Confidence: the 21 day plan

Liz Foster - Coach

This week I had the pleasure of attending a confidence seminar and workshop held by the Bath Coaching Cafe. Like most people I can feel ultra confident at some points and then not so confident on an off day. So as far as I'm concerned there is always something new to learn when it comes to loving the self. 

The gorgeous Liz (above) led the group and ended by giving us a 21 day confidence plan which will make a difference when followed with commitment. I thought I'd share it with you as I plan to do this for the next 21 days and would love for you to join me on this challenge! 

In isolation, the components of the 21 day plan are not new news to me - Healing without Freud or Prozac is a brilliant book for detail on the benefits of breathing exercises and cardio, even if it's just a jog at the pace of a snail. There's also a lot covered on SAD lamps and sunrise imitation alarm clocks. Happier details the benefits of gratitude, kind acts and reflection, not to mention all kinds of interesting stuff on what happiness means. 

Nevertheless, it's often about the packaging. When someone presents a task with boundaries (21 days), a step by step guide so you don't have to select and create your own programme and, most importantly, a goal (which in this case is to feel more confident after the process), it's much easier to just do it. 

The 21 day plan:

1) Write down 3 things you're grateful for each day

2) Journal about 1 positive experience each day

3) Exercise every single day (it doesn't have to be hardcore)

4) 15 minutes of meditation daily (you don't have to be a seasoned yogi - just do your best)

5) Do one act of random kindness each day

I shall report back in 21 days - who's up for the 21 day challenge? 

Super skin needs steam

Via

Anything that Kelly Brook has to say about beauty...I'm on it. This is because despite being picture perfect in this shot, whenever Brook is papped sans-maquillage after a long flight, she still looks healthy and pretty. 

Kelly swears by regular steam sessions to keep her skin looking fresh. If you have access to a steam room in your gym it's worth popping in there a few times a week. It can be hard to time a post-workout pamper session in the gym changing room since we're also contemplating our protein fix at this point and wondering how we'll eat within an hour of acing the tricep dips. If you manage to get some me-time in the gym then it's worth showering, shampooing and conditioning before you steam. The heat will activate your conditioning treatment whilst your pores open and the toxins pour out. 

If you're without a steam room you can do this at home for your face. Just fill a tub with near boiling water and throw a towel over your head. Allow your face and neck to be exposed to the steam which is caught under the towel. You can add essential oils to the mix. It's a lovely feeling to pick out oils which best suit your mood and needs for the day. 

If you're not confident picking an oil blend you could start with something like lavender which is well loved. 

Health note: avoid lavender in pregnancy and remember that it may make you drowsy. 

Heartbeats

Moments from my week...

Images: my own

Apple Cider Vinegar = say 'see ya' to congested skin

Thom's Cider Vinegar of choice, available here with a beautiful little price tag too...

I'm thrilled to introduce a guest writer today: the clever and innovative Thom Milson. Thom has discovered an inexpensive way to cope with acne and a whole array of health and beauty challenges. In fact, Thom has got me drinking Apple Cider Vinegar to boost my immune system. Enough from me, over to Thom...

Hi I heart Natural Beauty readers, Thom here with a news flash on a dynamic and little known beauty weapon which you may already have in your kitchen cupboard.

If you told most people that Apple Cider Vinegar could be used as a beauty product, they wouldn’t believe you. In fact Apple Cider Vinegar is one of the most important and powerful natural remedies out there. It’s been known to help with weight loss, sinus infection, allergies, arthritis and acne. It’s usually taken in water as a drink, but can also be used topically, which is what I’m going to talk about here.

Make your eye cream work for you

Via

Hope you had a lovely weekend? Mine involved dog walking (my neighbour has let me loose on his Springer Spaniel - just a pup - LOVING it), getting back into the gym now my cough has subsided, spending a lovely evening with friends and fizz and a good old retail therapy fix. A gluten free cupcake topped it all off with a cup of herbal tea this afternoon in Salisbury (an old English market town with one of the world's most admired cathedrals - but the tea shops monopolised my attention). Lovely. 

Now, onto business - crow's feet are the topic of the day. If you don't already use an eye cream it's never too late to get into the game. I've used one since my late teens and I'm glad I did. Dab it on with your ring finger, less pressure this way. I wouldn't advocate using the product as close to the eye as this picture demonstrates. The skin tissue is very absorbent here and will soak up the cream like blotting paper. In fact, I've heard that plastic surgeons report finding a build up of product in some women's eye sockets when doing eye ops. I would suggest using in the area where crow's feet are (or would be, if you're lucky enough not to have any). It's worth going out to the corners and slightly down to the cheek bone there as we forget that eye wrinkles can cover a lot of ground.

The jury is out on whether it's worth applying cream under the brow bone. I did so for years (with the idea of firming this area which droops over time) but many in the industry believe this is a waste of product and time. It can't hurt to be generous but underneath the eye is most important. But don't stop just yet...you can also dab eye cream from the sides of the nostrils down to the sides of your mouth. This is another area where ageing starts to show; the lines here deepen over time and of course get so much worse in smokers. In fact, if you do smoke (naughty!) then it's worth dabbing the eye cream on the skin immediately around the mouth - ever heard of the expression 'cat's bottom mouth'? It's a horrible but accurate way to describe a smoker's bouche over time. I have no idea how La Moss gets away with it.

I tend to pop my eye cream under my moisturiser. The most important thing is to remember to use it morning and night. You'll see a difference.

Make your evening beauty ritual an early one

Image and some great flossing tips via 

How often do you feel exhausted by the time you need to take your make up off and get ready for bed? Sometimes we don't want to get off the sofa only because we're too tired for the next part of our journey up the stairs and into the bathroom. 

In an ideal world we'd set aside plenty of time to get ready for bed and on Sunday nights it's possible to pamper in a hot bath and the take the papers to bed. But in real life, loading the dishwasher, replying to that email, calling so-and-so back and getting ready for tomorrow can mean a late night. 

If you think you're likely to be heading to bed late or you're already dog tired, I suggest embarking on your evening wind down ritual earlier rather than later so that embarking on a flossing session will seem less like climbing Kilimanjaro.

Once you've had supper, head to the bathroom and clean your teeth and floss etc. The fresh minty taste should put you off snacking if you're a late night snacker. Then, take your time to cleanse, tone and moisturise and throw in any microfoliants and serums at this point. There, you're done for the evening. You can massage your night cream or oil in - your skin will love you for this. 

Now you're ready for bed and free to get on with your evening errands. The only downside to this that I can see is being make up free all evening...but it is really nice to be able to flop into bed without the hoo ha. 

Heartbeats

Moments from my week...

 Images: my own. Cakes by Crumpet. 

Cleanse twice

Via

Have you tried cleansing twice? If you're not already a convert then you might be shocked to find that a second cleanse reveals yet even more make up on your cotton pad. 

We really do need to remove all of the make up and grime which acrues on a daily basis. When I lived in London I really noticed the pollution on my skin, but even in a quieter city when I walk near a dirty road I can feel the dust settling onto my skin. So it's there, and it needs to be removed completely so that your pores can breathe and your skin can repair overnight. 

Cleansing twice is worth the time and the expense of extra product and cotton pads. Really work the cleansing product into your skin paying particular attention to the jaw line, nose area and forehead, where congestion tends to be more of a problem. 

This rule extends to hair care too. Shampooing twice and rinsing really well extends the life of your hair between washes. It's a lot easier to wash hair the second time round as the product goes further. Cleanliness is close to Godliness

Short grain brown rice = detox

Via

Ever since I read Bad Science I get kind of nervous about using the word detox. Apparently there is no such thing as detoxing. But, whatever, we all know what we mean by detoxing and anything that helps to fight free radicals and boost our health mojo is fine by me. I recommend trying to eat short grain brown rice daily. It must be short grain specifically to get the benefits. This is said to be very good for colon care and helps to balance the body. 

It's easy to fit it in almost every day (no-one's perfect). I tend to cook it in big-ish batches so that I have two days worth in the fridge to make up cold lunches with. Alongside a stir fry, curry or fish and veg these grains offer a great form of starch and help to stabilise blood sugars. 

I asked my nutritionist what I should do when I stray from my healthy eating plan. I generally follow gluten/dairy/sugar free, but I'm only human and will sometimes stray off piste or a glass of wine will sneak itself into my hand. I was told to do 3 things to get back into balance:

1) go for a walk and breathe in the air

2) do some yoga

3) eat some short grain brown rice

I heart the nutty texture and wouldn't dream of touching white rice now. It does take a while to cook but it's so simple to build a dish around this. 

What are your cupboard staples to stay healthy and balanced? Would love to know. 

This week I heart...

Pelvic floor maintenance sometimes seems like just another freaking thing on my to do list, so thank heavens for this lovely lady, Betty Herbert, for doing her kegel homework so that the rest of us might benefit. Loving this post. 

Still confused about the benefits of LinkedIn? If you're a bit of a dinosaur when it comes to cyber space self-promotion, you might like Alison Doyle's tips on how to make the most of it all.

I heart a cleanser which is speedy to use and Avalon Organic's Lavender range doesn't disappoint. The last thing I feel like doing last thing at night is to fanny around for ages in the bathroom. The lavender which isn't too lavender-y, in the sense that it doesn't feel like it's aimed at the granny market (disclaimer: not that there's anything wrong with grannies!!!) and has a comforting, feminine and clean fragrance. 

This goes on easily, comes off quickly and has a pump bottle design which is always a bonus as far as I'm concerned. The product lasts a good while. I'm not a fan of mean cleansers because it's nice to be generous with applications. This is not an item to skimp on because we want all of that make up to come off along with any dead skin cells sitting on the skins' surface. Prices vary but this costs less than a tenner which is really not a bad price by today's standards. If I use synthetic cleansers, no matter how expensive they might be, I tend not to like them long term, so I try to opt for natural or organic.

The cleansing milk is my favourite, although I've also tried the gel and it's great for anyone who likes to have a wet face and feel scrubbed to holiness last thing at night. The gel leaves my skin feeling a little tight which I'm not a fan of. I tend to prefer milks as gels nearly always have a drying effect, even when they claim not to. If you have oily skin, opting for gel washes is a good general rule.

If you're after a complete range, I've long been a fan of Avalon Organic's hand washes, hand creams and body lotions, especially the lemon which is divine. 


Onto wedge trainers - totally heart...

I heart these Ash trainers and I'm deliberating over colour. My Ash boots have got me through many a winter sartorial dilemma in 2011/2, so I'm looking to these wedge trainers to inject some Spring casual glam into my wardrobe. These look easy to wear. The key thing is comfort for me - sad but true, I'm just not prepared to suffer. 

Via

I heart meditation bells. I've bought some which are a little more ornate than these (above). I was listening to Thich Nhat Hanh whom I respect deeply. He was saying that whenever you're upset or about to have a pop at someone, you should go and sit in your breathing room to ring your bells and breathe mindfully. I like to ring my bells to mark the beginning and end of a meditation session. They add pomp and atmosphere - the clear sound resonating in the room is powerful indeed. 

Happy Easter

What a cute little fella Via

Happy Easter, Naturally Beautiful people. I'm recovering from that cold, milking it for all it's worth, making friends with the dog next door, planning some long walks to see the lambs and hoping to make some yummy dishes over the weekend.

If you're in need of food inspiration over the weekend I recommend a visit to pure2raw, the 10 cent designer, Lisa's Project Vegan or i heart wellness...some super yummy recipes from vibrant gal bloggers.

Skin Food

Image: my own

I've been suffering from this noisy, dramatic cough and general lurgy which seems to have afflicted the whole of the UK. I've got friends who haven't shaken their cough off after weeks and even months. There's no beating around the bush, I've looked rough for the last few days. My boyfriend confirmed that I looked a long way from desirable, which I couldn't dispute since all I could manage was the most basic of cleansing and moisturing routines before falling back into bed with the most stunning performance of poorliness that you've ever seen. Somewhere between the last stages of consumption and a death scene from the horror genre. But I mustn't brag. I've been slapping Weleda's Skin Food onto my skin like there's no tomorrow in the hope of revival. 

Ill health blesses us with the ability to see every imperfection, line and flaky bit on one's visage. Hands look dry and dehydrated, face looks like it's never been acquainted with a decent serum in its life and even hair plays up. Skin Food is known as nature's answer to 8 hour cream and is a poorly kept secret in fashion circles. It's the certified natural answer to poorly post-cold noses, elbows, lips, cracked heels (why can't we have heels like babies' for life? So unfair) and anywhere needing to be saved and nourished. This is one to reach for after a bender...it's always nice to put products to work whilst we get our 40 winks. 

Via

Made

I've been 'deconstructing' the bachelor vibe in my home for the last 7 months and shopping for new bits and pieces. I've shabby chicified a few pieces of furniture (who knew that whipping wood with a chain could produce such delectable results?) and I'm now at the stage where the home isn't my main project but it's an ongoing sideline. I've ordered a grey fairly trad sofa, just because I like a really comfy place to nest of an evening and I don't think super chic would give as cosy as I like. I also like furniture that doesn't 'commit' too much to one particular room or home. On my cyber travels I've come across Made and I'm loving their low prices on high design...

All images via Made