Wealden Times | WT200 | October 2018 | Kitchen & Bathroom supplement inside

Wellbeing
Natural wisdom
Ali Roff is co-founder of The Remedy Retreats with her husband
James Farrar. Combining Eastern yoga and mindfulness with her
degree in psychology, she aims to create a safe retreat space to rest,
de-stress and improve physical and mental wellness.
What one piece of seasonal wisdom
helps you in autumn? For me, autumn
is the perfect time to recalibrate and
reset my body clock after long summer
nights. As the clocks go back an
hour, we get the perfect opportunity
to trick our bodies into getting to bed
earlier and so waking an hour earlier,
without any great impact to our body
clock – or, in other words, our ability to
get out of bed!
Every year I use this chance to bring
my wake time an hour earlier and
spend the weeks beforehand setting a
little intention to use that hour to do
something for me before the day even
begins, such as journalling, yoga, or
meditation. Sometimes I just sit in the
garden with a cup of lemon water and
a blanket and listen to the world wake
up. As we move into winter, I’ll get cosy
with some candles and meditate in my
living room. The best hour of the day.
What one self-care ritual do you never
skimp on? I have to move every day.
Whether it’s a walk in nature, yoga or an
energetic class at the gym, or even some
simple stretches before bed (the intensity
doesn’t matter), but if I don’t move
my body each day, my mind will tell
me about it. I’ve started to incorporate
movement into my breaks at work too.
To move away from my desk and sway
Choose kindness
my arms and my hips feels great after
sitting for so long.
What’s cooking in your kitchen this
month? Pattypan squash. I even have a
little song I sing when they arrive in my
veg box. These little gemstone-shaped
squashes are so sweet, tender and easy
to chop into little wedges. I roast them
with minced garlic, pink Himalayan
salt and fresh sage or dried herbs, with a
good glug of olive oil.
Share one book that taught you
something amazing about life – and
made you better at living it?
It has to be Cheryl Strayed’s Tiny
Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and
Life from Dear Sugar. Her collection of
columns from her days writing as an
anonymous agony aunt, always seem
to speak directly to me and my life
experiences, giving advice, counsel,
compassion, and sometimes even a ‘kick
in the pants’, as Strayed says in one of
her replies to a reader in need.
But many simply offer tenderness
in reply to life events which I hope
will never touch me, from divorce to
the loss of a son. It’s a heartbreaking
book - not only the questions asked by
readers, whom she calls her ‘Sweetpeas’,
but the stirring, inspirational
and heartrending guidance offered
by Strayed herself.
I have so enjoyed reading Shahroo Izadi’s
The Kindness Method, which is focused on
going gently on yourself. Being kinder to
ourselves has been shown by Izadi to not
only help us break life-long negative habits,
but to also shift the barriers that prevent us
achieving our goals. A lovely read, or gift,
for a friend in a tough spot.
What is the best treatment you’ve
had locally? Massage is so great for
fascia and connective tissue work,
which we are learning is more and
more important, yet often neglected
in our physical health.
I work on mine a lot through my
yoga practice and often incorporate
it into my classes and retreats, but
massage is a lovely relaxing way
to include it in our holistic health
ritual and routine. The best one
I’ve had is with a very talented
masseuse called Becky Smith, who
incorporates amazing essential oils
into her treatments. She always
offers a selection to choose from,
depending on what you want to
work on, or how you’re feeling. I
tend to book in when I’m feeling
overwhelmed. You can contact her
here rmsmassagetherapy@outlook.com
Find out more about Ali at
aliroff.com
Eminé says:
Try this in
October
With nights drawing in and
daylight less abundant, I
find increasing comfort in
the moon’s silvery glow and
movements. I enjoy local
artist, Jo of The Moon Journal’s musings, art work and
#myslowerlivingmoments prompts on Instagram @
themoon_journal . Her moon journal is beautiful too.