Winding Down

Good Day Everyone,

One of the goals that my hubby and I had for 2014 was to try and wind down and relax more before going to bed. We both tend to go through phases where we struggle to sleep and I think this has partly been due to us being on our laptops / ipads etc right before bed which means our minds are still very active and stimulated. So as a way of getting a better night’s sleep and generally just switching off, we’ve been getting into the habit of lighting our oil burners in the evening and trying to put the technology gadgets down!

We picked up these beautiful oil burners from a market we visited in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) when we went on a last minute weekend away last year. As well as the two oil burners, we picked up three essential oils, lemongrass, jasmine and lotus. Whilst all three scents are very relaxing, we enjoy burning the lemongrass, in particular, as it reminds us of the boutique spa hotel we stayed at where we had some lovely treatments.

In addition to lighting the oil burners, we make sure that we have no bright lights on and we have some spa / Zen type music playing in the background (just type Zen music into YouTube and there’s a huge selection to choose from). This means that even if my hubby is having to deal with some late night work emails, there is some calming music playing in the background, which I hope at the very least, is slowing his mind down, even if it is at a more subconscious level. The candle light, essential oil scents and Zen music all work together to create a very relaxing and calming ambience that has been most conducive to us both getting a good night’s sleep.

I absolutely love listening to Zen music and often have it on when I’m typing up blog posts. In fact, it’s on right now as I type this post along with one of the oil burners, sending wafts of lemongrass in my direction whenever there’s a gentle breeze coming in from the balcony. I will always listen to Zen music when I’m doing my yoga type stretches as I find it helpful in getting me into that meditative mind set and helps to slow my breathing down. Given the techno-communicative crazed world we live in, sometimes we light the oil burners and play Zen music during the daytime on weekends when we want to get into a more relaxed and calmer frame of mind - it’s so soothing to simply just sit still and be every once in a while :o)

What do you do to switch off and relax? How do you wind down before bed? Do you have a particular routine or things to help you?

Love Sheen xxx

Life Without A TV

Good Day Everyone,

Ever since I left home at 18 I have always had a television (TV). More specifically, I have always had the television on. Whether I was living in student halls, flat share, with my hubby, in a hotel or even on my own, the television has always been on! Turning the television on was typically one of the first things I would do when I woke up or when I came home.

This was never because I loved to watch TV, but more because I liked the sound of people’s voices, it made me feel less alone (especially when I had to live on my own). I was less likely to hear creaky sounds that had the capacity to send, my already overactive imagination, into overdrive and completely freak me out (or worse still give myself a heart attack, as such is my jumpy disposition). Radio just wasn’t the same, I not only needed to hear the people, I also needed to see them, even if it was just from the corner of my eye whilst I was doing something else, in order for me to feel that I wasn’t on my own.  

When we moved to Singapore in 2011 we stayed in a serviced apartment that had a TV with local channels. We didn’t really enjoy many of the channels. So when we moved into our own condo/flat I managed to persuade my hubby (albeit with some difficulty) to try life without a TV.

View from our balcony

Sky & sea changing colours at sunset

Over 2 years later and we can both say it was one of the best decisions we ever made! We’ve found that we spend more time talking and listening to each other about our day, supper is had at the dining table at a more leisurely pace (instead of rushing to get back in front of the TV to watch some show), we listen to a lot more music and have discovered a lot about each others taste in music. We are lucky to live by the coast with a gorgeous sea view and sometimes we just sit and watch the sea changing colours as a storm approaches (we get the most amazing lightning bolts), we watch the sky, especially at sunset, and the stars at night. All the ships and boats out at sea light up at night and every night there’s a different scene of lights and colours to see – I love it! Personally, I have also found it a lot more calming (mentally) to not have the sound of lots of voices in our home (shock horror or what) and wait for it... I actually really enjoy the silence (maybe I’m getting old ;o)).

A storm approaching from Indonesia

Now I’m not saying that we don’t watch anything at all. We both have laptops/ipads/iphones etc. I still (and I’m not ashamed to admit it) watch Eastenders and Coronation Street (UK soaps/dramas for all you non-Brits). They make me feel close to home because of the British accents. We watch movies and read the news on our laptops. The great thing about watching programmes on our laptops is that we watch just the programme we want to watch and then it’s turned off!  It’s not like having a TV on constantly in the background.

Now when I watch TV in a hotel on holiday, it’s quite a novelty, a bit of a treat and that’s the things with treats – if you have them all the time, they no longer feel like a (naughty) treat and I’m happy for the TV to stay as a treat. We’d like to think that we will continue life without a TV for many more years to come. I feel the longer we go without a TV the less likely we are to ever have one again. We’re getting too used to enjoying the peace and quiet. However, never say never as this could all change if, for example, we have children or we move to another condo or country where we don’t have such a beautiful view to stare at. 

Could you ever live without a TV? Have you ever tried it? Would you try it even if it’s just for a week or a month, just out of curiosity? What do you think you would do with that time where you would normally be watching TV?

Love Sheen xxx