Mindfulness & Self-Care

In an age where hustle culture is revered and sleep is often sacrificed at the altar of productivity, finding ways to unwind before bed has become an essential self-care ritual. Ironically, the modern world, with all its conveniences, has made achieving a state of calm more challenging than ever. Our minds race with the day’s unfinished tasks and tomorrow’s uncertainties. But what if I told you that solace could be found in something as simple and delightful as a warm cup of tea?

There’s a fresh breeze wafting through the corridors of modernity, whispering the sweetest yet strangest of all concepts: the art of doing nothing. Not laziness, mind you, or the passive embrace of idleness, but a deliberate, mindful choice to step back. In a world incessantly ticking towards deadlines and productivity targets, it feels counterintuitive—even rebellious—to consider “doing nothing” as a deliberate action. Yet, beneath its oxymoronic surface, doing nothing harbors a trove of cognitive benefits and a nurturing pathway back to mental clarity and health.

Some mornings, it’s a sprint. Coffee is still brewing while you’re packing lunches. The baby’s clinging to your leg, someone can’t find their left shoe (again), and your inbox already has three “just circling back” emails waiting.

There’s a bottle of coconut oil sitting in my bathroom cabinet—and one in my kitchen. At one point, it felt like the answer to everything: dry hair, dry toast, frizz, face masks, oil pulling, even “natural” deodorant (that phase didn’t last long). If you’re anything like me, you probably rode the coconut oil wave hard. And while it's earned its place, it’s also not the only oil worth our attention.

For years, I was obsessed with the idea of a “perfect” morning routine. I collected other people’s rituals like recipes—5:30 a.m. wake-ups, gratitude journaling, lemon water before anything else, followed by yoga, green juice, breathwork, no phone until 10 a.m., and a run before emails.