Kintsugi Magazine Autumn 2021 by BSP

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AUTUMN - ISSUE 11

THE

MINIMALISM I SS U E

Self · Wellbeing · Home · Fashion · Beauty · Health 1

Contents 5

From the editor Why it's time to introduce more balance and simplicity into our lives by Kintsugi founder and editor Al Reem Al Tenaiji

Declutter your head and heart space Over the last year, worry and catastrophic thinking have been looming large for most of us. It's time for an emotional detox says Suzy Reading

Five apps… for living with less In a world of excess, it can be hard to disengage with the desire for more. These clever apps are all about learning to share what we have and to live with less

Clearing our inner space Al Reem Al Tenaiji on how to simplify the outside world and get back to a sense of peace 2

The ten commandments of minimalism Often considered a simplistic design trend, minimalism can create much-needed space in both your home and your life says Claudia Askew

The mindful 5 Find a daily balance of peace and inspiration with our collection of the best items for a simple, creative life

The reading list This season’s books are a balm to anxious minds

The Simple Life Do you live simply, or minimally? Can you do both? Are they even the same? And is simple living the real answer to finding balance?

Love people, use things In a world of excess, friends Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus decided to see what their life would be like with less. This is an extract from their brilliant new book: Love People, Use Things

10 things you need less of right now From veg boxes to unused gym memberships – ten things that are cluttering your life

Harnessing your power Emma Johnson explores how to work with our hormones

The less I need Kintsugi meets the founder of food-sharing app Olio to discover how much less we need than we think we do…

Fresh start Autumn can be a wonderful time to reassess, reinvent and start afresh, especially when it comes to skincare

One thing at a time The beauty industry has long been encouraging a more is more approach when it comes to products. However the latest trend is all about scaling back. Welcome to the the world of skinimalism

Fast and curious Does fasting have a positive effect on your health?

The minimalist parent Can you declutter when it comes to parenting?

Editor-in-Chief Al Reem Al Tenaiji

A Buddhist story If someone doesn't accept your anger, to whom does it belong?

The art of living well Here, our columnist looks at the joy and emotional release of art therapy

Al-Ghanī The Self-Sufficient, The Wealthy, The Independent One

COVER IMAGE: ANNA NEKRASHEVICH. IMAGES: PEXELS/IVAN REBIC, EMMA CROMAN

Managing Editor Dr Asma Naheed Editor Elle Blakeman Editorial Assistants Paris Starr Annabelle Spranklen Creative Director Vanessa Grzywacz 3

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EDITOR'S LETTER

From the e d it or...

ILLUSTRATION: CLYM EVERNDEN. OPPOSITE PAGE, IMAGE: PEXELS/ J LEE

have known for a long time that I would like my life to feel simpler, and to be more balanced. As the world draws its breath this September, following over 18 months of upheaval and discord, I know that the simpler days since the pandemic started have been some of my happiest. Part of this desire for simplicity comes from wanting to edit my life in such a way that I feel a more even balance of work, home, family, self-care, spirituality and admin. The more time I have to get to connect to the things that really matter, the happier I am. 'My goal is no longer to get more done, but rather to have less to do,' wrote Francine Jay in her book Miss Minimalist: Inspiration to Downsize, Declutter, and Simplify. Minimalism and simplicity seem to be two words we hear a lot at the moment as we finally begin to understand some of the ways that less is more, fuelled in part by the stripped-back existence many of us experienced this year. For my part, I find myself increasingly relishing solitude, or enjoying the easy simplicity of a meal cooked from foraged ingredients – an approach to a simpler life that Emma Johnson explores this issue. I also find that in emptying my home of some of the clutter, the space that is left behind is more than just physical. A sense of balance, which comes from being able to turn my attention more to the people and the things I love, than to tidying, sorting, buying and consuming. In thinking about the relationship between physical things and metaphorical space, Claudia Askew looks at the key tenets of minimalism, and how this approach to curating your living space with more intention can help in more ways than one. Meanwhile, Suzy Reading considers the benefit of emotional decluttering, and Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, the team behind The Minimalists, share an extract from their new book Love People, Use Things. Taking simplicity further, Saasha Celestial-One, the founder of food sharing app Olio, speaks to Kintsugi about cutting her monthly expenditure in half and the freedom she has found in needing less. We also think about fasting, round up the ten things you can benefit from having less of and discover how you can pare back your beauty regime to just the essentials. I was also really excited to hear from writer and women’s advocate Maisie Hill, as she talked to us about understanding our hormones better and finding a muchneeded balance in trusting our bodies and going with the seasons of our cycles. It’s exactly this kind of thinking that has introduced more balance and simplicity into my life, and I find myself much better able to instinctively understand what’s best for me each day. I hope this issue also offers a sense of space and equilibrium.

Siren Mini Nugget Necklace, £125, Monica Vinader

The 777 Candle (500g), £150, Kintsugi

A Balanced Life, Kimberly Parsons, £12, Anatome Peaceful Warrior Natural Deodrant Spray, $12, Saje Women’s Tree Runners, $95, All Birds 5

The

Mindful 5 Find a daily balance of peace and inspiration with our collection of the best items for a simple, creative life

PLANT POWER Pollution can really take a toll on your skin which is why we love these new anti-oxidative ampoules, designed to repair and prevent damage caused by environmental stressors. Made with antioxidant-rich vitamin C and fern extracts, the formulation works to promote collagen production and maintain the skin’s natural protective barrier to help shield against harmful free radicals. Your skin will thank you. Phytoactive Anti-Oxidative Ampoules, 15 x 2ml, £140, Royal Fern at Net-a-Porter

WARRIOR WOMAN

HYGGE HOMEWEAR

The Warrior Stone is a facial gua sha tool designed to sculpt and rejuvenate the skin. Easy to use – check out the How To video on Dehiya beauty’s website – and the perfect foil to puffy mornings, this clever tool will soon earn a place in your beauty routine.

Inspired by minimalist Scandinavian design, this elegant diffuser celebrates the region's natural forms and materials, adding a touch of handmade hygge to your home. Fill your home with calming essential oils at the touch of a button and watch how the energy shifts.

Warrior Stone, $68, Dehiya Beauty

Clay Diffuser, £89, Volant

SNUGGLE DOWN

SOFTLY DOES IT

With earthy tones and natural textures, this organic cotton quilt is handstitched in kantha thread and inspired by the sculptural art of basket-weaving. It is also fully reversible, making it the perfect minimalist throw from a company at the forefront of ethical production.

Is there anything more pleasing than a plump cushion on a freshly made bed or cosy sofa? This sage-green Arlo cushion from Soho Home is hard to resist. Crafted from a linen fabric with a block design that echoes the graphic textiles of Soho House Rome, it will add a touch of glamour to any room.

Manzanita Organic Handstitched Quilt, £298, Coyuchi

Arlo cushion, £99, Soho Home

The

Reading List This season’s books are a balm to anxious minds, offering reflective guidance and a spiritual awakening for those looking for a new path

Zen and the Art of Saving the Planet THICH NHAT HANH

This new book from the Buddhist monk and spiritual leader Thich Nhat Hanh is a balm in these unsettled times. In a world where many of us feel powerless and uncertain about how to live our lives – or how to make a difference – this book provides understanding and guidance. Filled with powerful examples of action, inspiring Buddhist parables and daily meditations, this powerful spiritual guide opens us to the possibilities of change and collective awakening.

Finding the Heart Sutra: Guided by a Magician, an Art Collector and Buddhist Sages from Tibet to Japan ALEX KERR

Powerful, mystical and concise, the Heart Sutra is believed to contain the essence of all Buddhist wisdom. Travelling from Japan, Korea, and China, to India, Mongolia, Tibet and Vietnam, author Alex Kerr has been on a quest for the secrets of the Heart Sutra. In this short but intense philosophical work he brings together Buddhist teaching, talks with friends and mentors, and acute cultural insights. An eye-opening read.

Matrix LAUREN GROFF

A paean to feminism, this intriguing, multi-layered book is set in the Middle Ages and follows the story of French noblewoman Marie. Described as ‘large, ungainly and difficult’ Marie is considered too wild for the French court and is subsequently banished and sent to an impoverished abbey in England where her talent and ambition see Marie transform the abbey and the fate of its nuns, turning it into one of the great religious houses in England. A provocative piece of historical fiction that serves to remind us of how far women have come.

B OOK OF T H E MO N T H Woman Made PHAIDON

A glorious visual celebration of the most incredible and impactful design ever produced by female designers. Featuring more than 200 designers from more than 50 countries, this comprehensive tome records and illuminates the fascinating and overlooked history of women preeminent in the field. From Ray Eames to Nathalie du Pasquier, these pages offer a spotlight to some of the most extraordinary objects and highlight the creative talent of women all over the world.

The Man who Mistook his Job for his Life NAOMI SHRAGAI

How to Live Your Best Life MARIA HATZISTEFANIS

A thought-provoking work by business psychotherapist Naomi Shragai, who suggests that our work relationships are often a reenactment of our childhood ones. Whether it’s confusing an authority figure with a parent, avoiding conflict because of past squabbles with siblings, or suffering from imposter syndrome because of the way your family responded to success, we are all trapped in the patterns of behaviour we learned while growing up. Based on thirty years of expertise, Shragai will show you that what is holding you back is within your gift to change.

Having spent 20 years building her own company (described by the press as ‘an overnight success’), CEO of Rodial Maria Hatzistefanis shares her hard-won advice on how to motivate yourself and harness your drive and energy in order to achieve your goals. With clear guidance, tips and celebrity stories throughout, Maria sums up her business secrets with three golden rules: set your goals; plot your trajectory; make it happen! Wise words from someone who’s been there.

Fierce Love JACQUI LEWIS

Another healing book for divisive times, this beautiful volume is full of spiritual wisdom, storytelling and essential daily practices written by the first female, black senior minister at the Collegiate Churches of New York. Looking at all of the many spaces where there is now an ‘us’ and a ‘them’ – from race and ethnicity to religion and political party – Dr Lewis argues that we have been placed into unhelpful and simplistic categories that are eroding our capacity for empathy, and shows us how we can mend our innate human connection. 9

Five apps… for liv ing w ith less In a world of excess, it can be hard to disengage with the desire for more. These clever apps are all about learning to share

IMAGE: UNSPLASH/SARAH DORWEILER

what we have and to live with less

O L IO This neighbourhood sharing app is all about getting us to live less wastefully, giving you a platform to offer surplus food, household items or clothes for free to locals living nearby. Incredibly satisfying and good for your community to boot! olioex.com

BY ROTAT I O N

Is there anything more frustrating that trying to dig out a paper manual to stop the washing machine from blinking? This genius app helps to organise paper piles related to your tools, appliances and other home electronics to one place. Simply take pictures of your gadgets and gizmos and the app will find warranties, manuals and tutorials and store them in one place. mycentriq.com

3 4 5

Nicknamed the ‘Airbnb of fashion’, this app allows members to rent out items in their wardrobes, enabling others to borrow clothes, bags and shoes rather than buying, from mid- to high-end brands. Perfect for weddings, holidays and other one-wear events. byrotation.com

K A R MA

CEN TRI Q

A frankly shocking one third of all food produced globally goes to waste and this app wants to do something about it. From the Michelin-starred Aquavit to Daylesford and Detox Kitchen, this Swedish start-up allows consumers to discover unsold food from nearby restaurants, bars and cafés in London. karma.life

30 WEARS Originally started by Olivia Firth, the #30wearschallenge is a great way for everyone to help sustainable fashion. Before buying anything, simply ask yourself: ‘Will I wear this 30 times?’ Keeping track of purchases, this app encourages users to upload selfies wearing items in their wardrobes, helping rediscover forgotten items and preventing impulse buys. 30wears.app

‘Life is a balance of holding on and letting go’ Rumi

IMAGE: PEXELS/IRINA BEKHTEREVA

ing r a o u le How to simplify the outside world and get back to a simple sense of peace and inner calm by Kintsugi editor A l R e e m A l Te n a i j i

e r

a p s

IMAGE: PEXELS/IVAN REBIC

‘Your life is your message to the world. Make sure it’s inspiring.’

ife is all about meaning. Where we find meaning and the meaning we ascribe to events and things that come our way influence every part of our lives. We are going through a significant change on the planet. Society, through media and norms, tells us to find joy outside of ourselves. To look to external sources for meaning and pleasure. Unfortunately, this can result in a dependency on external and fleeting resources, control our behavior and even make us addicted. Addictions are false pleasures, they do not add value to our lives, and usually end up taking our power from us. The need for outside validation and success has left us paranoid about failure. We are terrified to fail and therefore all too ready to follow someone else’s path in order to avoid mistakes and seek secure success and validation. We humans are all a work in progress. True and

Anonymous

lasting pleasure comes not from outside ourselves, but from working on the inner self. It can be learning a new skill or language, exercise or meditating, writing, journaling or reading, creating art or music or even simply spending time in nature. When we invest in truly meaningful things, the results fill us up from the inside. We can train our minds to rise above our momentary desires. While there are many things we cannot control in the world, we can create a life we love with small steps. I believe that we develop our inner selves through discipline and concentration, and in order to hear our inner calling and purpose, we must cultivate a peaceful energy. As writer Juanita Gómez notes, ‘Finding meaning in your life is not a difficult thing, but it is harder than living a numb, fast-paced superficial life.’ This peaceful energy is the way to reach the state of equilibrium, where we are centered and grounded within our True Self. It is the original place of power.

RAIN

RECOGNISE Take a moment to recognise what is happening, consciously acknowledge the thoughts and feelings and try to name your emotions. ALLOW Pause to relax any resistance to the experience. Allow the experience, including any thoughts, emotions and feelings, to be what it is without trying to push anything away. Between what happens and how we react to it, there is a space, however small. Allowing is relaxing in the presence of what is difficult without responding to it. INVESTIGATE This is about being curious yet compassionate for ourselves and simply noticing how we feel and react to a stimulus or trigger. Ask yourself questions such as: ‘What do I believe about this?’ ‘How does it make me feel?’ ‘What does it need?’ NON-IDENTIFICATION See the experience, and its accompanying thoughts and feelings, as a passing event rather then who you truly are. Imagine them as simply different images reflected in a mirror. Our emotions come and go, but they are not us.

We must remember that our external world is a reflection of our inner world. Therefore, our dialogue with the inner world is as essential as with the outer world. Recently, I made the decision to get better by change and undertook a three-week transformation course in Zurich. This inner equilibrium workshop was based on a few basic principles. The first is to nurture listening as a spiritual practice, that means listening for clarity, not for agreement. My teacher, Fatima, encouraged me to ‘acquire a listening heart’ and taught me to begin from where you are, not where you wish you were or where you want to be. We must see life as a blank sheet of paper. I saw that the work we do soon becomes our path. Another principle was that of creating and allowing for a sense of calmness in your life. I meditated often, picturing the process as washing my emotional cup in a stream that runs through a forest under a calm blue sky. This calmness became my

resolution and changed my energy entirely. To reach this calmness, I practiced a formula know as RAIN (see above). This is a beautiful mindfulness practice to cope with difficult emotions, created by Vipassana teacher Michele McDonald. This practice is specifically geared to ease emotional confusion and suffering. When a negative or agitated feeling arises, we pause, visualise and begin to pay attention to what is happening for us. Everything carries meaning only when it touches our hearts. External consumption can only fill us temporarily, and it will leave us feeling empty and disconnected in the end. To simplify our life, we must declutter the overwhelming waste to live peacefully in our souls’ citadel. To feel connected, we must spend time and build from the inside out. To keep my life simple, I try to remember three key thoughts: it was not raining when Noah built the ark, I am a beginner every morning, and I have to take some walks alone. What are your thoughts on emotional simplicity and inner equilibrium? How do you achieve your calmness? Is Kintsugi helping you in achieving your goals? I would love to hear from you.

SELF

The Simple Life Do you live s im ply, or m inim a lly? C a n y o u do b o t h? Ar e t he y e v e n t he same? And is simple living the real answer to finding balance? Emma Johnson u ncove rs the diffe re nce be twe e n b e i ng m i ni m a l a nd li v i ng si m ply

possessions down to just what we truly need, simplicity does all this, but it also asks us to live in a more holistic, gentle, conscious way too. The problem with minimalism is when it becomes an absolute, non-negotiable way of self-editing. Minimalism has always been about having a freedom from possessions, and not accumulating stuff that doesn’t make you happy. Minimalists are finely-tuned to need, reducing what they own to the bare minimum – hence the name. The goal is to have as few possessions as possible. And this can be severely limiting. ‘Minimalism is almost solely driven by having a lack of things. With minimalism, I think of trying to own as little as possible. The focus is on the necessities, with the goal of not having too much beyond that,’ says author of The Simplicity Habit, Julianna Poplin. ‘I don’t think there is anything wrong with that goal at all. It just isn’t my goal.’

In a world where consumerism is all-consuming, where the clutter threatens to overwhelm, minimalism acts as an antidote to this need for ‘stuff’

IMAGE: PEXELS/MATT HARDY

inimalism has often been understood as a purely aesthetic construct – typified by high-end design, empty spaces, clean lines, cutting edge modernity, neutral palettes and so on. Its influence has found its way into art, design, architecture, interiors, fashion and even food and philosophy. Being ‘a minimalist’ has become a kind of identity, a way of living that reflects this pared-back, thoughtful curation of one’s life. In a world where consumerism is all-consuming, where the clutter threatens to overwhelm, minimalism acts as an antidote to this need for ‘stuff’. In some ways, it is a form of therapy: carefully, over time, honing our sense of self till we truly understand who we are, and what we truly need. And yet minimalism itself comes from a desire for a simpler way of life. Simplicity is about an uncomplicated, uncompounded way of living. It too asks us to reduce our clutter, to embrace the joy of having just what we need, to make the most of what we have; but it also asks us to be conscious in our consumerism, to be aware of our footprint on the planet and on those around us. And it goes further than minimalism – because it speaks to a simpler time. It steps back from modernity and instead embraces nature, self-sufficiency, homesteading, living off-grid and focusing on family. So, while minimalism requires us to need less, to be more frugal in our consumerism, to edit our

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IMAGE: UNSPLASH/YURA LYTKIN

SELF

The thing about things

The problem is that minimalism offers no space for want, desire or nostalgia. While there isn’t an exact number of items that defines minimalism, for many of us it’s just too limiting to bring joy. Serial tidier Marie Kondo has made the phrase ‘spark joy’ an international moniker for how to declutter without losing yourself, and it’s this idea that goes against minimalism. ‘I have too much stuff to qualify as a minimalist,’ says Poplin. ‘My daughter has a rock collection. And my other daughter has a stuffed animal collection. My husband has a book, paper and tool collection. We have an impressive supply of teas.’ Poplin says that she focuses on simplicity, not minimalism, because it feels more attainable, less intimidating. ‘Work on having less and being more mindful? Yes, I can do that. Work to try to narrow down to just the necessities? That feels daunting and a little bit sad. Call me materialistic if you must. I do like some things. I find joy in my toss pillows, candles, teas, excess paper products and overstock of food. And I’m okay with that.’ In letting in that part of herself that finds joy in the little things, Poplin finds a perfect balance between clutter and minimalism.

Space & time

When we retreat from the world, we also instinctively reconnect with nature and, in so doing, learn to take up less physical space. Vast white spaces, a key feature of minimalism, are eschewed in favour of small ancient cottages, cosy cabins, rustic spaces, wood, warmth. Tiny homes, nomadic camper vans and low impact living all offer a thoughtful alternative to the need for vast swathes of empty space which often typifies minimalism. Space itself is a key tenet of simplicity, but the focus is more on metaphorical space than physical space. In simple living, we still do the work to find out what is important to us – things, tasks, people – and then remove everything else. This created space usually also gives us more time to devote to the things we love, allowing us to live simply in our surroundings, resources. Living simply means making fewer daily decisions, spending less time cleaning, tidying, putting away. To have a clearer mind because you have a clearer life. ‘Minimalists are just like you, with less stuff,’ says author Courtney Carver. ‘When we remove the label and focus on the action, like living with

Modernity v simplicity

Aside from necessity and need, there is also little space in minimalism for the ebb and flow of our lives. The beauty of simple living is in how conscious we are in what we use and what we throw away. Minimalism becomes quite problematic here because it reduces what we have so radically that often we end up having to re-buy items. While the intent is to get rid of many of the things that clutter up our homes, this does seem counterintuitive when we think about simplistic qualities of reducing our carbon footprint, our consumerism and what we throw away. In the pursuit of perfect minimalism, it is possible to lose sight of what drew us to this way of living in the first place. In addition, minimalism often makes use of the latest technology. Curating music into one hightech, space-saving device; or spending large sums of money on multi-purpose furniture in a cutting-edge material. Simplicity would focus more on making what you have work, but paring it back so it doesn’t overwhelm. Equally, there is usually less focus on technology and more on giving up the devices that keep you so connected to the world.

In the pursuit of perfect minimalism, it is possible to lose sight of what drew us to this way of living in the first place

less, the idea becomes accessible and intriguing instead of scary and intimidating. And really, what you call it isn’t nearly as important as what you do with it.’ And she is right. Perhaps the biggest problem with minimalism is its label. Driven by being overwhelmed and the endless duty to look after and organise everything we own, we often find our way first to minimalism, before realising how powerful, and freeing, simplicity, in all its various guises, can be. ‘Call it what you want,’ adds Carver. ‘Simplicity, minimalism, life-edited – and then put it into action. Sure, you’ll have less. Less stuff. And then you’ll have more. More love. More freedom. More happiness. More purpose.’

‘Don’t confuse having a career with having a life’ Hillary Clinton

IMAGE: PEXELS/ZHANNA FORT

Love people, use things In a world of e xce ss, frie nds Jo shua Fi eld s M illburn and Ryan Nico de m us d eci de d to se e w hat the ir life wo uld b e li ke w ith le ss. Know n as The Mi n i malists, the y have now he lpe d mo re than 20 m illion pe ople li ve mo re me aningful live s through t he i r web site , books , podc ast and fi lm s. Th i s i s an e xtract from the ir ne w

IMAGE: UNSPLASH/PRISCILLA DU PREEZ

b o o k: Lov e People, Use T hin gs

EXTRACT

ur physical possessions are a physical manifestation of our internal lives. Take a look around: angst, distress, restlessness – all visible right there in our homes. The average American household contains more than 300,000 items. With all that stuff you’d think we’d be beside ourselves with joy. Yet study after study shows the opposite: we’re anxious, overwhelmed, and miserable. Unhappier than ever, we pacify ourselves with even more accumulation, ignoring the real cost of our consumption. The price tag dangling from each new widget tells only a fraction of the story. The true cost of a thing extends well beyond its price. There’s the cost of: Storing the thing. Maintaining the thing. Cleaning the thing. Watering the thing. Charging the thing. Accessorizing the thing. Refuelling the thing. Changing the oil in the thing. Replacing batteries in the thing. Fixing the thing. Repainting the thing. Taking care of the thing. Protecting the thing. And, of course, when it’s all said and done, replacing the thing. (Not to mention the emotional and psychological costs of our things, which are even more difficult to quantify.) When you add it all up, the actual cost of owning a thing is immeasurable. So we better choose carefully what things we bring into our lives, because we can’t afford every thing. Seriously, we can’t afford it – literally and figuratively. But instead of delaying gratification and temporarily going without, we go into debt. The average American carries approximately three credit cards in their wallet. One in ten of us has more than ten active credit cards. And the average credit card debt is more than $16,000. And yet we keep on spending, consuming, growing. The size of the average new home is rapidly approaching 3,000 square feet. Even with our bigger houses and our storage units teeming with stuff, we still don’t have enough room to park our cars in our garages, because those garages are brimming with stuff, too. Unused sporting goods. Exercise equipment. Camping gear. Magazines. DVDs. Compact discs. Old clothes and electronics and furniture. Boxes and bins stretch from floor to ceiling, stuffed with discarded things. And don’t forget about the kids’ toys. Despite making up just over 3 percent of the world’s population of children, American kids consume 40 percent of the world’s toys. Did you know the average child own more than 200 toys, but plays with only 12 of those toys each day? And yet a recent study has shown what we already know: children who have too many toys are more easily distracted and don’t enjoy quality playtime. As adults, we have our own toys that distract us, don’t we? Unquestionably. The popular maxim ‘the things we own end up owning us’ seems truer now than ever. But it doesn’t have to be this way. There are many things that once brought joy to our lives but no longer serve a purpose in today’s world: rotary phones, floppy disks, disposable cameras, cassette tapes, fax machines, LaserDisc players, pagers, PalmPilots, Chia Pets, the Furby. Most of us cling to our artifacts well into their obsolescence, often out of a pious sense of nostalgia. The hallmarks of the past have a strange way

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IMAGE: JOSHUA WEAVER

Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus

‘So many of our things have fallen into disuse, and maybe this lack of use is the final sign that we need to let go... as our needs, desires, and technologies change, so does the world around us.’ of leaving claw marks on the present. So we hold a death grip on our VHS collections, our unused flip phones, our oversize Bugle Boy jeans – not repairing or recycling these items, but storing them with the rest of our untouched hoard. As our collections grow, our basements, closets, and attics become purgatories of stuff – overflowing with unemployed miscellanea. So many of our things have fallen into disuse, and maybe this lack of use is the final sign that we need to let go. You see, as our needs, desires, and technologies change, so does the world around us. The objects that add value to our lives today may not add value tomorrow, which means we must be willing to let go of everything, even the tools that serve a purpose today. Bcause if we let go, we can find temporary new homes for our neglected belongings and allow them to serve a purpose in someone else’s life instead of collecting dust in our homegrown mausoleums. On a long enough timeline, everything becomes obsolete. A hundred years from now the world will be filled with new humans, and they will have long abandoned their USB cables, iPhones, and flat-screen televisions, letting go of the past to make room for the future. This means we must be careful with the new material possessions we bring into our lives today. And we must be equally careful when those things become obsolete, because a willingness to let go is one of life’s most mature virtues. How might your life be better with less? The simple life starts with this question.

An extract from Love People, Use Things by Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus (Headline Home, £20)

EXTRACT

30 DAYS OF MINIMALISM

which, for reasons known only to himself, he has insisted on ‘The things you own end up owning you,’ says Joshua Fields keeping for nearly 25 years. Millburn, in his memoir Everything That Remains, which There are some days that I really struggle though. ‘Books’ he wrote with business partner Ryan Nicodemus. is hard, especially as I keep avoiding it and have to eventually I know he’s right. When I moved into our current house with get rid of 28 of them and they leave gaps on my bookcase that my family four years ago, I was determined not to get overtaken make me cross for days. Other days, when I’m working, and on by ‘stuff’. It worked for a while, but now our house is filled with a deadline, I end up sorting through stuff late in the evening usual paraphernalia associated with having three children, a and then just dumping it on the street as there’s nowhere else husband working from home, and a global pandemic. quote?? to take it, which feels both lazy and not ‘in keeping’. (This is Like everyone else, to cope with boredom and loneliness London, so it’s all gone by 6am, but still.) over the past 18 months, I’ve bought online, got out my wallet, There are some days that I don’t theme either, which end up and acquired so much more than I ever needed. Inspired with surprising results as I find myself just walking around the by Fields Millburn’s book, I decided to spend the summer house picking up stuff which I no longer want – that is a very holidays undertaking the 30 Days of Minimalism game – you get weird feeling. rid of one thing on the first day of the month. Two things on the And I think, actually, this is the best way to do it – as you’ll second. Three things on the third. So forth and so on. By day uncover items you wouldn’t have even thought of otherwise. 30, you’ve got rid of 465 items. Some of the things I have been glad to see the back of have The key to the game is not only the editing process, but that included: a chicken-cooking brick someone gave me that they every material possession you get rid of on the appointed day ‘didn’t’ really need’ (turns out I didn’t need one either); a faux must be out of your house – and out of your life – by midnight stuffed pheasant that seemed that day. a good idea one Christmas; a Things start well. I’ve ‘Just because it’s free or someone is decoupage trunk with pictures decided to theme it initially, of horses on that my mother so I’ve picked bigger items to pleading with you to take some white bought me when I was 12 (I’m begin with – such as furniture, elephant item that they don’t need, not 12, and I’m not into horses lamps, coats, artwork. I’ve doesn’t mean you have to say yes’ anymore); and a rug that, when been thinking about this shaken outside, was so stained, challenge for a while so I smelly and threadbare it had hit the ground running and to go to the tip. How had I not noticed how horrible it was manage to hand off an armchair on Facebook Marketplace, before? and give a couple of lamps to a neighbour, some coats to a And while the relentless pace of constant self- and homehomelessness charity and some artwork to a second-hand shop. editing has been furious and overwhelming at times, I’ll admit From here, I start working through the things I know I have I do feel a lot better. too many of – placemats, tablecloths, cups, plates, shoes (a pair counts as one item before you think of cheating), scarves, bedding, clothes, candlesticks, flower vases. The last two are WHAT HAVE I LEARNT? harder, I love my décor, and it starts to bite a bit when I have to One: Put boundaries around your possessions. Just because say goodbye to something I like quickly. Especially when some it’s free or someone is pleading with you to take some white of them are items I only bought a few months ago, but haven’t elephant item that they don’t need, doesn’t mean you have to really used or loved as much as I thought I would. say yes. I save the items I know I don’t care about for the later days Two: I buy far, far too much fast fashion, which never lasts, – electronic wires (I mean I’ve got about 30 of those anyway); often shrinks and gets forgotten. Buy better, buy sustainably. dusty freebies from hotel stays (guilt as charged!); towels and Three: Once I get rid of certain items, I find things I hadn't tatty bed linen. even remembered I had, and fall in love with what’s left, which My kids and husband don’t escape the ‘Great Purge’ – as is like getting new things all over again. they have started calling it – either. Broken and unused toys Four: The key to decluttering is to take the stuff to the charity are jettisoned to the recycling (so satisfying); while I finally get shop/recycle/sell it that day. Getting it out of your house into the loft and throw out 16 of my husband’s university essays, creates a visual sense of freedom that is really important.

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The 30 Days of Minimalism game challenges you to edit your life and possessions with increasing intensity. Martha Weeks declutters…

IMAGE : PEXELS/ANETE LUSINA

‘The key to finding a happy balance in modern life is simplicity’ Sogyal Rinpoche

The

commandments of minimalism

‘We go on multiplying our conveniences only to multiply our cares. We increase our possessions only to the enlargement of our anxieties,’ wrote philosopher and feminist Anna C. Brackett in the 1800s. She was right then, and she is right now. Our consumer culture, coupled with an increase in unhappiness, isolation and expectation, has seen us purchasing more than ever before. Even before the era of Covid – and certainly after – we have filled our homes with ‘stuff’ to overcome some of the challenges in our lives, to create a sanctuary, a hideout from the world. We buy things to look good, to impress other people, because we think we have to. But this consumer culture really just ends up suffocating us and filling our lives with more and more pressure. More is more is celebrated as a warm-hearted embrace of all the beauty in the world, while minimalism is considered dour and repressed, lacking in joy. But in actual fact, it’s really the other way around.

In a minimalist home, there is space to grow. And there is also time. Time to sit, time to be present. One of the symptoms of our excessive consumerism is the time it takes to care for everything that we have. ‘All these things eventually turn on us; we become slaves to our belongings, forced to spend time and energy caring for them,’ explains Fumio Sasaki in Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism. For minimalists, every single item is there because of a conscious, heartfelt choice. Minimalists have connected with who they are, what they love, and – most importantly – what they need. Not what they think they need. ‘A minimalist is a person who knows what is truly essential for him or herself,’ adds Sasaki. The truth is, the less we possess, the more we have – be it time, space, money or flexibility. Adopting minimalism into your home won’t be an overnight process. It takes time and intention, but it can be a beautiful way to reconnect with what matters to you, and to create a space that truly speaks to who you are.

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Ofte n conside re d a si m pli st i c o r e v e n a ust e r e de si gn tre nd, the truth i s t ha t m i ni m a li sm c a n c r e a t e muc h-ne e de d s pace i n b o t h yo ur ho m e a nd y o ur li fe , allow ing you to c ura t e yo ur b e lo ngi ngs a nd t he spa c e you live in in a more int e nt i o na l wa y, sa y s Cl au di a As k e w

NEUTRAL BASE

The first place to start with any minimal approach is to pare back your palette and start with a neutral tone. This doesn’t, however, mean that you have to pick plain white. Any neutral tone of grey, brown, yellow or even blue, pink or green can be the base from which you start. Check out Portland Stone, French Grey or Silent White from Little Green Paint Company; while Ammonite, Salt or Skimming Stone from Farrow Ball also offer a unique neutral base.

ACCENTED COLOURS

Luckily minimalism doesn’t mean you have to use only neutral colours. There is plenty of scope for bold tones and signature shades – it’s just about being intentional and mindful with it. Decide on one or two colours to accent a room and use cushions, throws, accessories, pictures or one piece of furniture to carry this through. And don’t forget about metallics – use golden-streaked decor on shelves or metallic hanging lamps to add another element. You can do the same with patterns and prints.

LIVING

TEXTURES

IMAGES : LEFT ME WHITE NO.1 ESTATE EMULSION JAMES WHIT, FARROW & BALL ; TOP RIGHT COURTESY NORDIC RUGS

This is another really important way to not only open up the palette, but also to connect with the natural, earthy quality that you often find in minimalism. Leather, velvet, wood, metal, stone, wool and silk all offer a richness that will give a space depth and character. Remember only to pick textures that you like, shapes that intrigue or inspire, colours or tones that make you feel good. The joy of minimalism is that you absolutely adore everything you have in your home.

NATURAL LIGHT

We know how good natural light is for our wellbeing – but it’s also a key tenet of minimalism, which favours bare windows and the shifting changing light throughout the day. Many Nordic countries don’t have blinds or curtains, preferring to make the most of the limited daylight in winter months. But it also helps to focus the eye on clean lines of window frames, and allows your windows to function as virtual pieces of art. If you’ve got to have blinds, be mindful of accent colours and try to make a feature of them. 33

CLUTTER-FREE

GO GREEN

Less is always more, except when it comes to indoor plants – which are a must in any minimalist home. Aside from looking great, they have a double function in breathing life into what could otherwise be an austere palette or space. Go for a Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia Nicolai), its symmetry is so beguiling, or the much beloved Swiss cheese plant (Monstera), which is large enough to make a real statement. For kitchens and bathrooms, you can’t beat a String of Hearts (Ceropegia woodii) whose tumbling stems are both whimsical and striking. 34

IMAGES: LEFT: COURTESY BEARDS & DAISES, RIGHT: APARTEMENT O AUTORI STUDIO, COURTESY MENU

This is a big part of minimalism and something that is often a work in progress, but continue to make efforts to reduce your clutter. Start out by following William Morris’ advice: ‘Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.’ Keep cycling through the process every year. Secondly, work on storage, clutter-free means things put away; everything has its place. If something doesn’t have anywhere to live, do you need it? Finally, to avoid the issue of clutter, introduce a ‘one in, one out’ policy for anything that you’re starting to collect or buy too much of. ‘Your home is living space, not storage space,’ author Francine Jay reminds us.

LIVING

CLEAN LINES

It almost goes without saying that clean, elegant lines are a key tenet of minimalism – but it can often be harder to do than you think. When buying pieces or designing a space, focus on clearly defined lines and/or bold, swooping curves, but stay away from ornate detailing and too much unnecessary colour. You want a room to feel peaceful, settled, not shouting for attention but rather strikingly pared back.

LIVING

EMPTY SPACES

FUNCTIONAL FURNITURE

This is an excellent way to minimise the amount of space your furniture is taking up, and help with reinforcing that idea of clean lines. Coffee tables that double as blanket storage; shelves that have a fold-away desk; beds with drawers or side tables in the frame, and so on. And remember that functional doesn’t have to mean ugly. The likes of Ikea, Scandiborn, Habitat and other high-end or designsavvy brands have pioneered the way functional furniture looks, allowing for style as well as practicality. As Fumio Sasaki, author of Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism notes: ‘The qualities I look for in the things I buy are (1) the item has a minimalist type of shape, and is easy to clean; (2) its colour isn’t too loud; (3) I’ll be able to use it for a long time; (4) it has a simple structure; (5) it’s lightweight and compact; and (6) it has multiple uses.’

IMAGES: LEFT: COURTESY BLUDOT RIGHT: SALON MEDITERRANEO JAIME JURADO, COURTESY MENU

‘To a minimalist, empty space can be the greatest of luxuries’ (Michael Corthell). Perhaps one of the most important elements of minimalism: don’t be afraid of empty space, as it creates a sense of calm and also draws to the eye to hero pieces of art or statement furniture. The same goes for white spaces on walls – not every wall needs a picture. Be mindful about where you place things and remember to enjoy the simple pleasures of a smooth-lined, neutral wall, meeting the earthy floor, flanked only by a wellchosen armchair or a beautiful side table. There is a simple pleasure in this.

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LARGE ARTWORK

The absolute epitome of less is more – focus on one picture, not ten. Gallery walls are very ‘on trend’ at the moment, but in a minimalist space you want to love every single piece of art or picture on your walls, and never let them compete with other pieces. Use floating frames to draw attention to a smaller piece of art, and create a striking piece that takes up half a wall. They also help maximize display space and let photos take centre stage

SELF

Declut ter your head and hear t space Over the las t ye ar, w orry and c a t a st r o phi c t hi nk i ng ha v e b e e n lo o m i ng larg e for most of us . I t 's time fo r a n e m o t i o na l de t o x sa ys S u z y R e adi n g

e all have the best of intentions, wanting to do the right thing by our partner, kids, parents, siblings, extended family, colleagues, neighbours... but in all that conscientious striving it’s often our own thinking that gets in our way. Worrying, feeling bad, feeling guilty… even when things are smooth we can wind up looking for things to feel worried, bad and guilty about. Whether its overthinking, feeling caught in a trap of relentless productivity, impossible expectations of ourselves or just giving ourselves a hard time for how we feel, we unwittingly add to our burden. How can we close a few mental tabs, get a grip on our emotions and give ourselves grace? Attempting to quieten particular thoughts, or trying to get rid of them altogether, just doesn’t work. In all the flux of the last 18 months, worry and catastrophic thinking have been looming large for most of us. The truth is, the mind is a thinking machine and trying to clear it is an impossible task, so let’s quit trying! The good news is, we don’t need to clear the mind. Our thoughts are not facts, and they are certainly not prophecies. They are just a collection of words that come and go and we don’t need to invest all of our identity in them. Granted, some thoughts are more constructive and enjoyable than others and we are wise to develop our ability to get our

thinking on-side, but let’s drop the rope when it comes to a tug-of-war with our mind. It’s an endless battle. What works better is giving our minds something useful to focus on, a concrete distraction from unhelpful thoughts. Make peace with the thoughts that come up, don’t add to your woes by giving yourself grief for thinking them (no one is immune here) and instead focus on something resonant to you – it might be a mantra, like ‘I soften into this moment’ or you might choose to use your senses. Nature can provide some beautifully soothing distractions: treegazing to dial down stimulation, seeking a bird on the wing for a sense of freedom or watching a sunset to remind us that tomorrow is a new day. If your mind keeps getting drawn to those worst-case scenarios, remember that this can provide you with valuable problem-solving time, empowering you with options if challenges arise. We know it doesn’t work telling ourselves we can’t think about it, so let yourself go there, but don’t linger. Spend equal time playing out the best-case scenario and also the most likely scenario. Once you’ve let all three percolate, it’s time to focus your mind on something else. If it’s not catastrophic thinking that grips your mind, maybe it’s getting lost in the vortex of ‘what if ’ and ‘why’. While it is natural to have these

Make peace with the thoughts that come up, don’t add to your woes by giving yourself grief for thinking them 38

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The truth is, the mind is a thinking machine and trying to clear it is an impossible task, so let’s quit trying! 40

IMAGES: PEXELS/MIKHAIL NILOV

thoughts, they are an endless spiral that lead us nowhere. Our choice is simple, go down the rabbit hole or step out of the vortex. The simplest way of getting back to something constructive here is to switch them up for ‘what can I do something about’. This is how we come back to firm ground. Reflect on what is important to you right now and bring your attention to what lies within your control. Now we’re back in the driver’s seat. And if you’re plagued with discomfort about not having the answers right now, remind yourself that you are both capable and resourceful. You have coped in the past and you will cope again. When the information you need comes to light, you will deal with it then. For now, it’s okay not to know. Often it’s not what others expect of us, but our own expectations that derail us. We are not going to remember the birthdays of absolutely everyone, so let that slide from your Tefloncoated shoulders. And why should you automatically take on that emotional labour? Allow yourself permission to be just one human being. Take a look at your expectations of yourself – is it humanly possible? Do you expect the same of other people? Bring your invisible load to the light and ask yourself – is this important, is this urgent, is this solely my responsibility, and can I reapportion this elsewhere? It is okay to ask for help, and it is definitely okay not to do it all. Another way we push ourselves around is in judging ourselves for how we feel. We are particularly skilled in giving ourselves a hard time for struggling, feeling like we should be more ‘resilient’ and perpetually grateful for our blessings. We’ve just been through a rollercoaster chapter and all that time spent on high alert is a recipe for exhaustion. There is a time and a place for all emotions and if you deny yourself the right to feel the heavier ones you also diminish your ability to feel the lighter, brighter ones. Be gentle with yourself and give yourself time and space for emotional digestion. Soothing practices like being in nature, fluid and relaxed movement, tender touch and breathing exercises can help us bear witness and let go. And remember, beneath guilt and grief lies a deep reservoir of love and care, spend some time bathing in that instead.

SELF

3 STEPS TO SIMPLIFYING YOUR INNER WORLD Use this three-step practice to come back to calm clarity. This is a muscle that you build with practice, so work on it daily and see your capacity grow with time. It’s okay to wobble along the way. Remember, we all find these things challenging, but power and peace will come from developing these skills. 1 Notice when you are giving yourself a hard time, such as berating yourself for how you think or feel. This is just a habit and it is one that doesn’t serve us or anyone we care about. We can learn to do things differently and the first step in that process is compassionate awareness. 2 Check in with yourself. Observe without judgement or criticism where you are at, mind and body. When was the last time you had something to eat or drink? Are you sleep deprived or feeling disconnected? When did you last move or stretch your body? Do you need to take a break from the screen? Have you had a dose of nature therapy today? Is your bra or waist band too tight? None of these things are trivial, they all have an impact on how we think and feel and this insight gives us the power to feel differently.

3 Take nourishing action. Move over time management, let’s try energy management. I’m all for list-making and mind-mapping but, if we let our energy bank get depleted, of course our thinking and mood is affected. If we want to think with clarity, if we want to feel resolved and at peace, if we want to take action in service of our values as human beings, we need to nourish ourselves. What do you need now? How can you meet those needs? Turn to that soothing toolkit of yours, even a couple of spacious breaths that takes less than one minute will do it, and feel how this brings you back to the moment. You choose next what you do with it. Suzy is a mother of two, author, chartered psychologist and coach. She specialises in self-care, helping people manage their stress, emotions and energetic bank balance. @suzyreading

‘To put everything in balance is good, to put everything in harmony is better’ Victor Hugo

IMAGE: PEXELS/ KAROLINA GRABOWSKA

things you need l e s s o f, r ight now E mi ly J a ck son outline s the t en th i ng s you can cut dow n strai g ht away for more tim e , mo n ey an d spac e …

1 EMAILS

The minute you buy something online, you’re automatically entered into a raft of promotional emails and updates, which ping with increasing incessancy into your inbox, all day. It’s likely you need hardly any of these things, so get into the habit of clicking ‘Unsubscribe’ instead of just deleting something. The same goes for any promotional post, take a moment to take yourself off their mailing list and you’ve instantly far less recycling to do.

6 ALERTS & NOTIFICATIONS

One of the reasons our attention spans have reached an all-time low, is due to the constant alerts we receive on our devices. One recent study found that every time an email or text alert appears, we lose up to 20 minutes of time being distracted from what we were originally doing. Sign into all your apps and wherever possible, turn off notifications. This includes news, maps, games, workouts, social media, image libraries and so on. Leave calendar and message alerts on, but select ‘deliver quietly’.

2 BEAUTY PRODUCTS

Gone are the days of needing several different products to do a similar job. Increasingly beauty is moving to one-tube-fits-all products that can act as cleansers, facemasks and more. Visit the likes of Space NK or other independent beauty boutiques who can suggest ways to decrease the amount of products, and singleuse plastic, in your bathroom or on your dressing table.

7 NEWSLETTERS

Different to the promotional missives above, you’ve likely signed up to plenty of newsletters promising inspiring daily or weekly content, popping into your inbox. But how many do you actually read? Set yourself a task: if four editions go past without you ever reading them, click Unsubscribe.

LIFE

3 SUBSCRIPTIONS BOXES

Fruit and veg boxes, coffee deliveries, chocolate subscriptions, wine clubs, beauty bargain mailouts and so on. It’s easy to set something up and look forward to it, but how often do things get delivered that you don’t eat or don’t need? Not only is this impacting your finances, but it’s also likely creating more single-use packaging that goes to landfill, and work for you to do to dispose of what you don’t use. Do a two-monthly check on what arrives and what gets used, and either change the regularity, or cancel altogether.

IMAGES: JAMES LEMON

8 MEMBERSHIPS

Gym membership, online newspapers, members’ clubs and so on – how often do you use them? It’s easy to have good intentions but it’s also good practice to do a quarterly roundup of direct debits and memberships and consider what you’ve used in the past three months. Some companies offer membership ‘pausing’, while for others you can change the type of membership you have – off-peak, low use etc. But don’t be afraid to cancel. It could save you time and money.

4 SPARE STUFF

It’s reassuring to know you’ve got spare lampshades, picture frames, vases and so on – but how often do they get used or called on? Do a seasonal sanity check of items that you haven’t needed to reach for. Sort them into Staying, Going or Gone. Staying stays, Going gets another three-month reprieve and Gone is, well, gone. Take it to a charity shop, pass on to a friend. Repeat every season.

9 CLEANING PRODUCTS

5 CABLES AND IT

Most of us now really only need one cable for a laptop and one for a phone/tablet. Go through and get rid of all the others. All the ones from setting up your wireless for the first time, all the various camera chargers from the past decade, all the old phone chargers, the random power leads and so on. Cut it down to only what you use, and then wrap sticky labels around them and label them, so you can always find what you need.

10 GROUPS & FRIENDS

You know that sinking feeling you get when another ‘You’ve been invited to Linda’s Party group’ alert arrives? Or Changing the way you use cleaning when that old friend from college shares products is one quick, simple and costanother ‘Map my Run’ update? Time to effective way to make a different to your ease the pain. Go through your texts, bank account and the planet. The singlegroups and pages and start culling. What use plastic impact of having different or who can you live without? If you no cleaning products for different rooms in the house (which is mostly just a marketing longer do a certain sport, hobby, activity – then leave. What don’t you need to ploy anyway) is considerable. Research see on your newsfeed anymore? Which some of the all-natural, bulk buy, refill groups don’t serve you anymore? Be brands – such as Koh or Tincture – that offer a much more eco, and economical, bold. And then breathe in the sweet sounds of silence. way to clean your home. 45

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HORMONES

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As the sc ie nc e a r o und o ur ho r m o ne s be com e s mo r e we ll- k no wn, we a r e starting to u nde r st a nd t ha t a ho r m o ne im balanc e c o uld b e ho ldi ng us b a c k from living ou r m o st a ut he nt i c , po we r ful live s . E m m a John s on lo o k s i nt o t he a r t o f w orking wi t h o ur ho r m o ne s…

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omplex and hard to understand, our hormonal systems can sometimes feel overwhelming and out of control. But without them we would live smaller lives. Without our hormones we would be mere flesh and bone, living beings, but also static and unchanging. Our hormones are the essence of who we are, the fluid beauty of our mercurial lives, the reason for deep despair, giddy highs, flashes of creativity, moments of painful self-knowledge. They also act as the sentinels of mood, hunger, reproduction and wellbeing – and understanding these important fluctuations within our own bodies allows us to care for ourselves better, and to know ourselves more intimately. ‘Hormone balance is one of those things that you need to have to achieve a good life, longevity and to have a productive lifestyle,’ says Dr Shawn Tassone, author of The Hormone Balance Bible. Hormones are produced by glands in the endocrine system – these glands are found in places such as ovaries, adrenals and the thyroid. They produce hormones such as melatonin, which helps us to sleep; cortisol for assisting our stress response; testosterone (good for bones, muscles, libido); the reproductive hormone progesterone; and oestrogen, which is the main female hormone and not only helps fertility, but also our skin and general health.

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We need all these hormones throughout our adult lives, and rely on them to support our overall wellbeing. However, when these hormones are out of balance, it can have a dramatic impact on our lives. For many, many women, stress, burnout and mental health problems are all too common and, in many cases, it is linked to our hormones. ‘Women are stretched, as mothers, partners, working, thinking about ageing parents, as well as doing the bulk of unpaid labour and emotional labour… If we keep going at this rate it exhausts us and can have devastating results,’ says Maisie Hill, who has been working in reproductive and hormonal health for over 15 years and is author of the groundbreaking book Period Power. Of course, for women, one of the key hormonal changes we go through happens every 28 days of our menstrual cycle, when we experience a rapid rise and fall in oestrogen and progesterone that can play havoc with our sense of wellbeing and mental health. And even if we have become adept at pushing through it, medicating with antidepressants, painkillers, alcohol or supplements, the truth is that we need these hormones and we could do better than merely ignoring them.

HORMONES

Day One (Winter) (the first day of your period): Oestrogen and progesterone levels are low; you are tired and lack energy. Days Six/Seven (Spring): A few days after your period, oestrogen is rising, while progesterone stays low. You feel more alert, more curious about the world around you, in control, chatty, upbeat. Days 14/15 (Summer): In the days after ovulation, your progesterone rises sharply, while your oestrogen and testosterone drop for a few days, then the oestrogen rises again. This surge and fall in hormones can often affect your mood in a positive way, making you feel full of energy, ready to say yes to things. Days: 21/22 (Autumn): Your oestrogen rises briefly once more, and then drops again, but it’s your progesterone that takes the biggest hit, falling dramatically and leaving you feeling detached and withdrawn, low in mood and energy, being sensitive to criticism. While these hormone fluctuations are a natural part of our reproductive cycle, the imbalance can be challenging. Add other external factors into our lives that can create a further imbalance – such as overwork, bad nutrition, lack of sleep, stress, relationship problems, trauma or child-bearing – and you have the perfect storm for a hormone imbalance that affects all aspects of your life. ‘For women that are already frustrated, anxious, depressed, adding a hormone imbalance to the mix is like putting things under a magnifying glass – so anything that’s already bothering you just becomes much more of a problem,’ says Tassone. Luckily, our body will always let us know when things are not balanced. The trick is to be able to listen, and interpret. Some of the classic symptoms of hormone imbalance are fatigue, dry or unhealthy skin, low or angry mood, rage and anger, weight gain, muscle weakness, aches, tenderness, stiffness, and an increased or decreased heart rate. But it gets more specific when you consider an over- or under-production of hormones. Oestrogen dominance, for instance, is one of the most common hormonal imbalances in women today, and is typified by fatigue, low mood and irritability (what we often call PMS), weight gain and breast tenderness. While it can be caused by your cycle, it can also be exacerbated by a poor diet, especially with commercially-raised meat, stress and a blood sugar imbalance. If,

however, oestrogen is low, you will experience aches and pains, low energy, even short-term memory loss. By comparison, low progesterone may be typified by insomnia, problems with fertility, headaches and an irregular cycle; while high levels of the hormone cause us to feel sleepy and hungry. Testosterone imbalances (yes, we all have it: it’s a human hormone, not a male one) can cause aggressive behaviour, excess hair and bad skin when it is high; fatigue, depression and apathy when it is low. It’s important to note that in all of these cases, the key is not to have more of one hormone than the other, but to have them in balance. Chinese medicine is often used to treat hormonal imbalance, which is partly why the yin-yang concept lends itself so well to understanding our hormones. In Chinese medicine the first two weeks of your cycle are in the yin phase, the second two weeks are the yang phase. Yin and yang are opposite, but they are also in balance. The oestrogen and progesterone literally keep each other in check; the strength of each relies upon the strength of the other. Sometimes an imbalance is not caused simply by a lack of one hormone over the other, but a lack of one hormone, coupled with an excess of the other. With all this going on, it’s hard to feel like we’re in control of our lives. Maisie Hill describes feeling like you’re being held hostage by your hormones; but explains that there are ways to prepare and get to know yourself better. ‘I don’t want you to be held back by your hormones. I want you to use them to get what you want out of life,’ she says in Period Power. Hill explains that the more we understand our hormones, the less we can be ruled by them, and the more we can take action to support ourselves. She recommends using tools, such as her Flo Collective cycle tracker, or any of the similar ones on the market, to get to know your cycle more intimately and begin to understand how your mind and body changes over the course of four weeks, and what happens when other external factors are added into the mix. ‘I like to think of being aware of your cycle as like knowing the weather forecast in advance,’ she told the Hacking Happiness podcast recently. For Hill, being prepared means that even if you can’t change your daily life – i.e needing to be in work when you want to be curled up in bed – you can make adjustments to help yourself throughout the month. “Working with your cycle will change your life for the better. You’ll move forwards with your life and reach your goals without the burnout. This isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing less.’

IMAGE: UNSPLASH /ANDRES GOMEZ

HOW YOUR HORMONES CHANGE EACH MONTH

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‘Our body will always let us know when things are not balanced. The trick is to be able to listen, and interpret’

IMAGE: UNSPLASH /THOUGHT CATALOG

If you know you have an imbalance, then there are a series of approaches ahead of you. Some sit firmly in the mainstream ‘medical’ sphere, and some work more holistically and with our individual bodies. At the outset, you may want to consider hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which can help with more serious imbalances and is used across the world for women going through the perimenopause and menopause. While effective and likely to ‘give you the most bang for your buck, as it were’, according to Tassone, many women have chosen to avoid it, due to a suspected link with breast cancer, which experts are now starting to show is untrue. In Hill’s recent book she calls the study that led to this impression of HRT ‘fundamentally flawed’, and says that, for her, a good hormone balance is about a combination of approaches. ‘It isn’t just about supplements and treatments. Don’t get me wrong, they’re amazing and I love using them. But after treating women with reproductive issues for 15 years, I realised that the same issues kept cropping up time and time again that cause/contribute towards my clients’ hormonal and reproductive issues.’ Hill talks a lot about how a hormone imbalance can be caused by, or lead to, things as damaging as habitual people-pleasing, imposter syndrome, struggling to express your feelings, irritability and rage that erode your career, living in fight, flight or freeze, and an inner critic that won’t back down. For Hill, addressing these issues, and being honest with yourself, is one of the most important things you can do. And

Tassone agrees. ‘The story is what kind of gets me in the gut. Let’s say I have a woman who is burning the candle at both ends… she’s working herself to the bone, sabotaging her own health because she’s taking care of everybody else. Women like this will at times present with a low cortisol reading, and I talk to them about being saboteurs because they’re sabotaging themselves. And when I talk to a woman about this, the head starts nodding, the tears start flowing, because she’s finally been acknowledged. And now she can start working on herself better.’ Tassone’s book is designed to help women acknowledge their true natures, the issues that need working on, and how to tackle them. He uses a structure of five hormonal archetypes – the nun, wisewoman, queen etc – to allow him to talk to women in a way that connects with their innate feminine selves. ‘When you talk about a testosterone deficiency or oestrogen dominance, it sounds too medical. But the more that I sat with it, the more I realised I was hearing very similar stories from women, and I found that I could group these things into archetypes, which became a way for women to connect to the storyline of their feminine balance, which then gives them the power to help fix it. You’re not just looking at the physical and emotional, but the spiritual aspects of things too.’ It’s important to start to tune back into your hormones. Our modern life has been designed to shut down our instinctive nature, and we don’t listen to the messages our bodies are sending us. But balancing our hormones is about working with the ebb and flow of who we are, and about being truly connected to the wisdom of our body, and our cycle.

HORMONES

PRACTICAL APPROACHES FOR HORMONE BALANCE Fro m nu t rition and sle e ping be t t e r t o a da pt i ng o ur e x e r c i se r e gi m e t o fi t wi th ou r c yc le s, w e look at the m a ny wa y s t o ke e p a st e a dy b a la nc e ‘While modern medicine is often crucial for discovering and treating underlying hormonal imbalances, it can be worth experimenting with natural alternatives to find what works for our individual bodies,’ says expert Courtney Jay Higgins The Balance Diet Hormones are produced by the microbiome, beneficial bacteria in the gut, so you can really help yourself by keeping your gut healthy and including foods such as kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut and kimchi in your diet. Also make sure to include essential fats – such as coconut oil, olive oil and avocados as well as oily fish and flaxseeds – that will help with inflammation. Proteins are the building blocks of your body’s hormones. Try to get as many of them as you can from non-meat sources, such as eggs, fish, legumes, nuts and seeds. If you do eat meat, look for organic, 100 per cent grass-reared chicken and pork. Fibre helps to bind and remove excess hormones, such as oestrogen, and can be found in all your ‘above ground’ vegetables, avocados, berries, nuts and seeds. It also really helps to cut out sugars, refined carbs and some alcohol, and try to swap out coffee for green tea, which is an excellent source of antioxidants. Seed Cycling Higgins uses something called ‘seed cycling’ to help regulate her cycle and the balance of her hormones throughout the month. In seed cycling, the four phases of a 28-day cycle are broken into two two-week phases, and specific seeds eaten daily during both phases. Seeds are rich in fatty acids, an incredible source of nutrition and protein, and support the body’s natural production of essential hormones. In phase one, you should eat one tablespoon of pumpkin seeds and one of flax seeds each day. Pumpkin seeds are an important source of zinc, which can help with hormonal acne, and mood. It also supports progesterone production in the body. Flax seeds on the other hand help to reduce the overproduction of oestrogen in the body, and can also protect against hormone-related cancers, such as breast cancer. In the latter part of the month, you should have a tablespoon of sesame seeds (great for reducing oestrogen and inflammation), and a tablespoon of sunflower seeds, which help to balance hormones and aid liver function. You can also sprinkle: grind the seeds and stir them into yoghurt in the morning, toast them and sprinkle them onto your lunch, or stir them into noodles, or eat as a snack.

Supplemental Health It’s a good idea to have some tests done to find any deficiencies that you could remedy with a supplement. Magnesium is a muscle relaxant, and known to help reduce stress and tension, and promote better sleep. It’s also been used for years to relieve PMS and menstrual cramps. You might also want to consider a multivitamin, omega-3 fatty acids, extra vitamin D and a B complex, which plays a key role in mood and energy. Also, seek advice on taking an adaptogen – a group of ancient herbs such as Siberian ginseng and ashwagandha, known to help stabilise blood sugar and improve mood and support adrenal gland and thyroid function. Natural Healing Expert Maise Hill swears by Chinese medicine, in terms of acupuncture and Chinese herbs as a solution for many menstrual aches and pains. She also champions learning the Arvigo technique of Maya Abdominal Therapy – essential an abdominal back massage you can do yourself to relieve cramps. You might also find that reflexology, reiki and cranial osteopathy can help you feel more balanced. Cycle Syncing The art of adapting your workouts and nutrition to your menstrual cycle, cycle syncing is popular with athletes – Jessica Ennis-Hill has added a programme for it to her own fitness app – and helps us work with changes to our endurance, strength and flexibility. ‘We should be taught that this is our superpower,’ said Dr Georgie Bruinvels – a senior sports scientist at Orreco, and the co-creator of FitrWoman, an app designed to help women tailor their exercise training to their menstrual cycle, in The Sunday Times. ‘Learn to work with your body and you can utilise it smartly,’ she adds. This could be as simple as stretching out when you have cramps, or sprinting when you feel restless energy. Sleep Well Getting enough sleep will never not be important. But it can be a challenge, especially when an imbalance of hormones can be linked to both fatigue and insomnia. Try to approach your relationship with sleep more honestly: set aside more time in the evening for winding down, and adjust your morning routine to enter the day more gently.

‘Balance and good fortune can only come to a person who is balanced and feels fortunate’ Stuart Wilde

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The less I need Whe n Saasha Ce le s tial-One wa s m a de r e dunda nt , she wa s fa c e d wi t h a cho ice – look for m ore w or k , o r c ha nge t he wa y she spe nt he r m o ne y. She chos e the latte r. E m m a John s on m e e t s t he fo unde r o f fo o d- sha r i ng ap p Olio to disc ove r how m uc h le ss we ne e d t ha n we t hi nk we do …

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IMAGE : ANNABEL STAFF

aasha Celstial-One – the cofounder of foodsharing app Olio, which has transformed the way communities and businesses not only share food, but waste less food – is talking to me from her bedroom, via Zoom, as is the way these days. She’s moved into her bedroom because her partner was doing a workout in the sitting room, and now she’s perched on the edge of the bed. Behind her is a bedside lamp, bare-bulbed and illuminating the space with a low glow. ‘That’s a perfect example,’ she says, gesturing at the lamp. ‘There hasn’t been a lampshade there since we moved in. And, almost every week, I look at it and I say, "you need to get a lampshade". But, then I catch myself. Because it looks fine, we’re never in the bedroom and when we are, the lights aren’t even on. So, instead, I’ve been keeping an eye out for the charity shops, and I’ll pick one up when I find the right shade.’ Saasha is right. It would be so easy to just open an app on her phone, search for a lampshade, click and collect, and boom, 24 hours later, lampshade. But, really, who is this serving? Every time she doesn’t buy that £45 lampshade, it’s £45 to spend on something that she really needs or wants. Every time she doesn’t buy a new lampshade, that’s another lampshade from a charity with a chance of not going to landfill. It’s a tiny thing, but when you do this across your life, the ripple effect is huge. Of course, it wasn’t always this way. Everyone needs to start somewhere, and even Saasha – born to hippy parents in America, who gave her her unusual name and instilled a solid make, do and mend ethos – found herself in adulthood enjoying all the trappings of a successful career and plenty of disposable income. Working for American Express as vice president of international business development, she filled her days

with facials, weekends away, luxury business travel and plenty of new clothes. Then, she took maternity leave to have her son, and was later made redundant. ‘I knew at the time I didn’t want to go back to work because of all the travel that was required,’ she says pragmatically. ‘So it was really a blessing.’ With a generous exit package, she sat down and did the maths, and realised that if she halved her expenditure, she could live comfortably for at least two years without working. BACK TO BASICS The basics she kept – she stayed in her house in Crouch End, and still went back to visit family in America – but ‘everything else pretty much became discretionary’. Having learnt about the impact of the textile industry on the environment, Saasha immediately stopped buying new clothes, and to this day – with the exception of underwear – hasn’t bought anything new since 2012. ‘Actually, it’s a relief because I don’t really like shopping. And I’ve gotten a lot of time back too. In my twenties and thirties shopping was something I did every weekend. Eliminating that was a big step – but it did free up both money and time.’ Time is a big feature for Saasha. Not only has her new way of living affected her finances – and it’s something she has continued despite starting a successful company and going back to work – but she talks often about how much time we use up in spending, or buying, or juggling our money. Not getting highlights anymore, cancelling weekly restaurant reservations and stopping a routine of monthly facials equally gave her back acres of time, as well as plenty of money. She also saved time – and money – when she became much more selective

INTERVIEW

‘Our lives are so scheduled with expenses. They gather like barnacles on a ship, making you go slower, heavier, and then you need to clear them off and start again’

about long weekends away with her girlfriends. ‘Everyone wanted to rent a nice Airbnb in Cornwall, or go to Iceland for a bank holiday, and I just didn’t have that luxury anymore. Having to say no to some of that stuff was a bit of an adjustment,’ she admits. A NEW START In the shift from more to less, Saasha found that her unconventional upbringing provided her with a lot of the skills she needed. She started camping again – something she’d always loved – and she and her son have invested in a good tent, and good camping equipment, that’s stored efficiently so it’s easy to throw in the car when she wants to go away. Investment is an important word and, as she explains, it’s about an investment in both purchasing the equipment but also how she uses and organises it. ‘I grew up camping. So for me it’s sort of coming full circle. I really enjoy it. You can make camping very comfortable if you invest in things like a decent mattress and so on. And now we have all the camping stuff in one shed outside, and it’s all sorted and labelled and it’s really easy to just put it all in a car – which we rent – and then we’re off.’ The way that this lack of excess has filtered into all aspects of Saasha’s life is really attractive in a world that’s bursting at the seams with excess. The impact of having less gave her space not only financially, but also literally. As she started to need less, she became

braver about saying no to things, refusing free stuff she didn’t want, and later respecting the boundaries of her own time and space. A skill that has continued to pay metaphorical dividends. After separating from her then husband and moving into a smaller flat, she also cut down her general belongings to the bare minimum of what she could store and really needed. ‘I just didn’t have capacity personally to take on additional responsibility then,’ she recalls. ‘I got rid of a lot of stuff – vases, picture frames and general household items.’ Cutting down in this way actually gave her the space to focus on what was important. Even now, since she’s moved in with her partner to a bigger house, everything has been secondhand, with the exception of her dining table that was made to order from reclaimed wood. And this approach to a life with less has filtered seamlessly into her work too. Her app, Olio, which she founded with good friend Tessa Clarke, is designed to allow people to easily get rid of things they don’t want or need – including leftover food – and has created a community of people sharing things. It has brought communities, villages, streets and towns together – and when the pandemic hit, it came into its own. ‘We’ve had more activity on Olio in the last five months than we’ve had in the five years it’s been running,’ she says matter-of-factly. The pandemic, of course, has been hugely

IMAGE: UNSPLASH/ELAINE CASAP

LIVING

influential for everyone, with lessons in needing less, wanting different things and appreciating what we have being delivered across the globe. And while Saasha might have arrived at this learning before the rest of us, she too has been thinking about what has changed since the beginning of 2020. ‘Excess had become our status quo,’ she says. ‘I think people are thinking differently now. It’s time to consider what is a merely a habit and what actually brings you joy.’ ‘So, do you think the pandemic gave us more of what we needed and less of what we don’t need?’ I ask her. is pauses a way of ‘Yes!’“Disagreement she says. ‘That’s absolutely it.’ She for a second. ‘But it’s a process, you know.’ She critical to looks back at the bare lamp again. ‘It is like a muscle. I do still make mistakes too. You need to practise a little bit. You need to keep having those conversations with yourself.’

SAASHA’S TOP TIP FOR CUTTING DOWN Plot a graph of the various expenses in your life. Have a line for things that are the highest in time and effort, and then on the other line, the things that are highest in cost. See what is the highest in both thinking, timeperhaps and cost, and eliminate those first. the health of any shared

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Fresh start

A who le ne w a c a de m i c y e a r, a ni p i n t he a i r a nd a r e t ur n t o r o ut i ne – a ut um n c a n b e a wo nde r ful t i m e t o r e a sse ss, r e i nve nt a nd st a r t a fr e sh, e spe c i a lly whe n i t c o m e s t o sk i nc a r e. B y C l a ire B ra y f o rd

BEAUTY EDIT

THE RETINOID BALM

< THE EYE CREAM Intensive Eye Renewal Cream, £62, Shani Darden The latest addition to the famed esthetician’s previously cult range is a potent eye cream. Shani Darden is the name behind many a clear A-list complexion and the all-in-one formula has been crafted to treat the most common eye concerns. Powered by nine age-defying actives, including potent peptides to plump and firm, silk tree extract to brighten, squalene to hydrate and niacinamide to fight wrinkles, it instantly softens and brightens the eye area. Dark circles are lessened and your face comes alive.

Rejuvenating Night Balm, £32, SBTRCT To truly press reset, there is no better route than via the high-performance results of retinol, among the most proven skincare ingredients. But with it invariably comes irritation, so step forward the first solid retinoid bar from zero-waste beauty brand SBTRCT. Combining intense reconditioning with lower irritation it has taken two years to perfect. A great way to start afresh, retaining the skin’s moisture levels, while minimising consumption. <

THE SKINCARE DUO Hydrating Aqua Gel, £20, and Firming and Brightening Silk Crème, £22, NuFACE Hailed as the beauty editor’s desert island must-have, NuFACE has launched a new ionized skincare duo to take its microcurrent device to a new level. The lightweight activator gel has hyaluronic acid and glacial water to bring a thirst-quenching hit and skin-cushioning bounce, you can also try the firming and brightening Silk Crème with eight phyto-active ingredients.

THE TRANSPORTING SCENT Scented Candle, £75, and perfume, from £75, Diptyque Travel may have become a distant memory for many, but to mark its 60th anniversary, Diptyque is taking us on Le Grand Tour across the globe from west to east. Inspired by the tradition of the initiatory journey, it is offering a window to the world, with five new scents to try. They include Parisian-inspired Stopover No.1 and its essence of myrrh, old books and waxed wood; Greek themed Milies in No.03 with cypress and fig wood accord and exotic Kyoto with the scent of Turkish rose and vetiver. It’s time to travel within our four walls.

IMAGE: PEXELS/VASILEVSKAYA TATYANA

< THE ULTIMATE SERUM

Brighten Maximum Glow serum, £180, Ubuna Roll up your sleeves and jump-start your regime with Japanese skincare brand Ubuna’s potent new serum. Developed by harnessing natural antibodies from unfertilised ostrich egg yolks (who would have guessed?), it instantly brightens dull, lacklustre skin. It also harnesses hyperpigmentation-preventing alpha arbutin and brings a shot of brightening vitamin C. Its makers say it creates a molecular ‘cage’ around damaging antigens. We say it is worth the investment. 59

THE NEW HAIRCARE <

Run-through Detangling Shampoo, £44, Oribe When it comes to reawakening your hair to its glossiest, healthiest prime, Oribe is the superpower beyond the salon. The rejuvenating range tackles every concern from colour to condition, and is now taking on our post-summer knots and breakage with its new Detangling collection. Blended with shea butter to condition, sunflower extract for shine and red algae extract to nourish, it gently cleanses the hair without drying, softening each strand to make it more manageable. We love that it is infused with the signature perfume of founding hairdresser Oribe Canales, making it a hair ritual to indulge in.

THE NEW SHEET MASK <

Liquid Mask, £115, 111Skin After his time as a trauma surgeon and expert in biomedical healing technologies, Dr Yannis is considered the first authority on the rejuvenating power of the sheet mask. If you love the immediate results of these one-sheet-wonders – but not the environmental impact – 111Skin has launched a new multi-use alternative. The six transformative liquid masks are formulated with a whole host of actives to address specific skincare concerns. The ultimate is the NAC Y2 Recovery mask, featuring a fusion of antioxidants, amino acids and vasoprotectors – the signature barrier-building complex to reduce oxidative stress, irritation and redness while strengthening the skin against external aggressors.

THE NATURAL SLEEP AIDS

THE WELLNESS PERFUME Fragrance, £92 for 50ml, Valeur Absolue From her background in luxury and beauty, Bénédicte Foucart saw the need for a fresh approach to perfume. Partnering with leading aromachologists, neuroscientists and perfumers, she transformed the traditional fragrance into a scented personal ritual, creating elixirs that not only smell divine but create positive emotions and energy. Assembled by hand in the French town of Grasse, our favourite is the gentle Sérénitude, blended with calming, creamy sandalwood and fresh Indonesian patchouli, as well as loose semiprecious amazonite stones to symbolise protection. The fragrance allows you to identify your ‘absolute self’.

Sleep Plus range, from £12, This Works We know the most powerful way to recharge is via sleep, but for so many of us, natural sleep patterns have been severely disrupted, which is why This Works has reinvented its Sleep Plus range to maintain natural slumber. Optimised with a superblend of pure CBD, lavender, chamomile and vetivert, we love the Massage Relief roller to help you unwind, release trapped muscle tension and increase blood flow before sleep; the bath oil to soak away stress; and the delicious pillow spray to help you drift off with ease.

BEAUTY EDIT

THE RECYCLED LIPSTICK

THE DETOX POLISH

Lipstick, £36, La Bouche Rouge Nothing gives you a new lease of life quite like a slick of red lipstick. Not only does the French brand La Bouche Rouge offer the perfect scarlet shades, it is devoted to minimising the beauty industry’s environmental impact by packaging lipsticks either in recycled stainless steel bullets or handcrafted excess leather, complete with the brand’s signature saddle stitch. Free from harmful microplastics that we swallow so many of, as well as parabens and silicones, it is the ultimate in Parisian lip chic.

Ultra Smoothing Detoxifying Body Polish, £50, 79 Lux Founded by integrative health and nutrition coach, Karen CummingsPalmer, 79 Lux was born from the desire to create an indulgent skincare line that treats dry, eczema-prone skin. The latest addition is a cosseting, rose-gold-hued body polish that leaves limbs with a flattering sheen. Combining mineral-rich Himalayan Salt, squalene and rose to hydrate, and grape seed and jasmine to repair and even the skin, it exfoliates and detoxifies, boosts circulation and draws out impurities, while lifting the mood and feeding the skin. The scent is wonderfully uplifting too.

THE ECO HANDWASH

Hand Wash Starter Kit, £45, Forgo Forgo is the innovative Swedish handwash brand for anyone looking for a low waste / low emissions life. It uses only paper refills of cleansing powder added to water in glass bottles and contains less than 10 essential ingredients, in three refreshing scents: neutral, citrus and wood. The plant-based formulation is 100 per cent plastic-free, the aromatics are distilled from leftovers, and the bottle looks oh-so-stylish in your bathroom. <

THE SUPERCHARGED BODY BRUSH

Ionic Body Brush, £55, Karmameju A new wave of body brushes is making the age-old technique more powerful and pleasant. Karmameju’s ionic body brush forms negative ions on the skin, which accelerate the transport of oxygen to our cells and body tissue. It stimulates the lymph nodes to detoxify the blood and increase the resistance of the skin. According to the brand, ionic brushing originated from monasteries, where they balanced the electromagnetic energies in the body and helped remove toxins. Just a couple of minutes a day can make a big difference. 61

‘Balance is not something you find, it’s something you create’ Jana Kingsford

IMAGES: PEXELS/KAROLINA GRABOWSKA

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One thing at a time Th e b eauty industry has long b e e n e nc o ur a gi ng a m o r e i s m o r e a ppr o a c h wh en i t c om e s to products, ho we v e r t he la t e st t r e nd i s a ll a b o ut sc a li ng b ack. Katy Young e xplore s the wo r ld o f sk i ni m a li sm

BEAUTY TREND

s spiritual teacher Vernon Howard once said: ‘You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need’. No wonder the beauty industry is congratulating itself on another successful year, because streamlining your routine to the bare-faced minimum is in – and it’s even got a name, ‘skinamalism’. The sea change is a slap in the face for yesteryear’s insatiable appetite for skincare, which saw us layering, ‘skincare wardrobing’ and taking ‘shelfies’ featuring every ingredient imaginable. But it turns out that it was in fact an appetite for destruction, as we stripped away natural oils and loaded on the chemicals, our skin became confused, angry and at worst covered in acne, eczema and psoriasis noted the dermatologists. What in fact triggered the shift however wasn’t the state of our skin, but the state that the pandemic left us in, both practically and emotionally. As so often happens, this collective cultural shift prompted a fundamental change to the way we consumed products, 2021’s beauty industry witnessing a more conscious, considered and careful shopper. Not just to protect our faces, though more on that later, but also our planet, economy and wellbeing. Until now, the average woman had traditionally used 12 products every day, buying even more if the wind or her social media feed took her. Big spenders were coined ‘beauty junkies’, and we believed that more was more. We marveled at Instagram shelfies bulging with the latest trendy ingredient (which we had to try) and never questioned how one person needed it all. In short, they didn’t; the industry got into a bad habit of leaving 120 billion units of plastic behind each year. Fast forward to 2021 and we’re cleaning up our planet in part by cleaning up our beauty act, shopping for fewer products in less packaging. Add to that a global economic crisis that triggered a step change in the way we spend money, that being much, much more carefully – and you have yourself a new generation of beauty shoppers looking for products with minimal impact on the environment, maximum impact on the skin. As educated ‘skintellectuals’, consumers have also come to learn that the only ingredients truly proven to work are vitamin C, retinol and SPF, so make the magic three the core of your routine and streamline the rest. Anything above and beyond the magic trio is in fact a hope and a prayer in a jar. However, we are a hopeful bunch of beauty users by nature, traditionally trying a smorgasbord of ingredients at once to get that elusive glow. But according to dermatologists our efforts have been futile. Skin is a well-programmed ecosystem working as one organ so it is unlikely that a single product can alter one biological mechanism at a time. It's far more likely that you are just overloading your skin with too many of the same ingredients which all tend to lurk in every bottle. At best this excessive practice is unnecessary or might cause pilling as we load far too much on our faces, and at worst is damaging. Active ingredients tend to compete, and fail, to work alongside each other leaving your skin overworked, red and irritable. Simply, as you use more chemicals you get decreased efficacy, a bit like a law of diminishing returns. By all means try a single ingredient to treat one skin issue, following your face’s needs rather than the latest trend, but tread carefully and try one at a time, always. Far better to combine our new cultural shift with this new skin sense and buy one multitasking product that does it all. Taking back control of our spending power we have challenged the beauty industry, once easily able to convince we needed a dozen products. To stay in touch and sensitive to the new mood brands have responded with creams that do it all, simply so. Where a dozen products went before, one multitasking treatment housed in recycled packaging has taken over, remedying our conscious just as it does our exhausted skin. And exhausted it is. So thank goodness for the awakening. Now we can do more with less and allow for some mental headspace too. Beauty has become a feelgood industry, finally.

IMAGE: PEXELS/POLINA KOVALEVA

'As you use more chemicals you get decreased efficacy, a bit like a law of diminishing returns'

NUTRITION

Fast & Curious The Benef its of Fasting for M ind and Body Doe s fasting have a p o si t i ve e ffe c t o n y o ur he a lt h a nd w e llbe ing? Be auty e x pe r t Kat y You n g e x plo r e s t he be ne fits of giving our di ge st i o n a m uc h- ne e de d b r e a k

ny stalwart of intermittent fasting will tell you that limiting the hours you eat food is a perfectly familiar practice that dates back centuries to our days as hunter gatherers. They will go on to tell you this is exactly why we would do so well to relive the ancient habit. What they might not tell you, is that cavemen didn’t choose to fast. In fact they were inadvertently starving between hunts, paving the biological way for later generations living through feast-or-famine epochs who were then protected by our innate ability to fast. Roll on a few thousand years, and we’re choosing to return to the idea of cutting down on meal times – but do our 21st century guts really want us to? Well, put simply, yes. While you might expect 120,000 years to witness a sea change in the way we eat, it does comparatively little to the evolution of our guts, which take far longer to advance than, say, our brains, bones and muscles. Add in today’s menu and you have a perfect recipe for modern-day disease, including diabetes, fatigue, IBS and obesity, all associated with a gut quite literally sick of too much 21st century processed food. No wonder exercising a little bit of restraint and returning to slowed ways of eating feels so appealing. Most of us will sign up the practice of fasting for its physical benefits, of which there are many. Our interest is often piqued for the fat loss associated with it, which pleasingly comes without the muscle loss usually associated with crash diets that shave off the inches. This is all thanks to the release of certain hormones, including adrenalin and epinephrine, which trigger your body to tap into fat reserves while simultaneously preserving and encouraging muscle mass, density and tone. But this is not the only physical benefit, far from it. When we fast for over 10-12

IMAGE : EMMA CROMAN

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NUTRITION

Simply put, fasting is not really a ‘diet’ at all, but moreover meal timing planning.

hours, we automatically switch our source of energy from glucose in the liver to ketone stores in fat, which trigger major effects on the cells and organ function. Our cardiovascular health loves it, which is why you might notice your skin, hair and nails looking healthier as our nutrient update improves. What you might not be able to see, but will almost certainly feel, is a decrease in blood sugar and blood pressure, oxidative stress and cholesterol. And then there is the well documented science of cell regeneration, which occurs as fasting trips our system into autophagy, whereby old cells are eaten up by newer, more efficient cells in a kind of ‘cell clean-up’ of the entire body. Neuroscientists have also long studied the happy cerebral side effects of fasting. The theory goes that wild animals are hardwired to perform better during periods without food so that they are better placed to catch the prey that they so desperately need after a couple of weeks of nothing. Similarly, in lab trials, studies with animals found that when running off stored fats rather than glucose, as we do during bouts of no food, the brain and body perform better, with improved cognitive function, learning, memory, alertness and stress resistance. This of course makes for a far better hunter in the wild, and in our case, say scientists, a much higher performing human in today’s society. Fasting essentially puts the brain into survival mode, and activates a hyper focussed state so that we are essentially preserving energy for whatever the task at hand is. In a world associated with low attention span and endless distractions, such true focus in hard to find. But while there might be a sense of empowerment in fasting, there is no need for the obsession often associated with dieting, whereby counting calories, macros or portions can feel like a full-time job. (Worryingly, studies have linked this kind of mania over what we are eating with disordered thinking around our food, as well as anxiety, guilt and even orthorexia). Simply put, fasting is not really a ‘diet’ at all, but mealtimeplanning. It comes down to not what you eat, but when you eat. Once you have chosen which 24 eating clock to live by – whether it's skipping meals, fasting for a full 24 hours, intermittent fasting and daily window fasting, there is real freedom of choice. So what plan to choose? The general consensus for newcomers is to start off with a 12-14 hour fasting window, working your way up to a 16-hour period for better health benefits still. And beginners take note that while both sexes can fast to similar effects, women tend to find the practice harder, thanks to a reproductive system which signals hunger more aggressively. Though please do not undertake any drastic changes to your food intake without consulting a doctor or nutritionist first. While fasting isn’t for everyone, your gut will find it hard to deny the benefits. As the old adage goes, don’t dig your own grave with your knife and fork. Instead, we suggest, putting them down entirely between restricted meal times for a better quality of life.

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WHICH FASTING TYPE IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

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‘There are lots of different variations to intermittent fasting,’ says nutritionist Jennifer McDiarmid. ‘The key is to pick one that you can achieve with relative ease. Think about how your normal routine runs: when you wake, when you go to bed, how your mornings tend to go, and so on. Be realistic about what will work for you. Set yourself up to succeed, not fail!’

5:2 METHOD

12:12 / 16:8

OMAD

Traditionally people use the 5:2 method. This method is where you only eat 800 calories for two days a week and the other five days a week you follow a balanced eating approach. Recent advice suggests that on the non-fasting days you try and follow the principles of Mediterranean eating consuming whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, herbs, spices, nuts like pistachios, and healthy fats such as olive oil.

More recently, intermittent fasting has changed, and people are now choosing to do the 12:12 diet where you fast for 12 hours a day, which includes the time you sleep, or the 16:8 where you fast for a 16-hour window – again this can include sleeping time. ‘This can be easier for people, as during the eating periods, you aren’t needing to calculate calories and can eat when hungry,’ says Jennifer. It is also likely that either of these methods will fit into the natural rhythm of your day, making it a small, manageable lifestyle change. And not a dramatic overhaul. Remember, during the eating window, it’s important you try to keep to balanced eating.

This stands for ‘one meal a day’. It is an incredibly extreme version of intermittent fasting – and something that is more linked with religious fastings, such as Ramadan. It is not to be recommended without guidance from a nutritionist or doctor. ‘Choose whichever version suits your needs,’ says Jennifer. ‘Remember to make sure you are not just focusing on the time or calories you are eating, but to make sure you are getting as many nutrients as you can to avoid nutrient deficiency, which can occur when we start to embark on any form of restricted eating.’

Jennifer McDiarmid is a private and corporate nutritional therapist in the UK, supporting both individuals and companies to implement wellbeing changes through nutritional guidance and support. jennifermcdiarmid.co.uk @jennifer_mcdiarmid_nutrition

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PA U S E F O R T H O U G H T

The Minimalist Parent Fr om g e t t i n g y o u r c h i ld r e n i nto th e p erfec t sc h o o l to go in g o n th e righ t h o lida y s, m o d e r n p a r e nt s a r e fa ced w ith en d less p ressu res to get it righ t, says Dr Asma Naheed . Bu t i s i t p o s s ible to d ec lu tter w h en it c o mes to p aren tin g?

s an old-fashioned mother of two grown-up women, it’s difficult for me to settle on one specific parenting style that works above all others. Parenting has always been challenging but now we see an incredible amount of studies and philosophies dedicated to different parenting methods. When I was a young mother, I, like many other young parents my age, decided to raise my children within my own established environment and within traditional boundaries. The children fitted into our lives. However, today, many parents build their surroundings and lifestyles to suit their children. We fit our lives around our children. Which works better? Raising a child today is much more complicated when compared to the world in which we ourselves were raised. As millennials, we grew up in the technological revolution: we were born when technology was basic by today’s standards, yet by the time we reached universities, smartphones and laptops had become widespread. Then social media began and everyone, everywhere seemed never more than a few clicks away. Modern parenting can therefore be such a test simply because things are so different today from when we were young. One issue I have with much of modern parenting is the constant need for more – more expert advice, more gear, more competition, more fears about safety, and more choices about education or career, nutrition, and even entertainment. In our rush to give our children the best, and compete in an ever more challenging world, we have lost sight of the basics. As a result, today’s parents are often overwhelmed, over-scheduled, and overwrought. Recent studies show 75% of parents are too busy to read to their children at night, shares Joshua Becker, author of The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own. There are a huge number of children being placed in long day-care centres and after-school clubs as we try to meet the endless demands of the working world. We simply cannot keep up. Thus, the idea of minimalist parenting emerged. The book Minimalist Parenting: Enjoy Modern Life More by Doing Less was written by two mothers, Christine Koh and Asha Dornfest, who wanted to share the idea of going back to basics, giving more emotion to children by giving less physically. Their approach involves less clutter, less scheduling and a more subtle role in a child’s life. The authors define minimalist parenting as both a

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‘mindset and a set of recommendations for simplifying and streamlining family life’. Their approach involves less all around: less stuff and less scheduling, and fewer interventions in a child’s life. By simplifying a child’s world, you help them to become aware of the present moment and give them the space to let their imagination blossom. The first step in becoming a minimalist parent is to embrace the challenge of change. We need to let our children live, let them make mistakes, let them own their arguments and allow them to get hurt. It’s a learning curve that will instill a sense of responsibility, problem-solving skills and critical thinking in them. Ultimately this will serve them more than a parent who hovers, sweeping problems out of the way with the benefit of age and experience. This approach can also offer an excellent chance for busy parents to take a pause and prioritise what is essential in their lives. Feeling overwhelmed with excess material possessions – or the need to get them – leads many of us away from the true meaning of life. Minimalist parenting cuts impulse buying, allows more freedom and improves our mental state, which has been shown to lead to higher levels of contentment and satisfaction with life. Mothers get more time to spend with kids rather than simply taking them from place to place. They can focus more on their health and family, being more creative, and maintaining quality relationships. In short, they clear the clutter and make time for what really matters.

Dr Asma Naheed PhD is an educational psychologist and life coach who specialises in therapeutic and behaviour management 71

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STORY OF

WISDOM

Anger - a Buddhist story If someone doesn' t accept your anger, to whom does it belong?

One day, Buddha was passing through a village when some local people came over and insulted him. They used all the terrible words that they knew. Buddha stood there, listened silently, very attentively, and then said, ‘Thank you for coming to me, but I am in a hurry. I have to reach the next village, people will be waiting for me there. I cannot devote more time to you today, but tomorrow coming back I will have more time.’ Those people could not believe their ears: this man had remained utterly unaffected, undistracted. One of them asked, ‘Have you not heard us? We have been abusing you, and you have not even answered!’ Buddha said, ‘If you wanted an answer, then you have come too late. You should have come ten years ago, then I would have answered you. But for these ten years I have stopped being manipulated by others. I am no longer a slave, I am my own master. ‘Now, it is your freedom to insult me, it is my freedom whether to take it or not. I don’t take it. You insult me, true. That’s your decision. I am free to take it or not to take it, and I say I don’t take it. What will you do with it? ‘Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does the gift belong?’ The crowd was surprised to be asked such a strange question and a man answered, ‘It would belong to me, because I bought the gift.’

BEAUTY EDIT

‘If you become angry with me and I do not get

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insulted, then the anger falls back on you’

Buddha smiled and said, ‘That is correct. And it is exactly the same with your anger. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger falls back on you. You are then the only one who becomes unhappy, not me. All you have done is hurt yourself. ‘If you want to stop hurting yourself, you must get rid of your anger and become loving instead. When you hate others, you yourself become unhappy. But when you love others, everyone is happy.’

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U N B RO K E N

The ar t of living well Our emotions can overwhelm us if we don’ t acknowledge them, says Najla Al Tenajii. Here, our columnist looks at the surprising joy and emotional release of art therapy

e are all a host of different emotions. At any one time, I am a blend of different thoughts and feelings, all of which have their own place. After my accident I found that expressing my feelings or thoughts became incredibly difficult, meaning that it was often hard to differentiate between my emotions and their triggers. Was I frightened or upset? Was I distressed, overwhelmed or exhausted but mistaking this for anger? Labels matter – the more we can recognise, name and acknowledge, the more we can process our emotions. My overwhelming emotional distress pushed me into a corner. Before my accident I was passionate, energetic and generally pretty transparent. It was easy to know what was on my mind. Afterwards, due to my limitations and trauma, I became lonely and frustrated. My mental and emotional peace vanished as I was forced to confront serious health issues. I wanted to scream about my pent-up anger, helplessness and regrets, but I never got the courage or had the proper words. I couldn’t explain, couldn’t find the words to say: ‘Yes, I am furious, unable to cope, and consumed with thousands of ‘WHY’s’. My sister arranged a therapist, and, after a few sessions, she introduced art therapy. This was a turning point for me and a brilliant solution to help address my emotional distress. As the therapy progressed, I learned about the mechanics of emotion and the difference with the emotional mind that feels, and the rational mind that thinks. She helped me to see that with my tendencies towards being impulsive and illogical, my emotional mind was taking charge of my rational mind. Through art therapy, I learned to use colours to label my emotions and to make peace between my feelings and their triggers. It is wrong to think that we need artistic talent to enjoy making art. Art is for all of us. It is a brilliant way to express emotions and feelings, and reflect our daily life. For me, exploring with colours while painting is a source of pure joy and happiness. Creativity can be easily cultivated, a skill anyone can learn. I soon learned the basics of colour harmony and now have an eye for aesthetics. I started visiting museums and art galleries and learned that the creative process is a profoundly healing endeavour. In this challenging time of my life, art became a peaceful

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‘Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.’

Sarah J. Maas

oasis where my mind could rest. Colours became soothing friends; they helped me clarify my underlying emotional struggle. I started making birthday cards and gifts for my family and friends, which were always well received. This positive feedback boosted my mood and gave me more incentive to continue. I soon found the process fun, soothing and enriching, a mood-changer that decluttered my thoughts and cleansed my feelings. Art is now a source of joy in my life: I feel renewed after completing each painting. There is a real sense of achievement in creating something from imagination. Art and healing have an innate connection; allowing a period of creativity has been proven to lessen anxiety and depression. After such a draining year, I invite you to discover the healing power of art therapy for yourself. Pent-up emotions can take a heavy toll on our mental health, and we need a healthy and safe outlet to explore them. Professional art therapists have a toolbox of activities that can help serve as an emotional release, whether it’s creating a stress painting or an emotion wheel, or simply creatively journaling your emotions, art therapy can help clear your head and open your heart.

Najla Al Tenajii suffered a lifechanging injury in 1999 and has since been using her recovery to inspire others through their own journey 75

‘If you strive only to avoid the darkness or to cling to the light, you cannot live in balance. Try striving to be conscious of all that you are’ Gary Zukav

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A l - STORY G hOFa n ī WISDOM

The Self-Sufficient, The Wealthy, The Independent One The One who is self-sufficient. The One without need of anything. The One who transcends all needs. The One who is completely satisfied. The One who is free from any wants. The One who is free from any dependence. The One who flourishes without help or aid of any sort, yet who is needed by all. The One upon whose wealth and riches all others depend.