2015 Updates: Changes for Mind, Body & Spirit

As cliche as it sounds, this January I have resolved to take greater care of my body, mind and spirit. (Don’t all roll your eyes at once!)

To be quite honest, I have always regarded myself as a relatively healthy person, in that I enjoyed eating good foods, I never really got sick, and I never struggled with my weight. Over the past two months however, I have begun to notice that both my energy levels, and my skin were suffering, and after a particularly indulgent (but fun!) December I have decided that I need to go on a bit of a health kick.

So this month I have decided to undertake a few new healthy habits, which I can hopefully adopt into my lifestyle permanently. I have mentioned snippets of these undertakings on some of my social media accounts already, but I wanted to give you guys a brief overview on the blog also. So here goes!

1: Detoxing with Textox teas

The lovely people over at Teatox invited me to sample their Skinny Tea range this month, and having never done a detox of any kind before, I wanted to give it a try. I am apprehensive of what effect these will have, but overall I am sure that it will be a good one. I have been drinking them for a few days now (one cup in the morning and one at night) with no major feedback to report yet, but stay tuned for a full review at the end of the month!

2: No Alcohol for 30 days

Ok, Im not normally a big drinker, but like I said, December was a verrrry indulgent month. It seemed like there were more parties, events, and nights out than ever before, and by the end of December I was yearning for a break from the sauce. I’m thinking that giving up alcohol while I’m trying out all these other healthy changes will probably make for a good fit, and after the past month, my skin, energy levels (and my liver!) will probably thank me for it.

3: 30 day Yoga Challenge

I have to admit another flaw. Since I moved to Dublin nearly two years ago, I never do any exercise. I find the gym extremely boring (not to mention expensive!) and I avoid it like the plague. I know this is a terrible attitude, and so I am easing myself back into a fitness lifestyle with a 30 day Yoga Challenge, created by Yoga With Adriene. Adrienne is an online Yogi who offers amazing (and free!) at-home yoga tutorials via YouTube, and having tried out some of her fun beginner lessons already, I felt ready to take on a bigger challenge. I started the first one today and really enjoyed it, so here’s hoping I can stick 30 days! Not only are at-home workouts a great way to save money on your fitness routine (literally all you need is a mat) but I find Adriene a delight to watch and learn from. She has a nice chilled temperament, but she doesn’t take herself too seriously either, and encourages you to find what works for you in the poses, so you feel like you don’t need to be too perfect starting out.

4: Meditation.

Ok, so this one is a little left-wing, but I’ve been looking into different types of meditation over the past few months, and I really think I could benefit from it. I have always been a rather erratic thinker, and since making the move into freelance work I am finding myself constantly going over endless to-do lists in my head, especially at times when I’m supposed to be winding down and switching off from work. I know society has the tendency to glorify workaholics, but I really want to maintain a good work/life balance regardless of how busy I am, and I would like to regain my ability to calm my thoughts and just switch off at the end of the day. I have made a few (fairly unsuccessful!) attempts at meditating at home, and I am now on the hunt for some workshops or classes in Dublin to help me get to grips with it before hopefully continuing on my own. If anyone has any suggestions for classes in Dublin, please feel free to leave them in the comments below!

5: Wardrobe De-Clutter 

Im sure you’ve heard me mention my big wardrobe clearout at some stage already, its a seemingly endless project that I have been working on for the past 6 months or so now. We’ll it is finally coming to an end, and I only have a small amount of stuff left to get rid of. I’ve been selling so much on Depop, and I have also consigned a lot of pieces with Siopaella, with a few loads going to charity shops also. It feels so good to get rid of things you no longer want or need, and if you can earn money for your unwanted itmes, then all the better! After getting quite a few requests from people, I will be doing a special Closet-Clearout blog post, featuring my top tips on de-cluttering your wardrobe, as well as my tips for selling on Depop, and consigning with Siopaella.

6: Room re-decoration

Given that I now spend a lot of time working from home, I made a trip to ikea recently and picked up a gorgeous desk, and some other new bits and pieces for my room. I have decided that if I am going to be working from one specific space, I am going to make it as pretty, tranquil, and clutter-free as possible. I have been busy putting together a little office space for myself to work from, as well as giving my room a bit of a makeover. So expect to see a feature on my home office-space coming soon, I can’t wait to show it to you all!

This is just a general overview of some of the changes I’ve begun and will (hopefully) be implementing over the next few months, but I will be touching on each subject more in in the future, in my new Lifestyle series on this blog. I’d also like to ask you that if there is anything specific that you’d like to see on the blog over the next few months, let me know! Whether its a beauty post on my makeup routine, a career post on working in the industry, or a lifestyle post on how I stay motivated, let me know what you’d like to see and I will do my very best to make it happen. Leave a message in the comments below, drop me a tweet @CiaraODoherty, or an email here.

Hope you’ve all had a relaxing Sunday!

Happy Shopping,

Ciara x