Making Time For You, With Hayo’u

Whether you are new mother or dealing with a brood of young children, one thing is for sure, your time is no longer your own and looking after yourself is often way down on your list of priorities.    

Step forward Chinese practitioner Katie Brindle, who founded the Hayo’u Method after health problems combined with two traumatic births, IVF, twins and a baby with colic, reflux and behavioural issues led her to Chinese Medicine.

Here are some of Katie’s quick and easy self-care tips to help you prioritise some ‘me-time’ into your busy daily schedule.

Just Breathe

You may feel as though you don’t have a minute to yourself as a mum – but you still have time to breathe. And this seemingly insignificant thing that we all do, actually holds the key to effectively controlling your stress levels. When we breathe deeply and properly, it switches our nervous system into its parasympathetic (or relaxation) phase. It works by triggering the release of neuro-hormones, which inhibit stress-producing hormones and result in a relaxation response in the body.

One minute of mindful breathing has been proven to have a similar impact to twenty minutes of meditation, and if you can’t actually sleep, it’s a great way to ensure pockets of rest throughout the day. So, start with just minute of proper breathing. Here’s how you do it with my simple one-minute Rescue Breath ritual

Once you’ve got one minute of mindful breathing down, work on extending it to two minutes, then (if you’ve got a sleeping nipper) five. Before you know it, you are actually effecting meditation.

A one-minute home facial

Hayo’u Method’s Jade Beauty Restorer is used as part of a Chinese Medicine technique called Gua sha. Gua sha is revered across Asia for its anti-aging benefits.

Dubbed “Eastern Botox’’, this one-minute self-care practice involves press-stroking the jade tool across the face to draw out accumulated facial tension generated through stress. When tension is released the skin visibly rejuvenates; nutrients are replenished and detoxification is improved.  The benefits of incorporating this simple practice into a daily routine includes increasing microcirculation by 400%, stimulating the skin to boost collagen and elastin by reducing inflammation, and relaxing facial muscles for nourished, plumped and glowing complexion.

All existing beauty products work at dermis level, pushing creams into the skin. Gua sha has a unique ability to get under the skin and pull toxicity out. You aren’t reliant on buying products, or toxic treatments because it’s your own body doing the work.

But the best thing about this technique as far as mums are concerned, is that it literally takes one-minute to do! There’s a simple instruction video here.

(A little extra tip – the Beauty Restorer is fab used cold to soothe puffy, tired eyes. Just keep it in the fridge ready for action.)

Tranquility in 60 seconds

‘That’s great’, you say. ‘My face is sorted, but what about my aching shoulders and back from holding babies, young children or bags of shopping, or from picking up endless toys and small bits of plastic off the floor around the house? After all, I don’t have time to go for a massage’…

Enter our Body Restorer tool. Made of 100% medical grade stainless steel, this handy Gua sha tool for the body is used to press-stroke the skin and free areas of tightness, congestion and stress. It’s scientifically proven to increase microcirculation, activating the body’s most powerful resources: blood, lymph and immunity. 

The Body Restorer one-minute ritual can even be done while supervising play in the park or waiting in the car for the school bell to ring – you are a master at multi-tasking, after all!

For a proper introduction, info on our products and a load more Chinese Wisdom and instructional videos – head to www.hayoumethod.com where all Motherload members can enjoy 20% discount on all purchases, simply use the code MOTHER20 at the checkout.

Disclaimer: This article is sponsored editorial, paid for by Hayo’u