Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer

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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer
intro
Humans are not machines. We don’t have to recharge our batteries in order to function, or refuel in order to be productive. Instead, we should allow ourselves to step away from all the pressures of self-optimisation, productivity and life goals. Luckily, there is no better time than a staycation to truly reset. During your summer break, pick and choose from our suggestions to enter the final quarter of the year feeling rested, at ease and ready to take on the world on your own terms.

By Fiona Brutscher

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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
write
Write It Down – The best way to start clearing your mind is to empty it – and the best way to do that is by putting pen to paper. Whether it’s a gratitude journal or a Covid diary, creative writing or penning letters (even if you never send them), written words can be a vessel for thoughts and feelings. On the page, you rearrange and order them, discovering clarity in the process. If you don’t do well with a blank page, go for a structured journal with prompts. Invest in a pen that will make the process enjoyable, and simply go with the flow.

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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
Detox
Digital Detox – It sounds simple. Maybe even simplistic. And yet you know it’s true: putting away all electronic devices will help you recharge, reset and refocus. There is no point in doing this while you actually have stuff to do, but you absolutely should put down your smartphone, computer and tablet for certain periods while you are on a break. If you can’t manage a full day or week, try every day between noon and midnight, for example.

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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
Get Real
Get Real – Prepare for your escape from the world of screens by setting up non-digital alternatives. Buy books and magazines or update your library pass, dust off your landline and make sure everyone has the number so you can receive calls, pull the encyclopaedia off its shelf so you can look things up without consulting the almighty search engine… Yes, you’ll miss some gadgets in a practical way, but you’ll also realise how little of your screen time is strictly necessary.

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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
Challenge
Challenge Yourself – Wait, this one sounds like work? Well, yes and no. We often think that we have to do something complicated or acquire a complex skill to challenge our brains. In reality, any new activity will help form new synapses and take your mind out of your everyday routine. Never played a video game? Let someone introduce you to the world of Fortnite (or play a round of Tetris). Prefer to untangle your brain by using your hands? Take up knitting, tackle a jigsaw puzzle, learn how to make sailing knots…

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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
Unwind
Unwind – Call it meditation or mindfulness, progressive relaxation or just plain old ‘switching off’, at least some part of your staycation should be dedicated to deactivating the active part of your mind. When you have time off in your own home, it can be tempting to use that time for cleaning, renovations or a million other things on your to-do list. Make sure you leave space for doing absolutely nothing.

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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
Diets
You Are What You Eat – We are not going to talk about capital-D Diets. We are, however, going to point out that what you eat affects how you feel in your body. The size of that body doesn’t matter, as long as you feel comfortable, confident and healthy. However, should you feel physically off in any way, a staycation is the perfect time to figure out if your diet may be to blame. An elimination diet is a simple way to discover foods that may be causing an adverse reaction. All it really takes is time and patience. If you suffer from an undiagnosed food intolerance, this could help you solve anything from digestion issues and low energy to insomnia and dermatitis.

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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
Exert
Exert Yourself – You know that deep, restful sleep kids get when they’re all tuckered out after a hard day of work at the playground? That’s what we’re going for here. Unfortunately for the workout-averse, there is no better way to achieve a comparably blissful state of tiredness than exercise, ideally of the outdoor variety. The trick is to first find out which type of activity seems most fun and least like hard work. Maybe it’s something you don’t even think of as a sport, like dancing, jumping on a trampoline, or playing a game of rounders with the kids. Second, calculate the target heart rate range that will push you towards – but not past – exertion, and try to reach it, pushing a little higher every day.

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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
Immerse
Immerse Yourself – After physical exertion, reward yourself with some nature immersion. Go for a long walk in the forest, swim far out on a quiet lake or sleep under the night sky, counting the stars. Studies have shown time and again that simply spending time in nature is both mentally and physically beneficial

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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
Stretch
Stretch – Our everyday lives cause some of our muscles to shorten. Sat at a desk, hunched over a keyboard, staring at a phone screen, most of us suffer from the issues office life brings with it. Even those who don’t work in an office will experience unbalanced strain in one way or another. Exercise alone doesn’t help even out the stress caused by our routines, but stretching can help. In fact, stretching isn’t just essential to physical fitness, it’s also a mindful activity that can deliver you into a zen state. Done right, it should feel pleasant and help you achieve more mobility, while easing any aches and pains you may have.

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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
Indulge
Indulge – For every challenging thing you do, allow yourself an indulgence. A hot bath or a massage, a sweet treat or a stiff drink – it’s your break, you deserve it. Pampering yourself will activate your brain’s reward centre, making it easier to keep up the good habits you are forming.

10/15
Special Reboot Camp
Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
Make
Make Something – We are all creators at heart, but creating is not necessarily the same as being productive. In fact, even people who turn their hobby into a career can find their creative passion being drained by the pressure to produce. Use your break to make something just for the joy of it. It doesn’t have to be useful, practical or even turn out to be any good. The process of using your body to give shape to a real thing that serves no immediate purpose is rewarding enough. Whether you make pottery, knit a scarf, carve some wood or bake bread – maybe the result will be useful to you, maybe not. Your spirit will benefit one way or another.

11/15
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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
Declutter
Declutter – You don’t have to go full Marie Kondo, but reviewing the physical objects crowding your space, and thinking about which ones you could do without, can be freeing and cleansing. It can also be fun to go through old boxes, reliving memories and then letting them go. After all, they aren’t much use to anyone gathering dust in the attic, cellar or wherever you keep the stuff you don’t really need anymore, but haven’t quite gotten around to sorting out yet.

12/15
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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
Do Good
Do Good – In a way, this should be the thing to start with. After all, nothing is better for mind, body and spirit than doing something for others. However, much like with the oxygen masks in an airplane, you can’t help someone else unless you’ve helped yourself first. Once you’ve spent some time clearing your mind, tending to your body and nourishing your spirit, it’s time to pay it forward.

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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
Reach Out
Reach Out – Sometimes charity can be done right on our doorstep. Before getting involved in an organisation, see if there is someone in your family, circle of friends or neighbourhood who could use some help directly. Spend some time with an old friend who struggles with loneliness, offer to babysit for frazzled parents or do the shopping for an elderly neighbour. If all else fails, join a local charity and get stuck into the rewarding work.

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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer.
Get Cuddly
Get Cuddly – The gratitude of humans is highly rewarding, but the adoration of a loving animal can be even more thrilling. Animals have been abandoned in record numbers after people realised their Covid pet was cramping their style once restrictions were lifted. If you aren’t ready to adopt, you can start by volunteering at an animal shelter, fostering or pet-sitting for friends.

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Home Sanctuary: 15 Ways To Recharge Your Mind, Body And Spirit This Summer

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