Feeling Overwhelmed?

If you’re feeling anxious before a trip, then this tip is for you. With all the preparations that go into a holiday, you might be feeling like you can’t fully switch off while you’re ‘on duty’. Decide, before you go, that on this trip you are a person and not a project manager.

The Amazon Kindle is the perfect gadget to help you unwind while you travel - try getting lost in someone else’s life and see how it helps you easily adjust and feel calmer.

When you go too long without food, or stock up on the 'wrong' food, for example ultra-processed foods, blood sugar can dysregulate and the body releases adrenaline to rescue it. Adrenaline feels exactly like anxiety, with a racing heart and a restless edge. Starting the day with a whole food protein such as eggs, salmon, chicken or Greek yoghurt - something solid - will stabilise the blood sugar and calm the nervous system.

The Ninja Slushi Insulated Bubble Cup is a great place to store your morning smoothie (ideally full of protein and fibre) to set you up for success. It also travels well too.

Morning light sets your body clock, so you feel awake by day and sleepy at night, which matters most when you have crossed time zones. Time near sea, trees or open sky lowers your stress hormones within about twenty minutes, and bare feet on warm sand or grass settles the system in a way shoes never allow.

Step outside in the first hour of the day, take off your sunglasses to kickstart your internal body clock, and keep shoes off where possible to feel the calming ground beneath.

Cordless headphones are an easy way to incorporate soothing music or a peaceful podcast into your new morning ritual.

Your nervous system has an accelerator and a brake, and a long, slow out-breath is how you gently press the brake. Breathe in for a count of four, then out for a count of six, and repeat a few times. That longer exhale tells your body it is safe to relax, and the best thing is that it works anywhere - in the security queue, on the plane, or in the middle of a hot and crowded day - no one needs to know you’re doing it and it costs nothing!

The Retreat Calm and Hydrate Collection is a gorgeous collection to help you create an indulgent moment to pause, breathe and reset, while you care for your skin.

It’s essential to put back the minerals the heat takes. Overnight your body does a lot of detoxing and repairing. We lose minerals through our sweat and breath, and if they drop too low, we can feel it through energy dips, brain fog, low mood and sometimes even broken sleep. Think of your magnesium, potassium, sodium - all of which play a role in our body.

Top it up with a good quality electrolyte or a proper salt (not table salt), along with nuts and seeds - pumpkin seeds especially for their magnesium - and plenty of dark green leafy veg.

Your nervous system sees the familiar as ‘safe’, so one small object from home can settle you in an unfamiliar room faster than you'd think. Pack the thing that grounds you. Your journal - because when we give ourselves space, our best ideas tend to arrive, and there's something calming about getting them out of your head and onto the page. A novel you've been longing to get lost in. Your silk pillowcase, familiar against your skin and cool in the heat, so your sleep feels like home wherever you are - or your favourite bath oil, so you can totally relax and let the day go.

Whatever it is, let it be the signal to your body that it's safe to rest.