Now is the perfect time to shift gears and embrace a slower, gentler way of living.

We’re all living strange and challenging days across the globe right now. More than ever before, our homes are becoming our sanctuaries. We have no choice other than to slow down, look within and nestle in. Now is the perfect opportunity to find contentment with our own company and beauty in things we may previously have overlooked in the rush of life.

It’s time for a staycation!

WHY I LOVE A STAYCAY 

• It’s the perfect opportunity to finally give myself permission to stop doing so much and practise being instead.

• I notice things I overlook in daily life - like butterflies and birds, or how much water I really am drinking. Or how much wine I really am drinking.

15 WAYS TO ENJOY A STAY-CATION AT HOME

1. Have a picnic in your own garden - complete with blanket, pillows, bowl of nibbles and a good book to immerse yourself in.
2. Cuddle your pet or loved one and let them be the first to let go.
3. Give yourself a digital detox day - turn off your phone, laptop and TV for 24 hours.
4. Hibernate for an afternoon. Put on your cosiest pyjamas and slippers and watch every movie on your Netflix list.
5. Listen to a podcast from start to finish.
6. Cultivate a vegetable, herb or flower patch. Enjoy the deep satisfaction of cutting your own flowers for a vase or cooking your own home grown veggies.
7. Start a new book you’ve been saving for a quiet moment.
8. Write a daily list of anything you’re proud of or love about your life. The gratitude will spill over into other areas of your life and manifest more of the same.
9. Light a candle as evening falls or at dinner time to fill your space with gentle light.
10. Go through your wardrobe and play with new combinations or throw out/donate what you don’t love anymore.
11. Enjoy a slow, warm bath with essential oils and candles.
12. Bake a cake from scratch.
13. Give your home a slow declutter - drawer by drawer, room by room. Donate it all then revel in your fresh, spacious new abode.
14. Get creative with a passion project - print a series of your favourite photos with a common theme, frame simply then display somewhere that makes you happy.
15. Ride a bike around your neighbourhood and see things you never saw when you were whizzing past in the car.

See you soon | À bientôt

Barbara