How to Relax and Slow Down

My life has just started to slow down. I am home for a month, and it feels great. But my emotions are all over the place! I have found it really difficult to control them and just relax. But I’m working through it, and I wanted to give some tips on how you can too.

1. Write your thoughts down in a stream of consciousness. Write whatever comes into your head onto the page, and you might just start to understand your thoughts and feelings a little more. Your brain is likely to spill out some of the things that have been troubling you, and you can then read over it and consolidate your thoughts.

2. Meditate. Take the higher understanding you just gained and meditate on what is troubling you, making sure to Let It Be. Let whatever thoughts and feelings you have sit with you for a while and accept them, and then you can start to work on letting them go. Breathe through them and know that you ARE in control of yourself and can be relaxed and happy just by giving yourself some time and care. You can use guided meditation from YouTube or meditate alone.

3. Yoga/Exercise. Doing yoga in the morning before going about the rest of the day has really helped me. Concentrating solely on my body and breathing helps to take away from social media and other stresses of the world. And physically, I feel much better stretching out after I wake up, releasing all of the tensions and knots in my body. Any exercise releases ‘happy’ endorphins in your body and therefore WILL make you feel better, even if you don’t consciously notice it.

4. Declutter. My family and I have recently been sorting through and disposing of unwanted items in every single room of our house. Even the garden and garage. It feels so good! Clearing through my room genuinely made my mind feel more clear. Not only are you left with a cleaner and happier room, but in the process you can give to charity or even make money off the stuff you no longer want. Both of these things will make you feel slightly happier. At the end of the process you are left with only your favourite possessions- it’s great.

5. Let your emotions out. Put on Titanic and have a good cry if you need to, or talk things through with a close friend and let it off your chest. I usually feel a big sense of relief once I have cried and released some of the pent up emotion inside of me. It’s okay to let it out. In fact it’s better than okay, it’s good. And you’ll likely feel much calmer afterwards.

Those are some of the things I have learned over the past week- I hope they help! Sending hugs, Kiayah xxx

5 Books to Read this Summer

Exams are over! And now it’s time to relax and enjoy the sun’s warm rays. One of my favourite ways to do this is to lie and read. I have a few books lined up already- After You by Jojo Moyes, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, and Why Elephants Weep by Jeffrey Masson . I like to have a good mix of fiction that you can escape into and non-fiction to keep my brain ticking over. Here are some recommendations that I have read before, perfect to pass your time this summer-

1) The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini) – a heart wrenching novel which beautifully tells the story of the plight of hazaras and siques in Kabul, during the time of the Taliban. I have read this book 5 times and I’m still not bored of talking about it after studying it for A Level. It will keep you hooked and give you moral dilemmas to mull over for days.

2) The Power of Now (Eckhart Tolle)- a non-fiction wonder that is increasingly growing in popularity, for good reason. Eckhart makes you think in such a different manner. As someone who has been labelled ‘anxious’ ‘stress-head’ and ‘worrier’ before, being present in the moment and forgetting the past or future sounded divine to me. And through simplistic teachings that’s exactly what you learn from this book. Perfect to read at the start of summer, so that you can properly enjoy the rest of it!

3) Me Before You (Jojo Moyes)- the prequel to the book I’m currently reading. This book is so good it was made into a brilliant film starring two of my favourite people- Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin. A tale of romance and heartbreak from a unique standpoint.

4) 1984 (George Orwell)- a classic. Read this book to set your mind on a journey of deep thought. Full of satirical and moral dilemmas, this book is a warning to society. It is again a tale of love, with extreme and unexpected twists.

5) Summer Secrets (Jane Green)- this book is perfect for reading whilst on the beach in the sun. An easy-to-read, feel good story which will make you laugh and smile, with enough heartbreak to keep you hooked. This is a story of courage, facing addiction and enjoying life again. Jane Green is one of my favourite authors, because her books are guaranteed to make me feel good.

I have thoroughly enjoyed all of these books and I hope there’s at least one in there that you will love. Let me know if there are any more you think I should read this summer!

Sending hugs, Kiayah xxx

Spanish Summer (Day 1)

Lately I’ve been dreaming of sun and the sea, after all of this horrible cold weather in Britain. So I thought I’d reminisce on our trip to Spain in summer, 2017. Me and two of my favourite people travelled to Fuengirola, a town just outside of Malaga in Andalusia, Spain.

We stayed up all night the night before -having a Harry Potter marathon before our early morning flight. Our flight went well and when we stepped off the plane we got that amazing feeling of stepping into a sauna. We were very grateful for the heat. On our first day we focused on finding the hotel, checking in and getting changed into our summer clothes. Then we took a walk along the front, and into the main square of Feungirola. On the way we passed a plethora of sculptures; introducing us quickly to the local culture.

After our walk we were all getting hungry, so we decided to stop for lunch at a little restaurant on the beach. Typically, we ordered a large pan of Paella. It was DELICIOUS. I’d still say it was the best meal of the holiday- and we ate a lot of nice food! I don’t usually drink alcohol, but we ordered a jug of Sangria. It was so refreshing after walking in the heat for a few hours, but when I tried to stand up I realised that for the first time in my life- I was drunk. The boys found this very amusing and we all sat and laughed about it until I felt normal enough to stand and walk home again.

When we got back to the hotel we took some time to unpack and get comfortable in our rooms. We had two rooms, one for me and my partner and one for our friend. They were spacious and had balconies with enough room for the three of us to sit, so we were very happy. Once we started to get hungry again we went to find some more yummy Spanish cuisine. It took quite some time to decide which restaurant to go to, as there were so many to choose from! But we settled at a very small one nearby the hotel. The food was lovely and well priced. Satisfied, we walked back to the hotel and spent the rest of the night on our balcony, playing cards and listening to music in the heat of the night.

For the next couple of posts, I’m going to treat my blog a little like a diary, and write quite detailed accounts of our Spanish Summer Adventure. Hope you enjoy!

Sending hugs, Kiayah xxx

Adventures in Wales

This week I have two exams AND an assignment to hand in for university. Therefore, this weekend I took the chance to grab some relaxation time. Along with my boyfriend and family, I jumped in the car and drove the hour and a half to Wales.

Having lived in Wales as a child, it always makes me happy coming back to the fresh, clean air- especially after living in a city this year. We first stopped off in Llandudno to get some chips and curry- a very welcome treat after weeks of eating healthily and exercising everyday! Then we parked the car up at the bottom of The Great Orme and faced the harsh winds.

As soon as we got out, the view of the rough sea crashing against the coastal rocks made me smile, and I was excited to walk further and see more. We stopped to look down at the bay where the seals usually are, and managed to spot one swimming around. It was great fun trying to spot the dark grey mass in the wide open sea.

Each of us would every so often brave the cold and take our hands out of our pockets to photograph the beautiful scenery around us.

We walked to the summit, my legs thankful for the exercise after sitting in the car for so long. We saw sheep and goats along the way.

As you can see, the summit was beautiful but very, very windy.

On the way back down, my scarf flew off my neck and into my boyfriend’s face! It was very amusing for us all.

We were lucky enough to end the day eating a delicious meal of lamb and vegetables- having someone else cook for you when you’re trying to de-stress is wonderful. The whole day was exactly what I needed before the tough week ahead, and as the sign at the top of The Great Orme says, a great day to ‘Rest and be thankful.’