I uploaded my first post nearly two months ago, I can’t actually believe it has taken me this long to write another one. I haven’t even shared my blog yet so it currently has virtually 0 views. Yippee. Life has just been super busy, so much has happened. I started my final year at university; massively regretting taking for granted all of that blissfully free time over the summer, where I actually had time to iron my jeans. I am now fully into my first term, counting down the days until the Christmas break, where I will be panicking about keeping up with my work in between wrapping presents and packing for our New Year trip to Iceland… bring on the Blue Lagoon.

I can’t wait for a bit of time off, even though I won’t be able to forget about uni work I am so excited to enjoy the festive season, read for pleasure and reignite my love affair with the gym. I started my new job at a fashion and gift retailer, which I’m really enjoying, even the early 7am delivery shifts on a Friday morning. It is tiring but I have realised how much I enjoy wrapping Christmas decorations in tissue paper, which I may never have known about myself had I not started working there. I have met some lovely people and it really is a fab place to work.

What being this busy has taught me is that I really need to find time for myself. I’m not someone who can just keep ploughing on and on and on without coming up for air. I do need a bubble bath every now and then, and I do need to delve into a gripping book, and I also need to watch a bit of trash telly (Britain’s Next Top Model is my programme of choice for these moments). I love being busy, and feeling like I’m working towards something and being productive, but moments of rest and recharging are important too. Something that has helped me to realise this more than ever is acupuncture.

I started having acupuncture roughly once a month about a year and a half ago, maybe a bit less, and I absolutely adore it. It gives me a space to talk, to refresh and relax. Now I am not a needle person, I cannot stand blood tests, flu jabs… all that jazz, but when I say these don’t bother me, I really mean it. They are pretty much like bendy tooth picks and 95% of the time they don’t hurt. That 5% of the time, as soon as it hurts, she takes the needle out and puts it somewhere else. You can have them put in anywhere really, and each place means something different, from happiness, to stress and boosting your immune system.

I feel so relaxed when I’m there, it just feels like a safe bubble that I can enter into for an hour and then get on with my day. You lie on a bed under blankets in your bra and knickers; it pretty much feels like a spa treatment crossed with therapy. Carolyn (my acupuncturist) asks me about what has been happening my life in between the sessions, how I’m feeling mentally, physically, every kind of way, and then feels my pulses ( we have more than one and I never knew). She feels my heart pulse, lung pulse, liver, kidneys, all through my wrists. She then puts the needles wherever she feels that it would most benefit me on that particular day.

I go to acupuncture for all sorts of reasons, but mainly for my overall well being and health, but you can go for anything, from an injury, aches and pains, problematic skin, mental health… the list goes on. The main motive for me is to just have some time to myself, where I can say anything without being judged, to someone who doesn’t know everyone in my life, while giving me brilliant advice in a peaceful environment and using the needles to improve my sleep, stress, and how my body functions and heals.

I always look forward to my appointments and I can’t imagine not going now, as I really feel revived mentally after I leave. I never knew anything about it before I started going, and I might have thought it was all a bit hippy but I have felt the benefits and I could not recommend it more. In the busy world we live in, she always reminds me that taking time for myself is not selfish but necessary and the people who may appear to have their shit together running on 4 hours sleep actually might be crying out for some time to iron their jeans and devour the latest crime thriller.