#1 I climbed a mountain!

I had the pleasure of attending a hiking retreat with the lovely Paula of Be Happy Be Bright Be You! It was at the Lake District in Great Langdale where we stayed in a Tipi with a wood burning stove to keep us warm.

I went along with my friend Kathryn and we had such a good time! I have to admit, when we saw the size of the mountain we kind of freaked out, neither of us felt especially fit and neither of us have much hiking experience. But it was just so amazing, the climb up was a challenge, and we had to scramble over rocks in places, but the feeling once we got to the top was epic.

I honestly wouldn’t have believed I would have done it, but there I was! At the end we had prosecco at the pub and a meal before heading back to our Tipi’s. The second day we took a shorter walk up to a tarn and paddled our feet in the water. It was really nice having that weekend of being connected to nature and just being able to check out of everyday life.

And now I have a bit of a hiking bug and will be climbing Helvellyn in July!

#2 My wellbeing

I talked about some issues I was having in my last monthly check in and since things have improved a lot. I’ve had lots of testing done (including a test for ovarian cancer which was horrible, but thankfully negative) and my symptoms have improved a lot.

This month I’ve been cutting right back on coffee, sugar, dairy and wheat and in June I’ll be working on giving my body a break from these things then slowly reintroducing them to see how I feel. May was too much of a busy month to try and eliminate things but June is so far looking a bit quieter.

On the movement / exercise front apart from said hike, I haven’t done much while I’ve been having a bit of a flare up. I’d like to start getting back into a routine with it though, so I’m making 4-5pm on work days my movement time before I pick up Finley – anything goes as long as I’m moving!

#3 If it’s not a hell yes then it’s a no

I had a realisation a few weeks ago that I wasn’t spending my time doing as many fun things as perhaps I used to. In June I’m going to challenge myself to say no to whatever things aren’t a hell yes. I noticed myself saying yes to things that weren’t right for me because of fear of lack or worrying that’s I’d upset someone, but once that becomes a habit you find you’re spending more and more of your time keeping everyone else happy and not yourself. So bugger that, hell yes it is!

#4 Holidays

As someone who runs my own business I’m absolutely crap at taking holidays. A part of me thinks that because I only work 4 days a week then that’s enough time out, or because I love what I do then I don’t need to take time off from it. And I’ll be honest, in the beginning that was ok because I had the energy and I loved what I did so it was fine. But now I have less energy to invest into the business stuff (I have a child now!) and I find myself getting a bit burned out if I don’t consciously and deliberately take time off.

Not only is it good for my wellbeing, it’s often when I become most creative and inspired by things I can carry back into my business. James had a week off booked in, but I really didn’t prepare as well as I could have, so did a few hours work. But I really enjoyed the time I was able to step away, we went to the cinema 3 times that week and a trip to the beach, it was glorious!

#5 Peonies

I got my annual peony fix!

I’m really looking forward to June for getting focused on my own self care and getting the new Summer Wholehearted Journal prepped and sent off to the printers! How’s May been for you?