Below we’ve listed some ways that have helped us find balance, why not give some of them a go and let us know how you go:

Take time away from the online world

The internet has created some amazing opportunities for us all and has given us the freedom to stay connected with family and friends across the globe, it can also feel very isolating. With society’s standards expecting many of us to only share the perfect moments, it can often leave us feeling alone and inferior when life isn’t as always as perfect as everyone else’s appears to be. This paired with the onslaught of bad news provided to use from news outlets, the world can very easily feel very overwhelming and scary. This is why we encourage everyone to carve out time throughout the day to take a step back from the technology. Whether that’s leaving your phone at home and taking yourself on a nice, covid safe, socially distanced walk or switching your phone and tv off an hour before bed and reading a book instead. It’s these little things, that may seem like nothing that can make all the difference.

Embrace this extra time

Life can get crazy and in this society, we’ve all built, us humans are constantly out and about working to reach the next goal. Although this sort of lifestyle is exciting and rewarding, it means we don’t often allow time to pause, time to give back to ourselves, time to reflect, and flourish. Appreciate the activities at home we often take for granted and embrace a new routine. Use this time at home to rest so that you can come out of lockdown feeling recharged and restored, ready to take on the next challenge life has to offer.

Invent a new daily schedule

With what feels like the world being flipped on its head, it’s impossible for us all to stick to our usual routines.  It can be all too easy for us to fall out of routine and feel unmotivated while stuck at home, so setting up some clear structure is crucial to getting any real work down during this time. Whether you want to create your own daily or weekly schedule is up to you, just make sure you set it up in a way that best suits you and your day. This schedule is here to provide structure and balance to your day, keeping you active and busy.

Get ready to take on the day

As tempting as it may sound to sit at home in your pj’s all day, it can often make it harder for us to switch into a productive work mode. Now we’re not saying you have to sit at home in a suit or anything, but take the time to get yourself dressed and ready for the day. This will also just make 5 o’clock feel so much nicer when you can close your laptop, run yourself a bath, and pop back into your pj’s.

Creating a distinction between work and home life is going to help you stay self-motivated and productive.

Healing doesn’t have to just happen physically. It can occur in all aspects of ourselves; mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, so it is important that we take the time to pause and work to recognise these parts within us. Now, everyone’s self-care ritual will look different, so it’s important to understand that building it will take time. Just because one way works for one person, doesn’t mean it’s going to work on everyone.  What we mean is, go into your self-fulfilment journey with wide eyes and be open to new possibilities. Speak to new people, try new things, listen to yourself (we know, crazy concepts). It’s never too early or too late for self-growth and although the road is everchanging and may feel never-ending. It’s the process of how you get there that will make all the difference.  

As a way to make this journey seem a bit less intimidating, we recommend that everyone creates their very own selfcare ritual. As we said before, everyone’s ritual will be different so we can’t sit here and give you a list of things to do and that they will cure all your issues in the world. That’s impossible. Instead, we want to encourage and inspire you to branch out and find moments of joy, peace, and empowerment within your own life. To take control.  

Now don’t let the word ritual scare you off. Ritual can stand for many other words; act, habit, practice, procedure, routine. It’s all of these words that work together to form the idea of what we are trying to get across. The self care process doesn’t have to feel like a gargantuan weight. Instead, it’s getting yourself into the habit of implementing these small moments throughout your day, that over time don’t even feel like an effort anymore.  

“Self-created ceremonies give meaning and order to our personal lives…Rituals are tools that give us the freedom to take responsibility for the direction and purpose of our lives…Rituals provide us with a sense of renewal. They offer us a time-out from our everyday routine, habitual existence. Metaphorically, rituals are oases, a time to rest, replenish, and restore ourselves on our long and winding path through life. Rituals help us to reevaluate our journey thus far and to reaffirm that the path we are traveling is the right one for us.”  (Brenner, 2015)

Instead here is a list of possible activities you could do throughout your day. Remember to take it easy in yourself, depending on how you’re feeling, start with one and gradually build from there. These activities aren’t things you have to do every day, at the same time of day, in the same room. No that’s boring. Instead find things activities (big or small) that bring you joy and grow it from there. 

– Light a candle (shocker!) 

– Read a book  

– Start a new tv series 

– Get outside and go for a walk 

– Go to a park and sit and people watch. (we know it may sound a bit creepy but you’d be surprised by just how calming it can be) 

– Listen to some music, sing at the top of your lungs and dance around your living room 

– Snuggle up and take a nap, a nap fixes everything. 

– Go and grab a coffee, but instead, try a different café. Maybe even try a different café every time you go.  

– Pop to Bunnings and buy yourself a plant, wonder the garden aisles and take your time. 

-Get Baking! spend some time in the kitchen and let yourself zone out and at the end you can reward yourself with some yummy treats. 

Sources 

Brenner, A., 2015. 10 Ways Rituals Help Us Celebrate Our Lives. [Blog] Psychology Today, Available at: <https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/in-flux/201508/10-ways-rituals-help-us-celebrate-our-lives> .

Having experienced the highs and lows life has to offer, | found myself seeking fulfillment, dedicating my life to being a supporting wife, loving mother and running a logistics company with my husband, it was time I created something for me. 

I believe it has been a long time in the making, always giving to others, and never giving anything back to myself, I felt I now have the desire, learnings and support system to finally express my creativity and develop something of my own. 

After doing a spontaneous candle course with my daughter Chloe, I felt my creativity start to flow again, something that had laid dormant for many years. 

Candles became my therapy, my outlet. 

It was unexpected, candles were never a thing that I used or help or even had an interest in. Doing this course, sharing this experience with my daughter and now using these candles for some much needed ‘me time’ at home, I have found my peace, my thing and rediscovered by creativity. 

Through this journey I discovered the importance of taking time out for me, to not feel guilty for doing something on my own. It has helped me to develop a more positive and stronger mindset. 

Through my life’s experiences, I now understand the importance of self care, both for the body and for the mind. That, if we are to care for our loved ones to our fullest, we need to take care of ourself first. 

Candles became my therapy, and | hope to share these positive experiences with those seeking to spark — some light into their lives.  

-Merryn

Pourz Candles was created by our lovely founder Merryn Morrice in 2020. What started when a simple candle making class quickly turned into an outlet in which Merryn could use to give back time to herself. A way for her to rediscover who she was outside of being a loving mother and wife. After finding her own sense of fulfilment, Merryn wanted to encourage others to ignite that passion within themselves to find their own meaning to the term ‘self-fulfilment’. And so Pourz Candles was born… 

Pourz Candles is growing every day and we started this blog as a way to connect and empower our growing community. Throughout this blog, we’ll be discussing a wide range of topics covering-  self-care, candles, mental health and insights into running a business. Here we want to encourage, empower and inspire individuals to seek their own version of self-fulfilment. 

We are so excited for this new platform and the opportunities that will come with it. We aim to use this to create a safe space, a place where we can interact and grow together.