The good bits of lockdown that we plan to continue

Lockdown has brought different experiences to different people. For some it has been extremely stressful - either worrying about work, being isolated from loved ones or having to juggle working from home with homeschooling kids and everything else that life throws at us. For others it has been a more tranquil time or a moment of reflection. Or it may have been a mix of the two and more besides. Amongst the ups and downs however, lockdown has presented all of us with a change, and no doubt we will have developed new habits and ideas that are both good and bad. Here are some of the positive takeaways that members of the Spabreaks.com team plan to continue practising for self care as we get back to a new normal…

Bonnie, Spabreaks.com Editor

With everything normally being so busy, I don’t think I have ever spent quite so much time on my own, and in doing so I have really learned to appreciate how nice that can be and how important it can be for self care. There’s always an emphasis on doing things with other people, and to some extent there’s always been a bit of a fear of spending long periods of time alone and enjoying my own company. So I want to continue making space for that every now and again - I think I might even be ready for that solo spa break!

Joe, Marketing Consultant

Stretching and poker! I’ve always hated stretching either before or after exercise. Strongly in the “real men don’t stretch” and “the first two miles are the warm up” mindset. Then during lockdown everyone talked about doing yoga. Deeply suspicious of such new age nonsense (I know, I know) I found a yoga based stretching video. I can’t turn myself inside out like the instructor on the video, but I do appreciate being able to tie my laces without grunting and my legs not hurting after a long ride. And poker as it’s a great game for the family. It means we can pretend to be James Bond, and it’s the ying to the yoga’s yang, which I think is important for self care!

Sarah, Senior Product Manager

I will definitely keep going with making more time for self care, whether that be a face mask and painting my nails (which I never did before), a nice long walk or watching a binge box set. I have definitely made more time for me over this lockdown period and I want to continue with that. I have also realised I can make lots of takeaways like my sausage and egg McMuffin or my pulled pork nachos, so I will be spending more money on me than takeaways in the future! In addition we have been doing a virtual pub quiz every Thursday since the start of lockdown and I enjoyed it so much as it’s something the whole family can do, so I hope to continue with these as well!