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6.4.2018 / Self-Care

Most relaxing & Calming Self-Treatment Which I know exists!

self-care-post

This is my absolute favorite Self-Care method and I am SO excited to share it with you!

You are going to love this, my friend ♥

If you are one of those persons who easily suffer from coldness, this is an especially perfect treatment for you.

It is the most relaxing and calming self-treatment which I know exists! It`s Ayurveda self-massage, called; abhyanga. Luxurious and balancing full body warm oil massage.
It moves stress and toxins from your body and mind and keeps you warm for hours.

It calms the nervous system and therefore it is a perfect treatment for sensitive persons or if you feel the stress of a busy life! (like we all do at time to time) and for creatives also, we have so much going on in our life and mind and this is like tiny meditation.

It has been said that abhyanga is like an “experience of being loved” and I really do sign it. What could be a better way to show compassion for yourself than this beautiful balancing treat?

In my country, Finland, winters are cold (and no you really don`t get used to it!) I especially enjoy this treatment during autumn and winter, I highly recommend to take this to your morning routines, it will take about half an hour to do it. I know you can be thinking, Hannele, I don`t really have time for! Yes, I get you – we don`t always have the time BUT I really do believe that if we want something we can make the time. ..maybe not for every day but if you enjoy this, try to make it regular like even two times a week. It`s better than nothing.

Or if your morning routines contain meditation or yoga consider a few times a week to do this instead or cut your yoga time half and use it for a luxurious massage – they work together perfectly!

Sometimes we think that we don`t have time to do things, but think about that taking care of yourself is where everything good rises in your life – It`s your ticket to success, your happiness & your health!
When I fall into a trap ” I don`t have time” I remind myself:
If I don`t have time to enjoy my life and do what makes me happy and healthy – what is the point of my life then?

SO, HOW TO DO THIS

Massage your body about a 15 -20 minutes.
Make the moment rush free, light some candles to lift up your spirit and use a warm room.
You can choose a Dosha Oils which have specific ayurvedic herbs for your own dosha or for example, I use a coconut oil and sometimes I put a few drops of essential oils with it.

Pour the quantity you need oil into a cup and heat it in the hot water container. Oil should be comfortably warm and not hot.
Take a shower after the massage.

** ATTENTION **
watch out for slipping on oily feet!

But shampoo on your dry hair, it will remove oil better after the massage.
Whats the video below for step by step introduction how to massage and learn more about your Dosha here.

AYURVEDA SELF-MASSAGE VIDEO

23.3.2018 / Lifestyle

Is Your Home a Place Where You Can Feel Rested & Happy?

We`ve been having a little Grand Desing marathon with my man lately. Last two weeks, every morning when we`ve happened to wake up before our little daughter Mila (soon to be 5 years old) we`ve stolen a little time to drink morning coffee and watch together one episode and we just talk about how nice it has been to spend a little time together at mornings, rather than evening when you are a little bit tired already… Isn’t that how we parents usually do? We spend time together after children go to sleep?

That`s why I love about being an entrepreneur, to be able to challenge those so-called normal daily things to live a more fulfilling life.

And you can imagine, after watching few episodes – my mind is exploding with new ideas according to our home 🙂

Watching this tv-series I realized that the very first reason why people started these huge project was that they were inspired by the gorgeous view. The location was everything to them. The surroundings and beautiful calming environment made a great difference into their lives and I firmly believe that the quality of our life can dramatically get better or worse depending on how peaceful we can be with our surroundings.

Is your home a place where you can feel rested, happy?

Or when you look around, do you see unfinished things which make you feel bad and lazy?
I think about my home in a way that it`s kind of my “hotel”. I want to feel good and relaxed in my home. I don`t want to live in a place which feels unfinished all the time (and I do know how that feels – not very inspiring!) I go to a holiday for fun and new experiences, not because I have to get out from my home that I can relax.

We moved to a new home a year ago and I realized some time ago how much there still were things that I haven`t take care of. So, I made a list of those things and step by step I`ve been making these things my new reality. And it`s been such a fun project!

One of the biggest things on my list is, to decorate our outdoors sauna cottage as a place where we can relax, barbecue at summer, drink coffee with friends and I can even work or write my blog when I want to change the scenery. I want it to be something beyond ordinary. Our cottage is surrounded by forest just on the edge of our yard and it truly needs to be decorated from the inside too before it can become its full glory 🙂 And I feel more than lucky to have a place like this to enjoy and it has become very important for me.

I challenge you to take a piece of paper and a pen and write everything down that has bothered you lately in your environment!

Write down all the things that hang in the air right now and takes your energy. All the things that make you think; that should have been done.

It only takes a few minutes to write that list but, you will immediately feel better, relief and get clarity. Then put those things in the importance order, most important as a first one etc. Then step by step do those things. Is there something you can do right away? It will have a powerful positive impact on your life`s every aspect!

You are creating energy for yourself and what could be a better time to do this than a new beautiful Spring?

16.3.2018 / Lifestyle

Say Goodbye To a Busy Life and Listen to Your Heart to Live More Your Dreams

Have you ever felt that you have an urge inside of you to slow down to really taste life?

To listen, take a deep breath and stop all the hassle what`s going on in your life? I think that feeling is your heart whispering to you to listen to it, to slow down to make more conscious life choices.

Too many times we just keep hoping that things change. We don`t really stop and listen to our hearts. But, hoping is just that. It gives you hope but rarely changes your life. I`m a highly sensitive person and the limits of my body have taught me that only by listening to my heart and my feelings I can become energized, happy and be excited about my everyday life! (which can with three children get a quite hectic sometimes).

It`s not always easy in our everyday life but we can try to get close as we can. One step at the time, one situation at the time, slow down and survey your thoughts and feelings. Write them down and do those famous baby steps to get close to your dream life and your hearts desires.

Slow down and you can create a meaningful, conscious life journey. That`s what I desire myself – something meaningful and conscious. Every one of us has times when we just go high speed even though we feel that something is missing but, only when we really take the time to listen what we feel and what we want, we can make the change – for the better.

And that way your life starts to look and feel it belongs to you <3

PS: If you would love to have a little Creative boost – check my Pinterest board “Workspace Inspiration For Creatives”!

12.3.2018 / Motivation

The Power Of Writing Your Dreams Down

I`ve always been a dreamer. When I was a teenager I live in a sparsely populated area in a countryside. All my friends lived at least 10km away. I went to school by buss were i could mostly meet them. If I wouldn`t have my imagination – I would have bored to death 🙂

That being said I really can`t know if loving so much my “alone time” and my tendency to lost time to dreaming is something I`ve learned under pressure forced by my living conditions as a child or is it just always been a deep yearning of my soul.

Maybe it`s both of them with the fact that as a highly sensitive person my quiet time is always well needed.

I wrote 6 journals from age 13 to 16 and I saved only one.

I burn all the others our home fireplace.
I have always found it easy to get rid of things I don`t need anymore but, this is something I have regret.

Having times of depression and going through my challenging childhood and my youth as an adult, I have often wondered how much it would have been helpful to read my journals and explore my experiences, thoughts, and feelings I had back then since I knew I write a lot about them.

My parents had divorced and my father became an alcoholic and I had to move to a small town and leave my friends and my big sister at the age of 12…there was a lot of things to go through and forgive.

But it`s never been “only dreaming”. It`s really about believing in magic and the truth that life is full of possibilities and no matter how crazy your dream is – it can come true. We all are able to make magic happen.

As important is also to put your dreams into the paper. The real power of making your dreams come true is still taking action. As hard as it sometimes can be for a dreamer 🙂

Write them down, collect photos to a beautiful album or collect dream boards on Pinterest. I use all these methods, just because i enjoy all of them! It`s about collecting creative ideas and inspiration. Lately, I`ve been making a new album for my dreams according to our home and for garden dreams. This also helps me to clear my mind and focus the most important things. What about you – do you write journals? Do you make your own dream albums or is Pinterest your way?

9.3.2018 / Photography

Visit to Botanical Garden of the University of Oulu, Finland

“If you look the right way, you can see the whole world is a garden”

–Frances Hodson Burnett

These words…so lovely. Really haven`t ever think about that so clearly but yes, the whole world is a garden.

This week is a winter holiday week here in Finland. That means kids don`t have school. We decided to take a visit to the nearest botanical garden, with my daughter Sara(16), cause we both just love plants! It`s a one hour drive from our home, Botanical Garden of the University of Oulu.

The place is old fashioned and needs renovation and is actually closing it`s doors this Sunday until the end of August for renovation work. During the renovation, the look of the greenhouse collections will be renewed by adding information and building new seating and resting places for those who visit the greenhouses and there are going to become a new visitor center to the lobby also.

I`m definitely going to visit the place again after they have made the renovation – looking forward to seeing the change.

Immediately when we walk into the place and the first area was a tropical area, we were both totally enthusiastic about the place, such a great visit – I felt like home 🙂

6.3.2018 / Lifestyle

Longing For Spring & Garden Dreams

Immediately, when the sun starts to shine, the Spring is in my mind. It means that the long and dark winter is finally starting to turn for brighter days. I get excited about so many (more) things! Decorating my “new” home and garden dreams are the top things in my mind this upcoming spring.

For several years there has been a huge longing inside of me to make my own flower/ vegetable garden, but time and place have not just met.

A year ago we moved to a new beautiful home and place where I can finally feel that I don`t want to move anymore, at least for a very long time and the time has come to lift up my sleeves and listen to the inner sound that hasn’t leave me alone. I`m nowhere near to know all the things I need to know of how to grow my own vegetables or set up a wildflower garden, but I`m more than passionate about it and I believe that it will carry me far enough.

In our old home, the last summer before we move to this new home I had a little experiment with very small vegetable garden and i remember how i enjoy… I firmly believe that this is exactly my heart’s desire and the direction I have to go.

Although I`m totally megalomaniac about the beautiful things around me, I always long for greatness…I’m going to keep the garden small, because it`s not the thing I want to take most of my time in the summer, but it will certainly be a place from which I will draw strength and energy for creativity and photography!

One of the reasons why I also want to grow flowers is that I photograph a lot of them and I feel it`s a wonderful idea if I can grow myself exactly those flowers I enjoy to photograph.

Our new home is 10 years old and the yard is still quite ascetic and empty, so we are just starting to make the yard pleasant for us. In our yard, there are currently three apple trees but my dream is to plant many more, eighter apple trees or fast-growing cherry trees.

I`ve created boards on my Pinterest account to gather Inspirational Garden Ideas and I made a mood board from them. You’ll find these photos from my boards. Click here for more Inspiration!