Willow's Winter Wellness

Nurturing myself through January and beyond ...

For me, January is not a month for making big plans and punishing resolutions. For years, it was. I loved the idea of new challenges; a clean, blank slate for a brand new year. However, as time has gone by, the last few months of the year push me to my limits and I actually long for January.

I treat it almost as a present to myself; a time to slow down, heal and replenish. A month to be calm, to hunker down and be kind to myself. Do the things that I've wanted to but haven't found the time to do.

I try to be at home more so I can sort and organise; restocking cupboards, printing off photos and making albums, finding new recipes to nourish the family; I want to spend time pouring over the seed catalogues that are stacking up on my desk. Sow my sweet peas, leisurely choose which dahlia tubers to order and finally sit down to write my new book!

I’ve got this great new tool from ISAMAYA, which is rather terrifying to look at - a serious guasha gadget that really gets the circulation going and one hopes, does a little sculpting too. Either way, I’m sure it helps move the toxins on and get the products deeper into the dermis and I enjoy the daily ritual; I find it quite meditative.

I find the concept of supplements a little overwhelming - what and how often to take and don’t love swallowing loads of pills. So I am loving the ease of these Better You Vitamin Sprays - I am taking Complete B and K. I’ve also been taking Lumity for over six months now. A multivitamin for women that you take morning and night and I think it’s really good. Definitely helpful in the sleep department. I get a bit panicky when I think i’m running out which I think has to be a good sign?!

For focus and memory- both of which have been shocking recently - I’ve started taking these mushroom gummies which claim great things, so far so good. If nothing else, they taste delicious - I look forward to taking them as a sweet, mid morning pick me up.

This time of year is particularly harsh on our skin and a combination of that, stress after the busiest time of my year and Christmas on top, means my skin suffers a little. I love to take the time to look after my skin in January - lots of long dark evenings spent indoors means I can face mask et al! Top of my list at the moment are…