiology, sleep, and wakefulness in healthy adults. PLoS Biol 20(3): e3001571. 

2. te Kulve, M., Schlangen, L.J.M. & van Marken Lichtenbelt, W.D. Early evening light mitigates sleep compromising physiological and alerting responses to subsequent late evening light. Sci Rep 9, 16064 (2019). 

3. Yin, J., Julius, A. A., & Wen, J. T. (2021). Optimization of light exposure and sleep schedule for circadian rhythm entrainment. PLoS ONE, 16(6 June). 

4. Böhmer, M. N., Hamers, P. C. M., Bindels, P. J. E., Oppewal, A., van Someren, E. J. W., & Festen, D. A. M. (2021). Are we still in the dark? A systematic review on personal daily light exposure, sleep-wake rhythm, and mood in healthy adults from the general population. In Sleep Health (Vol. 7, Issue 5) 

5. Figueiro, M. G., Steverson, B., Heerwagen, J., Kampschroer, K., Hunter, C. M., Gonzales, K., Plitnick, B., & Rea, M. S. (2017). The impact of daytime light exposures on sleep and mood in office workers. Sleep Health, 3(3). 

6. Marqueze, E. C., Vasconcelos, S., Garefelt, J., Skene, D. J., Moreno, C. R., & Lowden, A. (2015). Natural light exposure, sleep and depression among day workers and shiftworkers at Arctic and Equatorial Latitudes. PLoS ONE, 10(4). 

7. Preciado, O. U., Issolio, L. A., Manzano, E., Colombo, E., & Barrionuevo, P. A. (2018). Melanopsin excitation in conditions of natural and artificial lighting. Anales de La Asociacion Fisica Argentina, 29(Especial InVision). 

8. Vlemincx, E., & Luminet, O. (2020). Sighs can become learned behaviors via operant learning. Biological Psychology, 151. 

9. Pradip Pandekar, P., & Thangavelu, P. D. (2019). Effect of 4-7-8 Breathing Technique on Anxiety and Depression in Moderate Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients. International Journal of Health Sciences & Research (Www.Ijhsr.Org), 9(5). 

10. Nowicki, L. V. (2021). The Effect of a Breathing Technique on Reducing Postoperative Orthopedic Pain. In The Nurse Practitioner (Vol. 40, Issue 4). 11. Lin, Z., Kunze, K., Ueki, A., & Inakage, M. (2020). AromaCue - A scent toolkit to cope with stress using the 4-7-8 breathing method. TEI 2020 - Proceedings of the 14th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction. 

12. Pandekar, P. P., & Thangavelu, P. D. (2019). Effect of 4-7-8 Breathing Technique on Anxiety and Depression in Moderate. International Journal of Health Sciences and Research, 9(5). 13. Terman, J. S., Terman, M., Lo, E. S., & Cooper, T. B. (2001). Circadian time of morning light administration and therapeutic response in winter depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 58(1). 14. Okamoto, Y., Rea, M. S., & Figueiro, M. G. (2014). Temporal dynamics of EEG activity during short- and long-wavelength light exposures in the early morning. BMC Research Notes, 7(1). 15. The duration of light exposure in the morning and early‐afternoon affects adaptation to night work. (2019). Journal of Sleep Research, 28(S1). 

16. Hamid, A. A., Pettibone, J. R., Mabrouk, O. S., Hetrick, V. L., Schmidt, R., vander Weele, C. M., Kennedy, R. T., Aragona, B. J., & Berke, J. D. (2015). Mesolimbic dopamine signals the value of work. Nature Neuroscience, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.4173 

17.Terman, J. S., Terman, M., Lo, E. S., & Cooper, T. B. (2001). Circadian time of morning light administration and therapeutic response in winter depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 58(1). https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.58.1.69 

18.Okamoto, Y., Rea, M. S., & Figueiro, M. G. (2014). Temporal dynamics of EEG activity during short- and long-wavelength light exposures in the early morning. BMC Research Notes, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-7-113 

19. Hall, J. A. (2019). How many hours does it take to make a friend? Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36(4), 1278–1296. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407518761225 

20. Bermúdez-Rattoni, F. (2007). Neural plasticity and memory: From genes to brain imaging. In Neural Plasticity and Memory: From Genes to Brain Imaging. 

21. Parker, S. (2019). Training attention for conscious non-REM sleep: The yogic practice of yoga-nidrā and its implications for neuroscience research. In Progress in Brain Research (Vol. 244). https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pbr.2018.10.016