As most of us are in the middle of lock down, like me, we have practically no social contacts during the day. Only the essential meetings are allowed.
I do work at home, so to me that aspect is nothing new. To me it was new not to be able to meet anyone after work or for lunch. This means that most of the time for the last couple of weeks nobody can see me but me.
I have noticed that many office workers who now work at home are commenting on how they spend their whole time in pigiamas and don't do make-up or hair-do. Ohh I hear you, I've had this days as well, and many! 😀
When you're just home, you're tempted to get lazy. You have more time, but somehow the mind tricks you to actually do less.
This is something I have also learned away from. Even though I work at home and nobody can see me, I still do my make-up, put on my clothes and shave like any other day. Even in quarantine.
And actually I'd like to turn that last sentence another way around: Especially now, in quarantine!
Here in Italy the situation with the virus is very serious and may are afraid. Also I was very devastated in the beginning and I felt very lonely. When everyone around me were with their families, I was here all alone (OK with my cats) 2000 km away from my family. I had a lot to go through with that by myself. And luckily I had people around me who showed that I am not alone and I am care for.
But I also decided to change my own attitude about this quarantine. This is something we have never experienced before, it's global and it touches us all. I decided to put my fears aside and see this as a unique opportunity.
To me, this quarantine is a retrite, where I have a unique possibility to turn inwards and to care and nurture myself. Both form the inside and outside.
Instead of letting go all my self care rituals, I started to really increase them and putting more effort into them. I meditate, I do facials, I care for my skin, I do yoga, I cook and eat well etc. I celebrate all emotions that come out in this moment and I liberate them. like today I felt like crying because my cat was feeling worse again, so I decided to let myself cry and release the worry. To me this is a wonderful chance to give myself all of that care I ever wanted and really to connect with myself.
Actually, I have been more effective than ever before, but also better rested and grounded. Instead of feeling lazy at home, I have been more energetic and gotten so many things done which I have previously been putting off.
So even though in the beginning I was sad to be alone, when I could face and release that feeling, now I really understand why my soul has decided to go through this phase by myself and I really celebrate it. I enjoy it. And even in the more difficult moments I see the meaning and opportunity to release them and grow.
They say that life is 20% of what happens to you and 80 % of how you response to it. When I changed my attitude towards the quarantine and being alone, the circumstances did not change. What changed was how I felt. And that is the lesson in this that I learned in the middle of this.
I believe this quarantine is teaching us all something and helping us grow as human beings. We just have to stop. Really stop and observe. It will open our eyes and it shows what kind of relationship we have with ourselves and with people around us. Are we looking at this life through fear or love? Do we make the choice to trust or to spread fear? Do we take care of others and show empathy or do we behave selfishly?
We are all in this together, but we all get to choose how we come out of this.
I decided to use this time to improve myself and really treat myself now that nobody else can do that. I decided to trust that everything will work out, even though I don't know yet how, and that after this I will be stronger, wiser and more balanced.
And after all of these beauty treatments I will be also prettier (even though I will need a hair dresser unregntly). And to this I wanted to share a little inspiration for you as well.
I love doing facials, I do two of them every week. My face care ritual always includes cleaning, peeling, a mask and moisturising with a good serum and lotion. And when I do my facial, I always visualise how the the creams I use really treat my skin and also my mind and I feel how my hand treats my skin when I put the creams to my skin. I's really a high vibrational ceremonial moment that I embrace.
I use high quality professional cosmetics, and lately I have been drawing my interest more to natural beauty products. One of my favourites in Anumati Naturals, which I recommend to check out if you're looking for all-natural professional skincare brand. My other favourite is Korres, which I currently use a lot.
One part of my Beauty Ceremony is also the equipment. Because it's like a Goddess ceremony, I have just cerated myself a luxurious knitted cashmere headband for my skincare moments. It keeps my hair away from my face and looks just five stars stunning. I even decorated it with pearls and rhinestones to make it look even more high-class, and I named it Perla, because it's as precious as a pearl. My Perla was made of Palma Fibre's Nuvola Cashmere. I recommend you to do it from a very luxurious material, it will make you feel even more spoiled!
Also I found some very old bamboo blend yarn in my stock. I don't know how long I've had it, it might be even from the 90's. But anyway I had it and it was still in mint condition, so I decided to knit an ecological dishcloth from from it (you can find the free pattern here). The dishcloth can be btw used also as a face towel in facials! With the spare yarn I decided to crochet myself some ecological make-up pads. And there was enough yarn for 6 make-up pads. I named the Fiori because they are pretty like flowers.
The idea of these pads is to replace cotton pads. They absorb moisture, the structure removes the make-up with gentle rubbing and after cleaning you can wash them with soap or in washing machine with other laundry, and to dry and re-use them. Easy, beautiful and saves the nature!
I have created patterns for these both and I want to gift them to you for free, hoping they will inspire you to do something good to yourself and to perform some serious actions of self care! So please, turn this quarantine time to your advance. Treat yourself, give yourself love, spoil yourself, and so you will have even more to give to the world, too!
To get your free pattern, all you need to do is:
1) Write your email to the field below and press the "Submit" button,
2) You will be forwarded to the download page where you can easily download the PDF pattern.
You can print the patterns or save them in your device. When you sign up, you will also be added to my VIP list. I will send you a notification to your email every time I publish something now here in my blog that I think will interest you, like a new pattern or a video or a blog post. After ordering the newsletter, you will also get all of my upcoming free patterns automatically to your inbox from now on until you decide to cancel. And don’t worry, I’m not a spammer and I only send valuable information and as long as you want to receive it.
Let me know how you like the pattern and if you have for example tips for a good ecological cosmetics to use here, please share us the information!
With love,
Heidi
