It’s time to reclaim the word wellness from overpriced treatments and fancy spa retreats.
Wellness is about making healthy choices, practicing (often small) habits that contribute to feeling good – physically as well as mentally. It covers so many dimensions – from exercise, fitness, skincare, and nutrition through joyful experiences and healthy social connections to reducing stress, resting, and prioritizing mental health and mindfulness.
Wellness matters and there’s no better time to get serious about it than summer. Summer usually means less stress, longer days, more light, sunshine, more time spent outdoors, and, hopefully, time set aside for vacation and resting.
Assess which healthy habits you need to incorporate into your life, what you need the most, what makes you feel good and focus on them this summer.
I’ve found some things lately that check out all these boxes – they help me feel better or healthier.
These are my new favorite summer wellness essentials.
Jade roller
One of my favorite parts of a facial is the special facial massage. It’s such a simple thing, doesn’t even require fancy, high-tech gadgets, just skills and yet it has instant relaxing and beautifying effects. But as I don’t have a live-in aesthetician sadly, I’ve tried to incorporate a DIY version of it into my beauty routine. One way is of course to use your hands when cleansing your face. Another is to use tiny, budget-friendly gadgets like the various face rollers (just stay away from the ones that involve at home needling). My trusted ice roller is a staple of my slow morning routine but I don’t like to use it with serums as it’s basically frozen and I don’t think it helps with the absorption of the products. Enter the jade roller.
It’s a very simple gadget, made of jade stones, usually with two heads – one smaller for the eye area, one larger for the face. I use it after cleansing and applying either serum or oil (or a sheet mask) in order to help the ingredients soak in better. It also promotes circulation and is great for lymphatic massage and releasing the tensions built up in your face. (Check out this video by Gothamista on how to use the jade roller for lymphatic massage).
After only one use, I was obsessed. I’ve been using it for more than a month now, and I still am.
The reason I included this in my wellness post is that for me, beauty rituals are not only about keeping my skin smooth and fresh. It’s just as much about taking the time to do something that simply feels good. Sure, I’m also counting on facial massage to keep me looking fresh and youthful in the following decades, but I can highly recommend this small gadget just for the wellness aspects.
This Works Deep Sleep Duo
I’m a notoriously bad sleeper. Yeah, it’s the key to a long life, it’s healthy, relaxing, etc. etc. But I just do not like sleeping and have a very hard time falling asleep each night. I tried anything and everything from melatonin (useless) to sleep teas (useless and taste bad), but nothing seemed to help. I got this Deep Sleep duo months ago and then went on to totally forget about them, until one day I rediscovered them in my cabinet and decided to give them a go.
+ The Pillow Spray
Lavender is a key ingredient of both and is famous for its relaxing effects, though I have a love-hate relationship with it. It must be really good quality with a nice balanced scent unless it’s either too soapy or very overwhelming. This duo gets it right.
The Pillow Spray is meant to be spritzed onto your bedding and is designed to inspire a deep sleep. While I’m not saying it’s a magic pill that puts me into sleep in an instant, it does help me with my sleep anxiety a little and it smells great.
+ Stress less rollerball
This rollerball is a gem. It’s an aromatherapy blend of eucalyptus, frankincense, and lavender essential oils and is to be used on your wrists, and pulse points and breathed in. I actually like putting this into my bag and use it daytime – you’ll not fall asleep in the middle of the day, but it does work for tension and anxiety a little. I took it with me on my last long-haul flight as I hate flying and tend to get very, very nervous, ND it really helped me calm down a little.
Sleep mask
Staying on the topic of sleep. I didn’t know that it was possible but my already horrendous sleeping patterns got progressively worse in late May. No matter how late I went to bed, I woke up at exactly 6 am (sometimes even sooner), every. single. day with no chance of going back to sleep. And while I am usually an early riser, something was off and I wasn’t rested at all. It was incredibly frustrating, to say the least. One day my fiancé suggested it might be because of the earlier sunrise, which I first dismissed, but then had to concede he was right – it was the early sunrays that hit directly me. Previously I thought a sleep mask was just a pointless accessory courtesy of romantic movies (along with pink silk robes and cucumber masks), but at this point, I was willing to give it a try.
To my utter astonishment, it worked and I regained my missing extra hour of sleep. I can really recommend it, just make sure to get a breathable silk one that sits nicely on your face and doesn’t put extra pressure on your eyes.
Herb and fruit-infused water
This is an awesome all-year round wellness tip that nevertheless works the best when there’s an abundance of fresh fruits and herbs available – aka summer.
Fruit and herb-infused water may seem like just another gimmicky wellness trend, and as far as the detox and super-health claims go, they probably are.
They do not detox. Do not provide you with vitamins. Will not make you extra slim, super healthy with glowing skin in themselves.
But: they taste so much better than regular water thus making the obligatory hydration so much easier. Plus they are pretty. And fun to make.
You can invest $20 into a special water-infuser bottle if you want to be really extra, but honestly, all you need are a regular water bottle or mason jar, fresh herbs and fruits, water, and some creativity to come up with colorful and refreshing recipes.
I started with the safer options of mint-cucumber, strawberry-basil, or orange-lime-citrus, but I’ve been experimenting with adding more daring things like rosemary, watermelon, rhubarb, and so far, so good.
Browse these recipes or come up with your own.
Just one tip: prepare it at least 4 hours in advance (overnight is even better), to maximize the flavors.
Steps
Steps – as in the app that counts your daily steps is the odd one out in this group.
Because it doesn’t immediately make me feel better like a long jade-rolling session does.
Actually, it often makes me frustrated when I’m faced with how much I actually sit in front of the computer and neglect moving.
Nevertheless, I’m totally devoted and will not stop using it.
Experts say that 10,000 daily steps is an optimal amount of physical activity for most people – even though the first time it started to get picked up, there was no concrete research behind it. It was just a number that looked good. But eventually, it stuck and become some type of norm.
Don’t forget that it doesn’t mean you actually have to walk 10,000 steps a day – a gym class and other fitness activities do count into the daily number.
However, I mostly stick to the walking dimension, as this is the area I neglect the most. Even when I’m good with my gym regime, walking remains a weak part, and that was the reason I made more walking one of my spring lifestyle challenges.
I don’t need extra fancy fitness apps or smartwatches to track my fitness activity, this simple app is totally enough for me. Some days, it tells me good news. On others, my step count is simply pathetic.
I desperately wanna change that. Summer is a great time for this, as it’s so much easier to incorporate even very short walks into our day – make it a quick lunchtime walk to the park or an early evening stroll around the neighborhood.
The secret of success when it comes to fitness gamification techniques and self-challenges is to keep the balance – use them as a motivation tool but don’t let them totally take over your life.
Get real about the numbers, try to improve, but don’t be crestfallen if you only made 8,000 steps a day.
Do you have a summer wellness routine?
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