5 Morning Habits to Calm Your Day

早上完成這五件事，會給你平靜的一天

有些事情，我每天起床也會做。不知不覺成了生活日常的日常，這些事不難做也不太花時間，只需要提醒自己就可以了。

“When you keep doing something for 21 days they become a habit.”
And yes, there are something I will do every morning, and doing so it makes everything different - not only my health is getting better, I feel a lot calmer throughout the day too.

1. 每天起床，花5分鐘時間坐在床上或坐墊上，閉上眼晴，靜靜地聆聽自己的呼吸。

2. 整理及收拾床舖——整齊的睡房不單立即讓你感覺舒服自在，晚上回家時也能讓身體心情好好休息。

3. 早上淋浴，可以嘗試使用半冷或全冷水——它會讓你的鼻子都非常暢通，有一種早上在大海暢泳的感覺。（踫到冷水記得要保持呼吸，別閉氣，呼吸會讓你容易適應水的溫度；也可以先撥一些水在肚子讓身體適應）

4. 挑戰自己，起床別趕緊去沖咖啡，反而在睡覺前倒一杯水；起床後，加一點檸檬汁，把它整杯喝完。

5. 預早15分鐘出門，時間鬆動一些，也許會發覺心情也放鬆一點。

1. Don’t look at your phone immediately at the moment you woke up. Try to sit on the bed, or on a cushion, cross your legs, softly close your eyes, pay attention to your breathing for 5 minutes.

2. Make your bed - a tidy and clean space not only brighten up your mood immediately, and when you back from work at night, it provides you a warm welcome with a space for you to rest.

3. Take a cold shower in the morning. Cold shower will help your breathing to be smooth, and nothing is better than a feeling of diving in the sea in the morning. (little reminder: Keep breathing will let you to adapt to the temperature of water, and you may want to start with pulling some water to your belly first.)

4. Challenge yourself: Rather than going to make yourself a coffee, start your morning with a cup of still water with some lemon juice. It helps to detoxify your body.

5. Try to leave our home 15 minutes earlier than usual to get to work or school. With abundance of time, you may feel the whole day is much more relaxing.

你也有屬於自己的早上習慣嗎？

Do you have your own morning rituals too?

Love,

Charlotte

A Lesson to Self-Care

好好照顧自己

這幾年，我經常聽到幾個經常形容我的形容詞，清爽、獨特、平靜。不少訪問會問我茹素以後，心靈會否變得平靜起來。茹素雖然不是魔法，卻讓我意識到「要好好照顧自自己」的道理，除了應用在飲食上，應該應用在生活各方面——好好吃一頓飯，好好穿衣，好好工作，好好生活。那麼，同樣道理，可否用在心靈層面上？你有沒有好好照顧自己的情感？

There are always a few keywords describing me - fresh, unique and calm. But I have not always been a calm girl since childhood. It took me many years to be who I am now, to learn those lessons I have to learn. Although following a plant-based diet is not a life-changing magic, it inspired me to “how to live well?” in other aspects, such as having good meals, wear comfortable clothes and work well etc. Meanwhile, can we apply the same concept into our inner self?

什麼是身心靈健康？
What is well-being?

簡義來說，一個健康和快樂的狀態。
(n.) A state of feeling healthy and happy.

身、心、靈三方面是相互連繫，相互影響。一個人的健康，身就是身體、生理；心就是心理、情緒；靈代表靈性、靈魂，這三方面之間必須維持一個平衡，我們才會在一個真正健康的狀態。

Body,Mind,Soul - three are related and affecting each other. Healthy body may be the most common definition we hear health. Healthy mind, which we may think of peaceful emotions and mindset. Soul, about our spiritual health, help us to find happiness and meaning of life. One must achieve a balance in these three aspects in order to enjoy a healthy life as a whole.

“Self-care means being switched on, fully present and engaged in your life. It’s the opposite of switching off and retreating from the world. Ignoring your own needs leaves you depleted, but self-care will energise you.”

— 《self-care for the real world》

曾經，當我對外界的煩擾而感到疲累時，我會選擇逃避，讓自己躲在家中，對外不聞不問。那時候的我覺得，我需要這一點安靜又安全的時間去休息。不過，休息的愈久，卻會感到無力感更重。

I used to “switching off” myself when I have negative emotions and anxiety. They just glue me to my bed for hours of uselessness. I thought I needed that space to rest and think. However, the longer I indulge myself in switching off, the more powerless I feel towards everything.

真正照顧自己，意思是讓自己完全投入，百分百的參與在你的生活中。這與隔離自己、避開外邊世界的方式完全相反。 忽視自己的需求會讓你感到疲憊不堪，但好好照顧自己卻可以激勵你，讓你重新感到自己的力量。嘗試把專注力重新回到自身，打開耳朵好好聽一聽身體的需要、觀察自己對事物的反應，慢慢地訓練自己的敏感度和相信自己的直覺。

Caring for yourself means to let yourself be fully engaged and presented in your life. This is the exactly opposite of isolating yourself from the outside world. Ignoring your own needs can make you feel exhausted, but taking care of yourself can motivate you and make you feel your inner strength again. Try to put concentration back to yourself — listen to your body's needs, observe your reactions to the surrounding, and slowly train your sensitivity and start beliving your instincts.

照顧自己的日常練習

Practice these few steps

聽上去好像很難明白？不如由生活上幾個簡單細節開始吧！

在晨光初起的早上，練習瑜珈、冥想，放鬆呼吸，把筋骨放鬆；好動的你也可以選擇做一點肌肉訓練，把專注力都重新回到自身。
在忙碌的下午，為自己泡一壷茶或沖煮一杯咖啡，讓自己慢慢從急促生活中放慢節奏，享受一下平靜和放鬆的時刻。
在寧靜的晚上點起心愛的香氛蠟燭，放點輕鬆的慢音樂，偶爾使用讓人放鬆的精油搽在手腕，或是睡前噴幾下天然香氣的pillow mist，好好舒眠及舒緩情緒。

Hard to understand? Don’t worry… It's always better to start with a daily routine.

In the early morning, start the day by practicing yoga and meditation, try to relax your breathing and your body. If you are an active person, you may try doing some muscle training, and put the concentration back to yourself.
During a busy afternoon, make yourself a cup of tea or brew a cup of coffee, let yourself to slow down from the rush of life, try to enjoy a moment of calm and relaxation.
In the quiet evening, you can light your favourite scented candle, play some slow music; and maybe use relaxing essential oils to massage your hands, or to spray a few drop of soothing sleeping mist before going to bed.

對我來說，奢華不等於是物質上的種種，而是對生活的細節有要求，講求生活上的質感；美好的生活，從照顧好自己的需要開始。

To me, luxury is never a materialistic concept, but it requires your attention to every details in life, looking for the quality of life. Well-being begins with you treat yourself with good care.

最後，想感謝 10/10 HOPE 的邀請，在剛剛的倫敦之旅給了我到 bamford 的體驗。品牌的理念不但跟我很相近，「用在身體上的跟吃進去的同樣重要」，還有他們holistic（全面的）的想法和理念，也帶給我對身心靈不一樣的看法。

Last but not least, I would like to thank 10/10 HOPE for their invitation and bamford for their warm welcoming. Not only I appreciate their brand concept and belief - “What goes on the body is as important as what we put inside.”, also they inspired me to have deeper understanding about well-being.

我和他們也合作拍了一個短的影片——很快就會跟大家見面，請期待喔！

I have also partnered with them to create a video, please stay tuned!

PS: 那天在Brompton Cross的 Daylesford 吃午餐，全素的選擇很多呢；就像我手上拿著的Pizza，滿滿的antichoke洋蓟，新鮮烤出來的就是特別的滋味！除了Cafè外，他們也有賣新鮮、有機食材、家品等等，果真是一個全面的體驗。

PS: After visiting bamford store, the staff recommended that I should visit Daylesford for lunch. Plenty of vegetarian/vegan options and healthy meals, perfect for gathering with friends and family. Also, remember to check out their grocery store (with organic natural food) and homewares shop, I am sure you will spend quite a lot of time there!

Daylesford
76-82 Sloane Avenue Brompton Cross
London SW3 3DZ

Love,

Charlotte