http://www.highgrangedevon.com/wellbeing

High Grange Devon Wellbeing, High Grange, Burrow Knap way, Axminster (2025)

31/08/2025

Holiday aesthetics.

I love shopping for the frivolous relaxed carefree holiday me, but I also think of in her Sunday Times Style article reminding us that tie dye and white cotton beach dresses may feel perfect on vacation but might not suit the London tube or a day at the office (just as my Guatemalan pink rug has never fit a UK home…)

This year I’ve loved 1960s style sun dresses (this looked better in the UK before I ate my body weight in pastal de nata) and black jersey fabrics. I’ve been inspired by the beautiful colourful tiles and pottery of the Algarve, the olive and bouganvillea trees, and a nice dose of hippie surf chic.

Dresses
Wild pearl jewellery at
Pottery in Lagos
Sandals
Sun hat
Sunglasses
Rattan beach bag from San Sebastián

28/08/2025

Book club rec!

I read a brilliant article in Red magazine by about mothers so I bought her first book What A Shame.

It’s a fascinating look at paternal wounds, addiction and shame, as well as female friendship, generational trauma and romantic relationships. It reminded me of flat sharing in London (although my days there had less matcha lattes) and made me think how we purge pain - what different ways we can get rid of toxic wounds inside us.

A lovely thought-provoking holiday read.

26/08/2025

Holiday!

And with it a new direction for this Instagram page - more on that shortly! Hope you’re having a good one wherever you are xx

16/08/2025

I have had a beautiful couple of weeks off social media.

A friend of ours mentioned that he’d had much more mental health benefits from time off social media than he had from giving up booze and I was intrigued.

My nervous system was completely overwhelmed from working long hours with kids running around, my senses were over stimulated and social media’s constant invasions of war, anger, perfect seeming holidays and lovely days out felt like they were kidnapping my emotional safety in a negative way. I was beginning to compare and feel my irritation rise. And that’s not who I am.

So I deleted all social media (except LinkedIn - I’m finding more and more it’s full of interesting and insightful information and people don’t tend to be dicks) and it has been truly truly wonderful!

Here’s some benefits:

❤️ I’ve been cocooned in my own little bubble of my lovely little family

❤️ Rather than looking at the lives of people I often don’t know well - and this might be coincidence - I’ve reached out more to good friends & planned some lovely get togethers.

❤️ I’ve focused more on the positives in my life rather than comparing it to the curated showmanship of others.

❤️ I’ve been on my phone way way less.

❤️ I’ve protected my soul from anger and aggression but I’ve still kept up with the news. I can consider my own opinion without being bombarded by others.

I’ve come back on it now - it takes minutes to add it back to your phone and log in again - and I realise part of my self care routine has to be deleting it regularly when I need.

How do you find social media today and would you benefit from a break?

07/08/2025

Yoga with a view. I needed this gentle evening yin so much.

Thank you .

06/08/2025

One of my children taught me something very important tonight and I thought I’d share it.

While I’ve been moaning about not doing anything during the summer holidays (on my stories), I had forgotten about the blessing of stillness and rest and it is this - it allows us to feel sad.

When we slow down and stop the endless hamster wheel of modern life, we can sometimes feel a great sadness. Which is why we often try to distract - with activities, phones, media.

And if someone is playing up - angry, irritable - the likelihood is that this is a secondary emotion, easier to deal with than the pain they feel. But when we slow down and finally face it, the uncomfortable truth of sadness can be released.

There might be something specific that has caused us to feel sad. But often it’s existential sadness - that we will all die, that we lose the people we love, that we lose touch with friends and our hearts get broken by love, that the ache of missing a person or a place can cut deeply, that there is violence and disease and injustice. And children feel that too even from a very young age.

And when we allow ourselves to feel sad, it can feel overwhelming but also liberating. It’s a blessing. Because once we feel it, it is able to finally pass.

21/07/2025

For those doing or about to do the school holiday / work juggle remember:

📘 it’s Ok to ignore the kids if you have work to do. They can come up with ideas to entertain themselves, relax or read.

🛫 Ignore social media particularly if you tend to feel envy in terms of holidays. You can make memories whatever you do.

📋 Still, it might be sensible to make a list of things you could do every few days if you aren’t going away. This could include a family walk or swim, taking your kids to your gym, grabbing a coffee & cake or other small simple pleasures.

🧘 Remember your self care. An early morning dog walk before kids wake. A long shower with a face mask. Having a gym or yoga session. Having some social with friends.

🏝️ Don’t forget holidays can be crap too. Complaining or bickering kids, endless entertaining, disappointments, long journeys. Manage your expectations in advance and have a toolbox of things to do in case of bad weather or setbacks.

🏃I have seen the criticism of Joe Wicks, but as a fairly recent gym convert I would concur that eating s**t, not exercising and drinking a lot will make you feel pretty rubbish. Just a bit of exercise, a little moderation and eating well will make you feel better in the end. Or be like the Spanish and just add some salad to every meal!

🥰 Connection is key. Call friends, arrange a girls’ night or sauna, spend quality phone free time with your kids when you can. If you’re tag teaming work with a partner, make sure you factor in some couples time. And if you’re on your own, see if you can buy some childcare to allow you some time with a cherished friend.

⏰ Routines are likely to go out the window and your working hours may involve early starts or late nights if you’re juggling childcare all day. If you struggle with this, get a loose routine in place. Morning walk? Sit down evening meal?

I’d love to hear how you are coping and good luck!

18/07/2025

I was interviewed this week by for her podcast which will be out soon. My first podcast, super good fun, although inexplicably I seemed to talk repeatedly about channelling Meryl Street in Mamma Mia…

Anyway, she didn’t ask me the question she normally asked, but i’d prepared it in any case - what brought you joy this week?

If she’d asked I’d have said this - the greatest joy of the last week has been picking sweet peas and montbretia from the garden and putting them in this vase I’d made.

I don’t know if potters get so used to it that they stop whooping every time they collect their pots from the kiln, but I find it unbelievably exciting. To eat from a plate you made, your tea from a cup you built, or put flowers in a vase you created, is the most brilliantly satisfying and joyful thing.

I did a wonderfully creative class with at . Podcast with out at the end of the Summer.

10/07/2025

A rare bit of good news this week and it comes from the unlikely world of fashion (stick with me).

Apparently the trend of the clean living woman is over. You know the one - the day in the life of the insufferable influencer up at 5am, hours in the gym, wheatgrass shots, a 32 step skincare regime, and bed early in a minimalist Scandi style room to do it all again. And I couldn’t be happier about it - while I applaud any positive wellbeing efforts it always felt just so soulless, impossible to achieve and, well, dull.

We are now in the era of the messy bitch. Party culture is on the rise, and the trend is now for an over-flowing messy house and handbag, colour over monochrome beige, a focus on creativity and art, make-up that looks like you slept in it, and coffee and croissants rather than a green smoothie.

And my goodness doesn’t that feel more honest, authentic and FUN? Like she’s more interested in hedonism, conversation and poetry than beating her reps PB? Like she’s only spent 5 minutes getting ready because the evening is more important than her outfit. And because she’s having too much fun to be perfect.

And I think for our little girls we should encourage a world where individuality, imperfection and a touch of rebellion is key. And let’s now let the artists, thinkers and rebels shine.

07/07/2025

After a decade of ‘gentle parenting’ in which I have taught my children to feel their feelings, learn to express those feelings, and then emotionally regulate (while simultaneously teaching myself and the older generation at the same time), I realise there is another even harder task ahead.

In our parents’ generation, they taught us to mask, often through discipline and fear. Keep your feelings inside, just smile and be polite. And we KNOW that doesn’t work, right? Those feelings come out in addiction and anger and all sorts of anxieties and depression.

But we *do* need children to learn to mask in certain circumstances. It’s hugely helpful to them in order to get on with others at school and later, at work. And in public, with unsafe people, in order not to hurt feelings. And that’s where ‘gentle parenting’ has a bad name. It’s not gentle, it’s strong, it’s boundaried and firm.

That’s when the work of teaching resilience, empathy and courtesy begins. Because we don’t want them to be entitled t***s, basically.

So anyone who thinks gentle parenting is woke or relaxed or all ‘Timmy, soft hands darling’ has got it all wrong. The gentleness in the name is misleading, the rules are still there to be held firmly.

But I bet I’ve saved a small fortune on their therapy bills down the line!

26/06/2025

Did you know your nervous system has 3 states - regulated, stressed and overwhelmed?

If you find yourself living between stress and burnout (as I realised I was recently), you need to impose some radical self-care in your life. I’m a firm believer that you don’t need expensive retreats, the key to nervous system regulation is within your body, if you only listen. Here are some ideas:

🍽️ Stopping spinning so many plates means boundaries. Work out what you can drop and do it. Even if it’s something you love.

📋 Cross out everything on your to do list that isn’t urgent; put nice things on there too. Stop multitasking (that includes listening to a podcast while doing the washing). Close the open tabs on your browser.

☠️ Surround yourself in a protective bubble: avoid toxic people, conversations and content.

⏰ Find more time in the day. Exhaustion doesn’t always need rest it might want gentle movement or creativity. Look at your diary and see what time wasters you can eradicate from your week.

📱Give your phone a break. Reducing scrolling will free up not just time but head space.

🧹Declutter your working area, set up direct debits for bills, do online grocery shopping, arrange subscriptions for things like milk and cleaning products.

🌿 Nourish. Add vitamin D and B supplements. Drink a smoothie full of fruit and veg. Drink more water. Focus on quality and quantity of sleep.

🩺 Put aside 10 minutes for a health MOT. Do you need a blood test for hormones, iron or thyroid? Are you up to date with your smear, eye test and dentist? Do you need to see a physio, an osteopath or a trauma counsellor?

👤 Spend a few minutes every day in silence, one hand on heart, the other on your stomach, emotionally check in, and see what your body is telling you it needs.

And remember, there is always push back from boundaries, especially if you’re a people pleaser or when you are surrounded by others who are equally disregulated but refusing to practice self-care. Be kind to yourself ❤️

31/05/2025

Look at this beautiful pretty flower growing out of this spiky cactus

*something about beauty growing from adversity / softness growing from hard - it’s been a long half term week!*

High Grange Devon Wellbeing

31/08/2025

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