Hi lovelies,
I wanted to share with you the things I’m really, really, reallllllly glad I invested in last year.
I’m not someone who is particularly motivated by STUFF… I don’t want to buy useless shit that doesn’t add to my life, ya know? I’m not by any means a minimalist or perfect though… I can defo get caught up in consumerist shit if I’m not tending to my soul needs… try to fill that empty hole where Great Spirit belongs with STUFF.
I share this post not to encourage you to buy MORE STUFF… but just to share what I’m really glad I invested in this year. I might be a self-made millionaire, but I’m still pretty stingy when it comes to what I buy. And I love sharing about what actually works.
So yeah! Stuff! That was useful and good and a beautiful buying decision for me:
Being introduced to therapeutic essential oils was honestly one of the best parts of 2016 for me. I’ve always bought cheapo smelly oils wherever I’ve gone… but didn’t know how to use them beyond just chucking them in an oil burner and then turning it off because they gave me a headache.
I was sick a LOT in 2016 with recurrent throat infections + illnesses, and a mate finally pulled me up and said:
Mate, I used to have shit immunity, I now use essential oils therapeutically and it’s changed my life. Let me teach you how pleaaaaase!
And she did and I was TOTALLY SURE it wouldn’t work for me… I thought it was yet another fucking hippy healing placebo. I mean – I’m a hippy and I LOVE hippy stuff… but the efficacy of so much stuff can leave a lotttt to be desired.
Anyways, I ordered a couple… and instantly fell in love… went back and bought a whole kit… and now have a walking essential oil apothecary in my purse at all times, and in my bedroom, and in the kitchen.
This.shit.works.big.time. For EVERYTHING! ERMAGERD!
I use them every single day now on me, our girls + my hunky love… for immunity, mood management, tantrums, insect bites, sore backs, infections, colds, stubbed toes… anything that happens you’ll see me running towards it shrieking “LET MAMA HELP! I HAVE AN OIL FOR THAT!” Bahahahahaha!
I’m also THAT person who is oiling up her friends and extended family every chance I get…
I can’t even talk about how much it’s changed me + my family’s lives without sounding like I’ve joined a fucking cult.
I really have. I’m a card carrying member of the essential oil cult.
I could wax on about my new obsession for dayyyyzzzzzzzzzzz…
if you’re interested in learning more… I started a Facebook Essential Oils group with friends just so we could talk oily shit with each other… which then rapidly exploded to 600 people… SO MUCH FUN!
You’re most welcome to join us if you want! #oilcult #sooooooointoit #totallyindoctrinated #fingersniffer
I heard a little about weighted blankets earlier this year and how useful they were for people with high sensitivies, sensory processing disorder, autism, Asperger’s, restless legs (and a whole bunch more as well!)
I tend to fall in a couple of those categories I reckon! I’ve shared more about identifying with a lot of Aspie symptoms here. When I’ve been through a particularly stimulating experience (i.e. have been to a really busy place, or ran a live workshop, or done something social), my body feels like it is thrumming and ungrounded. I can feel the adrenaline running through me. When I lay down in bed, I often feel like I’m almost levitating, that I need something more to hold me to the ground. When I’m particularly anxious, I’ll even ask Chris to lay down on top of me for some comforting pressure. (HA! THAT’S WHAT SHE SAID!)
Intuitively I felt like a weighted blanket would be the right fit for me.
A weighted blanket, by the way, is exactly what it sounds like:
A specially made blanket that has extra weight in the filling, making it much, much heavier than traditional blankets.
I ordered mine from Calming Moments in Australia – a small family company that handmakes them.
I ordered a single bed-sized blanket in blue cotton material that had 9kg of weight in it (it’s a heavy bugger to lug around!)
As soon as it arrived, I lay down on the floor of my office with it on, and my body instantly R E L A X E D. It’s a reallllllly soothing feeling for me. All the tension runs out of my body, I start breathing deeper. It’s the most comforting cocoon EVER.
It lives on our couch now, and I make all my friends who come over try it out. Their instant reaction is “Oh holy SHIT! This is AMAZING!” and then they melt into a relaxed puddle and lay there in a blissed out state of comatose. I’ve even had the same reaction from burly men!
I lay under it every single night on the couch while we watch TV (or more accurately: Chris watches TV, and I draw, collage, felt, or text with friends). If I’m feeling antsy during the day, I’ll get it out for soothing. Any anxiety I’m feeling is quickly soothed away.
I’m sure my anxiety levels are down this year since I started using it daily.
Now – here’s the thing – I did however find that the 9kg is too heavy for me to sleep under. It’s really relaxing… but I felt a bit claustrophobic and pinned down. I did check, and I had measured the right weight for me – I’m not sure if it is because of my hypermobility or whatever. The 9kg is brilliant for the ultimate in chillaxing, and after a few months, I decided I really wanted to get another less-heavy blanket that I could comfortably sleep under.
I ordered another single bed-sized cotton blanket – this time with 6kg of weight in it. I’m so glad I did – it feels like a good weight for me for sleeping under, and Chris mentions he notices I sleep deeper and am a lot less restless at night when I sleep under it. I feel like I get to sleep faster and sleep more soundly under it.
Still, my 9kg is the ultimate for me in chillaxing… if I had to choose between them and only have one, I would probably just have the 9kg and just use it on the couch. It’s such a sedative for the times when my body gets overstimulated.
I did also order a 2kg lap blanket – for me, I don’t notice much of that noticeable sedative effect with that one, and now my kids use it instead. They love the weighted blankets as well!
For me, the weighted blankets are such an important part of my self-care tools these days… I actually feel a bit of anxiety at the thought of being without them – like if I’m travelling.
I’ve got a trip for a conference happening in a few months, and I know it’s going to be a stimulating time, so I’ve already allocated half my suitcase to be filled with the 6kg weighted blanket, my own pillow, my essential oil diffuser + a big array of essential oils. MWAHAHAHA! I HAVE PRIORITIES PEOPLE!!!!
After spending so much of my year being sick, by August, I knew I needed to make a change. My dear mentor Hiro Boga was encouraging me to up my self care and tend to my crappy health. She invited me to go to Germany with her to spend time at an amazing health retreat there. I didn’t feel up to being away from my family for so long or travelling internationally… but the idea struck a seed inside my spirit that quickly took root. What if… instead of going across the world… I just go to a retreat just down the road?
I googled away, and found a great place just a couple of hours drive from here, and in October, I spend a deliriously happy 5 days there.
I wrote about my experience of that here.
It was an investment – it cost me over $2000 to do it – I’m pretty stingy and that felt like a LOT to spend on myself. But I knew I had to put myself first, and put my health first. And I am so glad it did.
It really infused my year with that much more support, and soul cushioning. It was that week of the year where I left it all behind, and just took care of me. Big insights and revelations followed.
It’s something I want to do every single year now. Take one week out of the year to disconnect and take complete care of me. We as women and as mothers forget that that’s important. We forget what that looks like and feels like. I saw it, and I felt it, and holy SHIT does it feel GOOOOOOOOOD.
Lastly, this one isn’t for me. But it still brings me so much joy, and I’m so glad I bought it for my darling husband.
I get so much joy of buying gifts for other people. I can’t stop grinning when other people receive something I’ve given them. Especially my husband – that gentle river stone soul who brings so much goodness into my life. Also: have I mentioned he’s hot?
It was our 15 year anniversary this year, which I felt was pretty momentous. I feel so proud of us for being such determined motherfuckers to grow old together, come hell or high water. I feel so proud of us for doing the big work – inner and outer – for us to grow a life of love, peace, gentleness, communication and understanding together. It was definitely not something either of us were taught in our childhoods, and we really had to work out how the fuck to make that happen for ourselves.
So I really wanted to celebrate the shit out of love, and of him, and of us this year. So I told him I would give him $100 for every year he’s loved me, and he could spend it all at the music store. That made his eyes light up of course. He’s a musician, and a guitarist. We ended up spending a bit more than his $100 yearly allowance for our 15 years together (at my enthusiastic encouragement), but it is SO WORTH IT for my husband to have his dream guitar.
(I had no idea what I wanted for our anniversary that was in May – so I just said I’d park his gift to me until I knew. Neither of us like buying shit just because of an anniversary… we always rather wait until there’s something we actually we want. Once the health retreat came up, I knew I’d found it… so our anniversary presents this year were bloody bonza!)
All up…
2016 might have been a hard, challenging year in many ways… but I feel SO grateful for the investments which made such a difference for me to get me through… nourishing my body, mind and soul… and celebrating love and creativity!
Big love,
Don’t miss out!
Our first massive clearance sale is on NOW!
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