Put Your Own Oxygen Mask First. On the importance of guilt-free idling.

How I could not breathe anymore

I remember when the idea of our swimwear brand TANMENOT was born, I was so excited to to bring this venture live. There was one “but” - I was and am working full-time and time-management could have been an issue. 

Fast forward over a year now and we launched our baby project, swimwear with better coverage for girls just like us. With the excitement came the realization that as a business mumma you have to wear so many hats - be your own marketer, accountant, content creator, CEO. You continue the list. My routine was working late nights after the 9 to 5 job while my partner was snuggled up in bed. 

One morning I woke up in tears, I didn’t want to get out of bed. I realised, I always showed up for my obligations - business, work, family but not for myself. I didn’t put on my oxygen mask and couldn’t breathe anymore. 

Sounds familiar?

Is the juggle for real?

Do you ever feel that the state of busyness overloads your brain and you find yourself staring into the void? I do, from time to time. I think the brain is just trying to reload itself like a computer when it hangs. This technical metaphor is not a coincidence. Since the industrial revolution people have been treated as machines and our success has been dependent on what we have achieved. We are torn between goals, deadlines and responsibilities. Our mind is clouded with thoughts and ideas and we are rarely in the present moment. 

There was a research from Harvard that stated that 47% of time while we are awake is spent on thinking about what is NOT going on in the present moment. 47 per cent. Half of our life we spend in our thoughts about the present, past or even something that will never happen. And a wandering mind is never a happy one.

We are on a Mission

According to the National Health Survey by Australian Bureau of Statistics, at least one in seven women report experiencing an anxiety-related condition. We tend to dwell on situations more frequently than men, focusing again and again on the negative emotions and problems rather than looking for active problem solving. Personally, I catch myself on it several times a day. What about you?

One of the ideas behind our brand is CARE. Not only about your skin and looks while on the beach, but we also genuinely care for every woman out there. Who is like us juggling on through her daily life. So this June we took an action...

Image from Pinterest by dnstyle.com

Sweetness of Doing Nothing

We took 10 minutes a day this June to explore the ways to celebrate yourself and called it #mindfulantichallenge. Why ANTI? Because the art of doing nothing does not stand any challenges. As they say in Italy “La Dolce Far Niente” which means “sweetness of doing nothing”. We were in no rush or under no obligation to be perfect in our attempts. And this was the essence of our anti-challenge. Even though June is over we will continue thinking how to put ourselves first and slow down.

What can you do today to begin learning doing nothing?