Mental Health Awareness
This post is one of the most important and personal ones for me.
It really marks the start of Sabao and through neglecting my own mental health I came to develop the ideas and philosophy around the brand.
At the start of 2017 I crashed, it was a cold, wet Tuesday morning in January and I felt like could have been under one those oppressing, heavy, dark clouds. I’ve always been anxious by nature – you know one of the types who won’t sleep before an exam, plan my routes carefully, if I was meeting someone – guess who would be there first!
But it was only when motherhood settled in with my second daughter did I really see all of this start to negatively manifest itself. Timekeeping was absolutely crucial, I started to get unnecessarily nervous about bad weather and looking back I set such ridiculous expectations on myself.
For those who have passed through it, or going through it – it can feel like you’re on an endless carousel journey, wanting to jump off but clutching so tightly not knowing if you’ll make it.
So in February I decided to make my New Year’s Resolution. It had to be small enough that I could do without putting extra pressure on myself and more importantly achievable.
Here it was: “Every month I am going to do something new” no matter how small be it calling a friend, trying a new activity or even just changing my daily routine.
Fast forward a few months and there I was making Bath Bombs. Creative, achievable and you actually get something out of it. After a few months of practice I finally nailed down my recipe and its benefits;
- Essential Oils -in the Aromatherapy Collection I wanted combine scents which aren’t traditionally put together but help relieve stress, anxiety, bring calm and also helps brightens your mood
- Cocoa Butter – since having children my skins been an absolute mess – so in my testing phase I loved the feel of both Cocoa butter and Shea Butter. It left skin feeling nourished and moisturised.
- Price – as a mum of two your purse strings start to get tighter and priorities start to set in. So I really wanted to make affordable products which have amazing benefits to both mental and physical well-being.
From personal experience it can be hard to shout/reach out for help. So at times a little "self-help" is needed just to allow yourself time to breathe and 10 minutes to forget it all.