As a mum and a woman (even if you’re not a mum) it is important to have “You Time“.   Time where you’re not thinking about your partner, your children, family commitments, your work, the dishes or any other never ending house work chore.   Where your only priority is you and having some down time to relax and think of nothing but how amazing you are and how you deserve to recoup and be pampered.

For many of us down time can be hard to come by.  We either rarely have the time or rarely make the time and sometimes there are constant interruptions to any down time we try to have.

So here are some quick 10 minute down time pampering ideas you can do and still have some quiet, relaxing You Time:

~ Soak your feet in a bucket of moderately hot water with a dash of bath salts, place an eye patch over your eyes a sit quietly for a while, allowing the essential oils to soothe and relax your mind.  Put on some soft music if you want.

~ Apply a moisturiser cold cream mask and let it soak into your skin for 10 minutes, hydrating and deeply moisturising.  Again sit back and relax and quiet your mind by listening to soft music or listening to nature sounds – very relaxing!

~  Do 10 minutes of stretches concentrating on the areas of your body that give you the most grief.  Take your time and go slow.  If you haven’t had a health professional show you some really good stretches for your aches look up some videos and find what will work best for you.

~ Paint your toenails.  It doesn’t have to be anything fancy and the good news is it’s just your toenails and no-one will pay attention if the application isn’t perfect.  You get to feel a little bit pampered will minimal effort.

~ Brush your hair for 10 minutes with a brush that massages your scalp.  If you’ve ever had a head massage you know how good it feels to have your scalp massaged – you can get a similar experience from brushing your hair.  Light some essential oils such as lemon and tea tree in an oil burner and allow the oils to declutter your mind while you brush.

~ Give yourself a hand massage using a massage lotion or moisturiser.  A lot of tension is stored in your hands, you use them every day and most often the actions are repetitive.  Dab some lavender essential oil on your temples, close your eyes and use one hand to gently massage the other hand where those areas are tight and sore, then swap hands.