This is Mine. What's Your #Ritual?
What a week! Between the wonderfully creative chaos of building our new Otium by Yellowood retreat, running businesses, a rather unhappy hip and knee, and some eye-wateringly painful acupuncture sessions, life has been moving at quite a pace.
The swimming pool is dug, walls are going up, electricians are busy, and I've been having the most wonderful time designing lighting and dreaming up beautiful spaces. Our brilliant builders and artisans are bringing it all to life, while Bugs and Ripley have appointed themselves chief site inspectors and hardware store assistants. Unpaid, naturally, but very enthusiastic.
And somewhere between all of this, I've been finding little pockets of magic.
No grand gestures or elaborate wellness routines, but in four beautifully simple rituals that have helped me slow down, reconnect and remember to enjoy the life I'm so busy creating.
01 | Soak, Soften, Surrender
Oh, how I love a bath. Especially after a day of building sites, decisions, dogs and deadlines.
My evening ritual has been a deliciously warm mustard bath with Epsom salts, a little shot of our Vitamin Body Oil and a generous layer of Hydrating Masque on my face.
Add some beautiful calming music, close my eyes, breathe deeply and... heaven.
It's my little evening nervous system reset. A chance to let the day's madness dissolve, soften tired muscles and give my brain permission to stop organising the universe.
No emails. No decisions. No builders asking where the light switches should go.
Just me, my bath and the glorious art of doing absolutely nothing.
02 | Bare Feet and Garden Treasures
One afternoon I escaped onto the lawn, kicked off my shoes and wandered barefoot through our flourishing garden.
There's something so lovely about feeling the grass beneath your feet, breathing in fresh air and noticing what's growing around you.
I ended up harvesting beautiful little nasturtium seed pods, which I'm now pickling into homemade 'capers'. Never tried that before and it was a delicious moment.
There's something wonderfully satisfying about growing, gathering and preserving your own food. A little old-fashioned nature magic, and I loved it.
Our garden gives us so much more than fruit, herbs and flowers. It gives us a place to reconnect with nature, with the seasons and with ourselves.
03 | A Date With the Sky
This might be my favourite. I lay down on the grass and looked up.
That's it. No phone. No agenda. No productivity whatsoever.
Just birds singing, trees dancing gently in the breeze and clouds drifting across the sky, turning into faces, animals and all sorts of wonderfully peculiar creatures.
Remember doing that as a kid?
I found myself completely absorbed in this little game of imagination, watching the sky tell its stories.
And it made me wonder when we stopped giving ourselves permission to simply daydream.
Five minutes of doing absolutely nothing, and somehow everything felt a little lighter.
04 | My Slow Get-Up-and-Glow
My mornings begin with a little love for the skin I'm in. It's my get-up-and-go ritual, but there's absolutely nothing rushed about it.
I start with Natural Face Wash, a generous misting of Liquid Vitamin Hydra Mist, followed by my favourite Double Diva Glow combination of Superfood Face Serum and Ultimate Face Cream.
Then a little gua sha, gentle facial massage and facial exercises to encourage circulation, release tension and wake up my face.
I'm noticing such a lovely difference in how my skin looks and feels. Smoother, more supple, deeply hydrated and glowing. And as I navigate the wonderful adventure of ageing well, caring for my skin's natural resilience is something I truly enjoy and most importantly schedule in time for.
But the best part? While my hands are moving slowly across my face, my mind is imagining all the lovely things I want to create that day.
Not what I have to do. What I'd love to do.
It's a little moment of intention before the madness begins. And I wouldn't trade it for anything.
The Magic Is in the Moments Between
So there you have it.
A bath. A garden harvest. A date with the sky. And a little morning glow. Nothing extravagant. Nothing complicated. Just four little rituals woven into a rather wonderfully busy week.
And it's got me thinking...
Wouldn't it be lovely if we all started sharing our rituals?
Imagine how much we could learn from one another. How someone's five-minute morning ritual might inspire another person's evening. How a tiny act of self-love could travel across the world and make somebody else's day feel a little brighter.
Perhaps, without even trying too hard, we could create a beautiful community of people inspiring one another to slow down, reconnect and find more joy in the everyday.
No perfect lives. No complicated routines. Just real people sharing the little things that make life feel wonderful. So these are mine.
This Is Mine. What's Your #Ritual?
I'd absolutely love to hear what brings you back to yourself. You can simply reply here on my field notes blog, or to my Sunday newsletter or share a little glimpse of your ritual on Instagram and tag @ecodivanatural.
Who knows? Your simplest little ritual might become someone else's most beautiful discovery.
Because a beautiful life isn't something we achieve. It's something we practise everyday.
Sending you buckets of love,
Nicole x
#FLY — First Love Yourself / Skin Food for Your Soul
