When You're Caught Between Seasons and Burnout
How to let yourself slow down, even when everything says speed up. This conversation with Lyndsay Kaldor will help if you’re feeling burnout or disconnected from yourself right now.
It’s the last stretch of August. The air feels heavier. There’s a nudge toward routine, productivity, “back to it” energy — even if your soul’s not quite ready.
There’s that quiet panic that says I’m not ready to go again.
That creeping guilt because you’re not full of plans or energy or goals for the season ahead.
That lingering hold of summer you don’t yet want to shake off.
If you feel this way right now, this week's episode of A Thought I Kept where I interview Lyndsay Kaldor is for you.
Lyndsay is a writer, mother and creative whose life changed when her yoga teacher shared something simple but radical:
““Flowers don’t bloom all year round.””
It landed at a time in her twenties when she was living what she calls a “summer existence” — always outwards, productive, performing, never pausing. That line became a turning point — an invitation into rest, seasonality, and a whole new way of living.
In this week’s episode, Lyndsay and I talk about:
Why burnout often looks like numbness, sameness, or disconnection
How to tell when it’s time to stop pushing and start tending
What seasonal living actually means (no picture-perfect routines required)
How to mother, work, create or just exist without being always “on”
The quiet power of letting growth be unseen, slow, and small
Maybe your life doesn't look seasonal.
Maybe you’re in a job that doesn’t change pace, or a home that feels full of noise and needs.
Maybe you're tired of trying to change things — and just need to know you're not doing it wrong.
This conversation won't tell you to quit it all and start over.
But it will remind you that it’s OK to rest. To reset slowly. To resist the pressure of the algorithm, the to-do list, the inner critic who tells you to keep up.
This episode is for the part of you that needs permission.
To be quiet. To not know. To not be blooming right now.
We are not machines. We are living things. We shift. We fade. We return.
And just like the natural world, we’re allowed to move in cycles.
Burnout isn’t always dramatic. Sometimes it’s just the weariness of being endlessly outward when what you need is inward.
So if you’re in that messy, in-between moment — not quite summer, not quite autumn, not quite ready — this is for you.
Are you feeling a shift right now?
What season are you in — internally — even if the world’s moving on?
Listen to this episode of A Thought I Kept on Substack or wherever you get your podcasts.
“The Quiet Rebellion of Honouring Your Inner Seasons” with Lyndsay Kaldor.
Subscribe on your favourite podcast app so you don’t miss future episodes.
The Five-Mile Holiday: How to Travel Where You Live This Summer
Not going away this summer? Discover how to turn your everyday surroundings into a five-mile holiday — with summer tips for slow adventures, creativity, and wellbeing.
So many summer guides assume one thing: you’re going somewhere.
But what if you're not?
No flight. No beach. No real time off. Just… regular life, stretched across warmer days.
Maybe the budget’s tight.
Maybe the schedule’s full.
Maybe you just don’t want the faff.
But that doesn’t mean summer is cancelled.
It might just mean it’s time for a five-mile holiday.
Why Closeness Counts
You don’t need a plane ticket to access awe.
You don’t need a passport to feel wonder.
You can begin exactly where you are.
So many of us miss what’s right in front of us because we’re trained to look for what’s further away.
We assume meaning lives elsewhere — on a coastline, in a city break, under a Tuscan sun.
But what if it’s within five miles of your front door?
We call it the five-mile holiday: an experiment in staying local, but seeing differently.
It’s travel… but turned toward the overlooked, the ordinary, the surprisingly beautiful.
How to Take a Five-Mile Holiday
Here are a few ways to begin your five-mile adventure:
1. Pretend You’re Visiting Your Town for the First Time
Visit the museum you always walk past
Take photos like a tourist
Ask someone for a recommendation
Walk a new route (even if it’s just to the shop)
Read the historical plaques you usually ignore
2. Eat Like You’re Somewhere Else
Find a food truck, bakery, or stall you’ve never tried
Try a picnic in a park you haven’t been to since last summer
Cook a dish from a country you’ve always wanted to visit
Sit and people-watch with a coffee as if you’re in a foreign square
3. Give Your Day a Theme
“Botanical day": find every green space in your area
"Creative day": visit a gallery, journal in a café, buy a new pen
"Childhood day": eat an ice lolly, watch a kids’ film, cook your favourite foods from your childhood
"Quiet day": no plans, no pressure, just wandering and noticing
4. Create Your Own Guidebook
Keep notes of where you went and what you loved
Take a disposable camera or Polaroid
Record how places made you feel, not just what you did
Invite a friend to do the same and swap guides
You Don’t Have to Go Far to Feel Far Away
The five-mile holiday isn’t about settling.
It’s about noticing what’s already here.
It reminds us that we don’t need constant stimulation to feel alive — we need presence. Curiosity. A shift in the lens.
It’s a kind of emotional travel.
A reminder that movement doesn’t always have to be physical.
Sometimes, it’s perceptual. And that’s powerful, too.
What Could Your Five-Mile Holiday Look Like?
If you were to stay local and stay open this summer — what would you find?
Try it for a day. Or a weekend.
And if you want to explore this idea more deeply, our Summer Wellcation is a lovely way to do that.
It’s your gentle invitation to explore what feels good — wherever you are.
No suitcase required.
Why Good Coaching Starts with Space — and the Thinking That Happens There
In this wellbeing podcast conversation, educational psychologist and coach Sarah Philp explores the link between thinking, action, and the spaces that make transformation possible. Perfect for anyone curious about coaching or feeling lost, burned out, or disconnected from themselves.
What if you can’t rush a thought into something useful.
That’s one of the learnings that emerged in my recent short-form podcast conversation with Sarah Philp, an educational psychologist and coach who’s built her work on the belief that:
“The quality of everything human beings do depends on the quality of the thinking that we do first.” — Nancy Klein
It sounds simple. But think about your week so far — how often have you given yourself, or someone else, uninterrupted space to follow a thought to its end?
For many of us, the answer is almost never.
On why coaching isn’t advice — it’s space
If you’ve ever wondered what coaching really is, just know that it’s not someone telling you what to do.
Good coaching is the art of creating space — a physical, mental, and emotional container where you can think more deeply than you might on your own. It’s presence without pressure. It’s being witnessed in your thinking, without being hurried toward a solution before you’re ready.
In Sarah’s words, it’s “following the thread” of a thought. And in our busy, interrupted lives, that’s a rare thing.
Why thinking and action need each other
Coaching is often misunderstood as being only about action — setting goals, hitting targets, ticking boxes. But action without clear thinking can be reactive, scattered, even counterproductive.
On the other hand, thinking without movement can keep us stuck in loops of over-analysis.
The power is in the relationship between the two. The right kind of thinking — spacious, supported, fully explored — naturally leads to clearer, more aligned action. And action, in turn, gives thinking something to respond to.
The role of space in wellbeing
Space isn’t just about coaching sessions. It’s also about the environments and practices that help you reset — whether that’s a walk in nature, a few minutes of stillness before starting your day, or, in Sarah’s case, cold water swimming and time on the Isle of Skye.
These moments aren’t indulgences; they’re essential to wellbeing. They give you a vantage point outside the noise, where you can reconnect to yourself and what matters most.
If you’re feeling lost, burned out, or disconnected
You don’t have to fix everything at once. Sometimes, the first step is simply to create a little more space — in your day, in your conversations, in your head.
That’s where coaching can help. It’s not about having all the answers. It’s about having the time, attention, and support to find the ones that fit you.
If that sounds like something you need, we think you’ll love this latest episode of A Thought I Kept. It’s thoughtful and full of insights that might just shift the way you think — and act.
Listen now to on Substack, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
It’s Summer… So Why Do I Still Feel Low?
Feeling flat even though the sun’s out? You’re not alone. Here’s why summertime sadness happens, what it means, and how to care for yourself through the summer blues.
You wake up to sunshine.
Your friends are away on holiday.
Your social feed is full of Aperol spritzes, sea swims, and sun-kissed skin.
But inside? You feel flat. A little off. Maybe even anxious.
And you can’t help but wonder: why doesn’t summer fix me?
Shouldn’t this be the season where everything feels lighter?
Why does it sometimes feel heavier instead?
If you’ve been feeling the pressure to be “living your best life” right now and can’t quite match that vibe — this post is for you.
We tend to associate sadness with winter — dark nights, long months, heaviness.
But there’s actually a summer-pattern Seasonal Affective Disorder:
Instead of low energy, this one shows up as
restlessness
irritability
trouble sleeping
a kind of persistent unease, even with blue skies above you
As the Mayo Clinic explains: Summer-pattern seasonal affective disorder affects about 10% of people who experience SAD. It often includes anxiety, poor sleep, and a sense of emotional disconnection.
3 Ways to Care for Yourself Through Summer Sadness
Summer-pattern SAD brings with it a unique kind of disorientation. Unlike the winter version that has us reaching for more light, this one asks us to manage too much of it. Too much brightness, heat, stimulation, and expectation.
So if you're feeling off right now, here are three expert-backed, compassion-led ways to care for yourself:
1. Cool the Light, Not Just the Room
Longer days and hotter nights can disturb our sleep — and when sleep is off, everything else follows.
Try this:
Blackout blinds or a soft sleep mask to help your body clock recalibrate
Fans, AC or whatever you need to to regulate the temperature of your room and your body.
Keep your sleep and wake times steady, even at weekends — your nervous system loves consistency
2. Say No to Overstimulation (and Over-Expectation)
Between heatwaves, social invitations, school holidays and the “go out and enjoy it!” pressure — summer can feel emotionally loud.
Instead:
Choose cooler, quieter places: libraries, art galleries, shaded walks
Hydrate. (Truly. Even slight dehydration affects your mood.)
Give yourself permission to opt out. Not every invitation is a requirement. It’s okay to not feel like BBQs and festivals. You’re allowed slower scenes.
You don’t owe the season anything.
3. Build a Gentle Structure That Holds You
One of the hidden challenges of summer is the loss of structure. Schools close. Routines dissolve. Life loosens. For some, that’s freeing. For others, it's destabilising.
Try:
Light anchors: regular mealtimes, morning stretches, a bedtime wind-down
Bookending your day with small, grounding rituals
Seeking support if the sadness sticks — therapy, especially approaches like CBT, can be a powerful guide back to steadiness
And if needed: medication and professional support are valid summer tools, too. You don't have to wait for it to pass.
That’s one layer…
Then there’s this: the emotional dissonance that comes from the pressure to feel good.
Happiness is expected in summer.
So when we don’t feel it, we add shame to the sadness.
This hedonic mismatch — the gap between what we think we should feel, and what’s really going on inside — can make us feel even more alone..
You might find yourself asking:
Is something wrong with me?
Am I wasting the season?
Why can’t I just feel better?
Even sunshine can’t override what you’re feeling.
What if we stopped treating summer like a performance?
What if instead of chasing happiness, we let ourselves be curious about what’s really here?
Your emotions don’t operate on a school calendar.
Your nervous system doesn’t care what month it is.
And while we love a good swim or iced coffee moment, they might not break familiar thoughts or feelings.
Which is where something powerful comes in: self-compassion.
According to Dr Kristen Neff, self-compassion involves treating yourself with the same kindness and care you’d offer a friend. It helps us hold pain and joy together..
Instead of asking “how do I fix this?”, ask:
What do I need more of right now?
What have I been carrying through every season?
What’s a gentle step I can take today?
A Different Kind of Summer Is Possible
When we drop the myth that summer should save us, we make space for something more nourishing:
A season of possibility, not pressure
A slower rhythm that matches our inner world
A deeper emotional honesty, rather than forced joy
You can feel more anchored in yourself this summer — not by doing more, but by being more honest about where you are.
This might be the season where you don’t reinvent yourself, glow up, or hustle through.
It might be the one where you rest, reset, and listen
That counts too. Maybe even more.
What’s summer bringing up for you this year?
Are there emotions lingering beneath the surface — even when everything looks “fine”?
If you want support to move through summer with more care, creativity, and calm — our Summer Wellcation was made just for this.
It’s a self-paced, self-supporting guide to feeling better in everyday life.
Image created with Freepik
Are Your Strengths Helping You… or Draining You?
Discover how to identify strengths that truly energise you, why being good at something isn’t the same as loving it, and how this connects to your sense of purpose.
If you’ve ever been told you’re really good at something but secretly wished you never had to do it again, you’re not alone. Many of us mistake competence for calling — and that can leave us stuck in roles that don’t energise us or move us closer to the life we want.
Being good at something doesn’t always mean it’s a strength worth building your career or purpose around.
This is exactly what we explore in the latest episode of our podcast, A Thought I Kept, where I speak with my friend Irena Meštrović Štajduhar about rethinking strengths and finding joy in the things that truly light you up.
Rethinking What “Strength” Means
Traditionally, strengths are defined as the skills and qualities you excel at — often reflected back to you by teachers, managers, and peers. This sounds straightforward, but it’s flawed:
It prioritises what’s visible to others over what’s valuable to you.
It can trap you in roles or habits that no longer fit.
Research by Marcus Buckingham, a leading strengths researcher, flips this definition on its head. He defines a strength as:
“Any activity that strengthens you. Before you do it, you look forward to it. While you do it, time flies. After you do it, you feel energised and you’ve learned something new — even if you’re not yet good at it.”
This shift matters. It means a true strength isn’t just about performance — it’s about energy, engagement, and personal fulfilment.
Why We Get Stuck in the Wrong Strengths
Irena describes this as a byproduct of internalised capitalism: the belief that our value comes from producing measurable outcomes. If a skill can be easily quantified — spreadsheets balanced, deadlines met, reports delivered — it’s more likely to be praised, promoted, and prioritised, regardless of how it makes us feel.
Over time, we start identifying with these externally recognised strengths, even when they leave us flat or burnt out.
This isn’t just anecdotal. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2024 report found that only 21% of employees worldwide are engaged in their work — and one key driver of engagement is the opportunity to “do what you do best” regularly. But if “what you do best” isn’t aligned with what you love, engagement and purpose both suffer.
How to Identify Your Energising Strengths
If you’re wondering whether your strengths are the right ones to build your next career step around, start here:
1. Notice your “energy spikes.”
Over the next two weeks, jot down activities you look forward to, lose track of time doing, or feel energised by afterwards.
2. Separate skill from joy.
List the things you’re good at — then circle only the ones that also make you feel alive. (The others may be “competencies,” but they aren’t necessarily strengths to nurture.)
3. Test your curiosity.
If you weren’t paid for it, would you still choose to do it? If the answer’s yes, you’ve found a clue to your real strengths.
4. Look for patterns.
Are your energising strengths about creating, connecting, problem-solving, teaching, organising, or something else? These patterns can point toward your purpose.
5. Connect them to your future.
Ask: “How could I bring more of these strengths into my current role — or into the next chapter of my career?”
Strengths, Purpose, and Career Next Steps
Finding your strengths isn’t just about self-knowledge — it’s about creating a more purposeful direction in your work and life. According to Harvard Business Review, people who use their strengths daily report higher job satisfaction, resilience, and overall well-being.
That doesn’t mean quitting your job tomorrow to chase a passion project. It might mean redesigning parts of your role, volunteering for projects that energise you, or exploring side ventures that let you lean into these strengths.
Over time, the more you align what you’re good at with what you love, the closer you get to a career and life that feel both meaningful and sustainable.
Listen to the Full Conversation
In our latest podcast episode, Irena and I go deeper into:
Why personality tests can limit rather than liberate you
How to spot the difference between learned skills and true strengths
The role of internalised capitalism in shaping our self-worth
Practical ways to reconnect with joy in your work
Listen to The Strengths Paradox: What We Love Vs. What We’re Good At on Substack, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Anti-Bucket List: A Summer To-Don’t List for a Gentler Season
What if this summer didn’t need a glow-up, but a lie-down? Tired of the pressure to do more this summer? Discover a slow, mindful approach with our Anti-Bucket List — a gentler way to feel better, not busier
It’s that time of year when everything tells you to do more.
Summer is framed as a season of upgrades:
Get the glow. Book the trip. Make the memories. Maximise the daylight.
But what if your body, your heart, your nervous system… don’t want more?
What if what you actually crave is less?
Less planning.
Less pressure.
Less pretending.
There’s another way to do summer — and it doesn’t need a passport or a productivity plan.
The Myth of the Summer Glow-Up
Scroll any feed this time of year and you’ll find it: the subtle pressure to transform into summer mode.
We call it “hot girl summer,” or talk about seizing the season, ticking off experiences, and finally becoming that more radiant, organised, tanned and toned version of ourselves.
But what if your version of summer doesn’t look like that?
What if you’ve been quietly exhausted since April?
What if you’re healing something no one can see?
What if your greatest summer wish is… space?
This is your permission slip.
Not to do more, but to let go.
Enter: The Summer To-Don’t List.
Because wellbeing doesn’t start with optimisation.
It starts with honesty.
A Different Way to Do Summer
Instead of asking:
What can I fit in?
Where should I go?
What should I achieve?
Try asking:
What could I remove?
What would I decline?
What no longer serves me in this season?
The anti-bucket list isn’t about deprivation — it’s about freedom.
About clearing enough space that you can breathe again.
Here’s what a Summer To-Don’t List might include:
Don’t say yes to every invitation
Don’t pretend you’re fine when you’re not
Don’t feel guilty for not making memories every day
Don’t follow someone else’s summer routine
Don’t overbook your weekends
Don’t believe productivity equals worth
Don’t aim for “perfect” — aim for present
There’s no medal for squeezing the most out of your summer.
But there is relief — and reward — in choosing what matters.
A slow summer can still be a meaningful one.
You might find joy in smaller, quieter moments:
A shady bench with your book
An early bedtime
A swim without counting laps
A walk without a destination
The gentler path is still a valid one.
In fact, it might be the one that allows you to come home to yourself again.
What’s Going on Your To-Don’t List?
What are you releasing this summer?
Where are you creating more space to just be?
If your heart is craving something softer, simpler, and more spacious — our Summer Wellcation is made for you.
It’s a low-pressure, self-guided programme designed to support your wellbeing in small, creative, and caring ways. So you can create the summer that you need.
Finding My Way Back to My Body: Sauna for Wellbeing in Somerset
Curious about the benefits of sauna for your wellbeing? Discover the rise of Finnish-style saunas in the UK, the mental and physical health benefits of heat and cold therapy, and how one Somerset sauna changed everything.
Why would anyone step into a hot sauna on one of the warmest days of the year?
That was my exact thought as I stood outside a bright orange door on a sun-baked industrial estate in Somerset. But beneath the surface of that contradiction was a deeper search for something. A reset. A moment of connection with my body. A pause in the chaos of modern life.
And I found it — not in a spa, but in a converted graffitied truck with steam billowing from its seams.
The idea of seeking out a sauna for better everyday wellbeing first took root while reading How to Winter by Kari Leibowitz. Her writing on Scandinavian winter rituals — particularly the reverence for sauna — felt oddly timely, even as I read it in the full bloom of British summer.
Did you know that in Finland, there are over 3 million saunas for a population of just 5.5 million? That’s one sauna for every two people. It’s not just a wellness trend there — it’s part of everyday life, deeply embedded in the culture. Saunas are where people slow down, open up, and sweat out more than just toxins. As Leibowitz writes:
“The sauna is an escape, both physical and mental. It’s a time to slow down, pause, and connect: with ourselves, with our bodies, with each other.”
In the UK, we’re catching up. According to the British Sauna Society, there were only 45 Finnish-style saunas across the country in 2023. By the end of 2025, that number had leapt to over 200. And in Somerset alone, new community saunas are popping up in forest clearings, rewilded farms, and, in my case, just behind the local bakery.
My first visit to Wildcat Sauna was part nervous curiosity, part midlife experiment.
The etiquette was unclear — was this a silent retreat? Were my unpainted toes allowed? But what I found instead was kindness, community, and a warm welcome. A mix of regulars and holiday-makers shared tips about 15-minute sauna cycles followed by cold plunges, and somehow, without ceremony, we all eased into it together.
I chose the hottest sauna first — a bold but not-for-me move — before relocating to the cosier wooden barrel. I found my rhythm slowly: heat, breathe, plunge. Repeat. In the cold plunge, I didn’t last long, but I lasted longer than I thought I could. There was pride in that. Progress.
And more than that — I found a kind of presence I hadn’t realised I was missing.
This small, steamy ritual has now become one of the most grounding practices in my week. I can reconnect with myself in a way that’s both physical and emotional. And I’m not alone.
Sauna offers proven health benefits:
Lowers blood pressure
Reduces stress and improves mood
Enhances circulation and immune function
But perhaps just as importantly, it offers a pause. A way to step outside the noise of everyday life and listen to yourself again.
And there’s something special about the communal nature of it too. Unlike a spa, this is a space for locals, regulars, conversations. As the Swedish Sauna Academy puts it: “In saunas, there is truth.”
There are now public or wild saunas nearby at Vallis Farm, The Glove Factory, Campwell, and more arriving each season. The trend is rising, yes — but so is the call to reconnect with ourselves.
So here’s my gentle nudge:
Have you tried a sauna for your wellbeing? Would you?
Whether you’re curious about the heat, the cold, the community, or just curious in general — this might be the warm, unfamiliar, lovely reset you didn’t know you needed.
Let me know if you sauna (and where!). I’d love to know which places are helping you feel more at home in your own body.
Sending you warmth and curiosity,
5 Places to Try Sauna in Somerset and Beyond
4. Campwell, Winsley, near Bath
5. Somerwhere Sauna, Dartington Estate
Where would you add? Let us know so we can add more saunas to our guide to life.
How to Reignite Creative Joy When You're Burnt Out
Feeling burnt out or disconnected from your creativity? Discover how reconnecting with joy and creating for love—not likes—can restore your sense of purpose, peace, and play. Featuring insights from our podcast conversation with Emily Charlotte Powell on new wellbeing podcast A Thought I Kept.
If you’re feeling creatively numb, worn down by algorithms, or like you’ve lost your way with the work you used to love — you're not alone. So many of us are asking how to keep going when creativity feels like just another demand, another item on the to-do list, another thing to optimise.
Recently, I had a conversation with artist and illustrator Emily Charlotte Powell on the A Thought I Kept podcast that helped me remember something essential — something I didn’t even realise I’d let slip:
“I will create what I love. I will love what I create. And that will be enough.”
What would shift if that were your starting point too?
Why Burnout Can Sneak Up on Creative People
Creative burnout doesn’t always look like collapse. Sometimes it shows up quietly — a reluctance to return to the page, a growing resentment of the posting schedule, a dullness where there used to be a spark.
We start out making something because we feel something. But over time, it’s easy to swap that inner compass for external cues:
What performs well
What grows fastest
What’s currently trending
In the episode, Emily and I unpack how this shift slowly disconnects us from our original why. We move from making things we love, to making things we think we should.
And that’s when joy leaves the room.
Joy Isn’t Frivolous — It’s Can Be Fuel
This conversation reminded me that joy isn’t a luxury or a frivolous extra — it’s part of the glue that holds our creative selves together.
It’s what makes us want to sit down again tomorrow.
It’s what helps us navigate the rejection, the unread work, the projects that didn’t quite land.
It’s what keeps us tethered to the core of why we started.
Emily speaks about making things she genuinely enjoys and how reconnecting with this playful spirit helped her fall back in love with her practice.
She didn’t wait for permission. She didn’t check what the market wanted first. She just let herself love what she was making.
Creating for Your Wellbeing — Not Just Your Feed
There’s so much content telling us how to create for growth. But what if your creativity was a tool for wellbeing?
What if:
Writing a paragraph you love is its own reward
Drawing something softens your day
Re-reading an old blog post and smiling at your own words is reason enough
Creating what you love and loving what you create can be an act of care — not just for the audience, but for you
It’s okay to pause. It’s okay to make what delights you, even if no one ever sees it. And it’s more than okay to step away from “relevance” to reconnect with resonance — that feeling that this matters to me and that’s enough.
What If Joy Was the Point?
After this episode, I’ve been asking myself:
What would I make if no one else ever saw it?
What would I love to return to?
What kind of work makes me want to begin again?
If you’re burnt out, blocked, or just quietly bored, maybe don’t start with a productivity tip. Start with a feeling. Start with joy. That could be your way back in.
Want More?
This journal post was inspired by my conversation with the wonderful Emily Charlotte Powell on the latest episode of A Thought I Kept.
Listen in for more on:
How to navigate creative pressure without losing your spark
Why feeling something while you create matters
How to protect joy as part of your process
The emotional reality of being a creative person in a content-driven world
Listen now on Substack with bonus video content or find us wherever you get your podcasts.
Let this episode be the quiet nudge that helps you find your way back to what you love.
Sign up for my Substack More Good Days, where I share gentle thoughts on creativity, emotions, and everyday wellbeing — always with the aim of helping you feel better, not more pressure.
Or check out our wellbeing courses designed to help you reconnect with what matters to you.
A Curiosity-Fuelled Summer Bucket List
Looking for an easier way to enjoy summer? This curiosity-fuelled bucket list offers 20 low-pressure, wellbeing-inspired ideas to help you slow down, reconnect, and find joy in the everyday.
You might love the idea of summer—the long days, the looser schedules, the promise of some sunnier days.
And yet, somewhere between school holidays, the laundry pile, and the pressure to “make the most of it,” it’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind on even the fun stuff.
Enter the summer bucket list.
What starts with good intentions—picnics, beaches, fire pits—can quickly turn into another list of things you should be doing.
For years, I made summer lists like they were contracts with joy. But by the end of July, I’d be half-ticked-off and half worn-out.
Somewhere in the middle of trying to have a good time, I forgot to notice whether I actually was.
Here’s what changed everything:
I stopped treating summer like something I had to conquer… and started following my curiosity instead.
Curiosity doesn’t ask you to rush. It doesn’t compare. It doesn’t have a checklist or a destination.
It simply asks, what if I noticed this? or what happens if I try that?
And in doing so, it gently pulls us out of overwhelm and back into presence.
Because when you feel stretched thin, curiosity doesn’t demand energy—it offers it.
It’s the gentle restart your nervous system might need when you feel like you have to be and do all the things just because “it’s summer”..
Try not to see this as a list of goals. Rather reframe it as a list glimmers—small, no-pressure invitations to help you reconnect with yourself, your surroundings, and even your sense of play.
You don’t need to do them all. Or do them “right.”
Just follow your interest. Let yourself wonder again.
The Curiosity-Fuelled Summer Bucket List
Pick one today. Come back tomorrow—or don’t. This is yours to shape.
Walk a route you’ve never taken
Lie on the grass and look at the sky for 5 minutes
Text someone just to say you’re thinking of them
Buy yourself a magazine you used to love
Eat something slowly, outside if you can
Leave your phone behind for a short walk
Watch the sunset or sunrise, on purpose
Rearrange one corner of your home
Draw something badly (no erasing allowed)
Take a 5-minute ‘holiday’—window open, feet up
Write a one-line diary entry for 3 days in a row
Make a playlist that sounds like sunshine
Sit on your front step with a cold drink
Do something with your hands (paint, knead, cut, fold)
Say no to something that doesn’t feel like a yes
Visit a local place you’ve never set foot in
Gift something to someone for no reason
Stand still in nature and count 3 things you can hear
Wear your favourite clothes for no occasion at all
Try one thing from our Summer Scavenger Hunt
This is how summer gets to feel now:
A little less effort. A little more ease. A little more *you.
When we let curiosity lead, we find joy in unexpected places: on front steps, in ordinary walks, in the sound of birds.
We don't have to make it epic—we can find some joy in the smaller, more thrown together things.
If this list gave you ideas, here are 2 ways to follow the feeling:
1. Download our free Summer Scavenger Hunt – 28 curiosity-fuelled prompts to keep you exploring all that summer can be for you
2. Join the Summer Wellcation – A self-guided, 4-week invitation to feel better in the season you love
If you’re craving a slower, more intentional season, that’s exactly what Summer Wellcation is created for.
When the Garden Teaches You How to Grow
How I learned that tending a garden is like attending to my emotional wellbeing. Discover why gardening might just be the gentlest teacher of all and the life lessons it might hold for you.
We often talk about personal growth like it’s something we can hack or schedule: an efficient morning routine here, a life-affirming listicle there. But growth—real, emotional, soul-deep growth—doesn’t always work like that.
What if the better metaphor isn’t a staircase going ever upwards… but a garden?
Because while we search for clarity, balance, or simply a day that feels like “enough,” we forget that the slow, subtle tending we do matters too. And nowhere has that been more apparent to me than in my garden.
When I first began gardening, I thought I was there to grow flowers. I didn’t realise I’d be unearthing something else entirely.
The spinach bolting too soon mirrored parts of myself I’d neglected. The alliums blooming after months of dark reminded me that beauty often requires quiet persistence. And the mess? That was its own kind of magic.
My garden began teaching me the lessons more often held in books on self-improvement
That manifesting without doing is like planting without watering.
That completion is hard—not because we can’t finish things, but because we forget to savour when we do.
That wildness isn’t chaos—it’s aliveness.
That rhythms matter, and sometimes staying still is part of tending too.
Most surprisingly, I learned that I didn’t have to get everything right. Not in the garden. And not in myself.
Sue Stuart-Smith wrote, “The mind needs to be gardened too.” And once I read it, I couldn’t stop thinking about how true that is.
Gardening asks us to:
Observe without rushing.
Accept mistakes without shame.
Work with the seasons, not against them.
Let go of perfect outcomes.
And return, again and again, to the same patch of ground.
In other words—it’s the same practice that wellbeing demands of us.
You don’t need to own a garden to live this way. But you do need to notice what’s already growing.
If the garden has taught me anything, it’s this:
There will always be weeds. You are not failing because things still need clearing.
Rest counts. Sitting in your garden is still tending to it.
Growth doesn’t announce itself. Often it’s quiet, a cucumber hidden behind a leaf, a shift in mindset you barely notice.
You don’t need to be the expert. Just the one who shows up.
This is the version of wellbeing I believe in: imperfect, seasonal, and rooted in presence rather than performance.
So tell me—what’s growing for you right now?
What do you notice when you look at your days not as tasks to complete but as something to tend?
Let’s start a new kind of growth together: slower, kinder, and more alive.
If this resonated with you, sign up for the newsletter for our take on personal growth (hint: we never call it personal growth outside of a gardening metaphor). Or explore our wellbeing courses where we start, not with goals, but with grounding.
We can cultivate a different kind of wellbeing together: one that feels messy, but real, and offers its own kind of beauty..
Image: made with Freepik
Postcards from a Happy Place
A day at The Happy Place wellbeing festival — and the ideas I brought home with the tote bag
I’m sitting under the shade of a 100-year-old tree in a west London park, the kind with branches that creak when the breeze moves through them. I’ve claimed one of the bright bean bags scattered across the lawn and wedged it against the bark. It’s quieter here than in the big open-sided marquee where the talks are held. I almost left earlier — the heat was stifling — but this patch of dappled light invited me to stay.
This is the Happy Place Festival, Fearne Cotton’s annual celebration of all things wellbeing. Held in Gunnersbury Park, the event feels relaxed despite the crowds. There’s a sound bath tent, hormone talks, yoga happening under awnings, iced lattes for a quick pick-me-up, and a hum of voices talking about nutrition, breathwork, sleep, and happiness.
I wander a little, swap my trainers for sandals, browse the book tent, and eventually drift towards the Talk Tent — where the ideas start to land.
What Wellbeing Looks Like When You Do It at Your Own Pace
There’s a clawfoot bathtub painted bright yellow on the lawn. Giant HAPPY PLACE letters. Pink phone booths for Instagram moments.
People move slowly, or not at all. Some stretch into yoga poses. Others lounge with notebooks. I’m surrounded mostly by women. An older woman in a navy wrap dress stands near a mother and daughter in yoga pants. And I start to wonder: What are we all here for?
A day of self-care? A search for clarity? A break from decision fatigue?
For me, it became about gathering small, meaningful insights or the big ideas that I hope might stick. Here's what I took home from a single day of getting away from it all (so I could get back to it all).
5 Takeaways from The Happy Place Festival
1. Midlife Is for Beginning Again
“Everyone has something.” — Donna Ashworth
Poet Donna Ashworth shared that she didn’t begin writing until her mid-40s. “It was either me… or it,” she said. There was something inside her that needed to be expressed — even if it emerged messily.
Holly Tucker, founder of Holly & Co, echoed this. She shared that 75% of the small businesses they support were started by people aged 40–60. Midlife isn’t an ending. It’s the start of something else.
2. Listen to the Whispers of the Soul
The idea of tuning inward came up again and again. Katy Hill spoke of following the “whispers of the soul.” Kelly Holmes said she’s living not in the “if onlys” but the “maybes.”
What if we don’t need to have the whole plan — just enough of a nudge to start?
3. Time Is Measured in Moments, That Become Years
“Life is 80 summer holidays.” — Julia Bradbury
Oliver Burkeman’s 4000 Weeks was cited more than once. It’s a reminder that life is not endless. Julia Bradbury put it plainly: "You only get about 80 summers." She advocates for nature snacks as the way to reset her days — stepping outside every couple of hours to widen your gaze, regulate your nervous system, and remember you’re alive. The evidence backs her up. A University of Exeter study found that if 1.2 million people took part in a green prescribing project that would save the NHS £635.6 million.
4. Start Imperfectly, Stay Imperfect
“Just begin.” — Donna Ashworth
Donna’s talk — and the reading of her poem “Just Begin” — was a balm for the overthinkers. “Someone here needs this,” she said before reading. She was right. That someone was me. And maybe it’s you too.
Start before you’re ready. Begin without knowing the outcome. Let the thing live in the world. That’s where the magic happens — not in the editing, but in the doing.
5. Small Impacts Matter
“What’s my impact?” — Holly Tucker
Holly said she grounds herself daily in one question: What will my impact be today? Not in a pressure-filled way, but as an invitation. She believes we all have the potential to lift others — to support their dreams in small, significant ways.
And if you don’t know your answer yet? Ask yourself: What lit you up when you were 10?
Wellbeing That Feels Possible
There’s a lot out there right now about how to live better. Some of it’s helpful. A lot of it is loud. What this day reminded me is that you can be curious without committing to a complete reinvention.
Wellbeing isn’t a fixed destination or a 12-step plan. It’s something you get to define. Something you can build, imperfectly. Slowly. Softly. On your own terms.
Your happy place might not be mine. And that’s more than okay.
So, what’s your Version of a Happy Place?
Maybe it’s not a festival. Maybe it’s a book, or a walk, or a quiet cup of tea. The point is not to do more. It’s to tune in.
Here’s a gentle question to leave you with:
What whispers have you been ignoring?
And what might shift if you started to listen?
Want to explore this further?
We’re creating spaces for the wellbeing curious — people who want better days, not busier ones.
Announcing A Thought I Kept: A Podcast About the Ideas That Shape How We Live
Looking for a wellbeing podcast that can fit your everyday life? A Thought I Kept explores the single ideas that stay with us — and how they continue to shape us, long after we’ve forgotten the rest. Listen now.
If you're looking for a wellbeing podcast that feels like a conversation around a kitchen table, this is for you.
A Thought I Kept is a short-form podcast about the single ideas that stay with us — the ones that shape how we live, long after we’ve forgotten the rest.
Each week, I speak with a different guest about the one thought they’ve carried with them through life. Sometimes it’s a quote that landed at just the right moment. Other times it’s something said by a loved one that needed to be heard.
These are the ideas we live. Or try to. We return to them again and again. We test them, challenge them, adapt them. These are the ideas that stick, stay, and sometimes even shift everything.
A Wellbeing Podcast That Meets You Where You Are
In a world full of self-help lists, must-try methods and wellbeing how-tos, A Thought I Kept is about how we notice (and hold onto) the ideas that resonate, that mean something, and that — in their own way — shape who we’re becoming.
This is a podcast for people who are curious about what makes life feel better — more connected, more livable, more of what you need. Whether you're deep into self-improvement or simply looking for a new idea to carry through your week, you'll find something here that’s worth remembering.
What You’ll Hear
Every episode features a single guest — creatives, coaches, therapists, or just thoughtful humans — sharing the one idea they couldn’t let go of. We explore:
A moment that shifted their perspective
How the thought has shown up again and again
What it’s taught them — or is still teaching them
How they’ve made it their own
These aren’t polished life lessons. They’re lived ideas. Carried from books and stages, podcasts and conversations, into real days. The ones we try to live up to — or sometimes fall short of — but keep returning to anyway.
Why These Conversations Matter
We’re not short on inspiration these days. But we are short on meaningful, reflective spaces where we can explore how we actually integrate the ideas we hear into our daily lives.
A Thought I Kept is one of those spaces. It honours aha moments and imperfections both, small moments of clarity and the kind of emotional intelligence that grows slowly, over time.
These conversations are for anyone navigating change, searching for clarity, or wanting to feel more grounded in how they move through the world.
Where to Listen
A Thought I Kept is available wherever you get your podcasts, with bonus videos and content found over on Substack.
New episodes drop every Monday — perfect for starting your week with a fresh perspective.
If you’re looking for ideas that stay with you, you love wellbeing podcasts and you often choose meaningful conversations over monologues — this podcast is for you.
Subscribe to A Thought I Kept and join a community of people collecting the kind of ideas that make everyday life feel a little more livable.
How to Move Through Creative Self-Doubt and Reconnect With Your Purpose
Feeling stuck or creatively disconnected? Here's how to rebuild your confidence, find meaning in the uncertainty, and return to the creative work that matters.
Have you ever felt like you’ve lost your spark?
Like the ideas that once lit you up have dimmed, or that the thing that used to matter doesn’t quite land the same way anymore?
Maybe you’ve asked yourself: What am I doing this for?
If you're here, chances are you’re navigating your own season of doubt. And if that’s true, then let me offer you this:
You’re not doing it wrong. This is part of it.
The creative process isn’t linear. It’s a stretch and a return. A leap, and then a grounding. A brave “yes” to something new, followed (often quietly) by the decision to come back home to what really matters.
What’s for you won’t go by you.
That phrase—shared by brand designer and creative mentor Sarah Robertson on a recent episode of A Thought I Kept—has been looping in my head since we spoke. It was something her Scottish grandmother used to say, sometimes just in passing. But it landed.
It became an anchor for Sarah in all kinds of moments:
When her business changed direction
When launching a new product stirred up old fears
And when self-doubt made her question whether she was going in the right direction
In each of those moments, that phrase whispered back to her: If it’s for you, it won’t pass you by.
What happens when creativity starts to feel fragile?
Sarah spoke about the delicate emotions that come up when we make something new—especially something that asks a lot of us. When she launched her Brand Seasons card deck (a beautiful, soul-filled strategy tool), it wasn’t just a product launch. It was a creative stretch.
She worried about whether she still had it. She worried whether it was worth it. And in all of that, she still trusted enough to try.
Because sometimes, the bravery is just in showing up for what might be possible.
If you're in a stretch season...
...it might look like saying yes to something that scares you. A project you’re not sure will land. A conversation you don’t feel ready for.
But then there’s the other half of the rhythm—the return.
Sarah shared how, after all the brave leaping, she’s now back in her creative comfort zone: working one-on-one with clients, doing deep brand work, mentoring creatives who are trying something new.
And she’s realised:
It’s okay to let go of the things that aren’t for you too.
Even the things you poured your heart into.
This is permission to release the pressure to make every project the thing.
It can just be a thing. A moment. A stretch.
Then you come back to what fills you up.
If you're in a return season...
...let it be enough.
You don’t have to reinvent everything. You don’t have to push.
Returning to what feels good—what feels like you—can be the most creative act of all.
As Sarah put it:
““There’s definitely been something about learning that the creativity is always there. I can access it, I can tap into it.””
So how do you find your way back to creativity?
Here’s what this conversation reminded me of (and maybe it will help you too):
Self-doubt doesn’t mean you’re not creative. It means you care.
You don’t have to push all the time. Sometimes the letting go is the power move.
A creative pause doesn’t erase your purpose. Your creativity is still there.
The process matters as much as the outcome. Trust what you're learning in the doing.
Not everything is yours to carry. What’s truly for you will stay. What isn’t, can go.
Want to feel more connected to your creativity again?
Take a breath. Come back to yourself.
And ask: What feels like mine to hold right now?
Not what’s trending. Not what’s shiny. Just… what’s true?
If it’s for you, it won’t go by you.
Let that be the anchor.
Want more like this?
Listen to Sarah’s full episode on A Thought I Kept on Substack, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts
Summer Self-Care Checklist for Overwhelmed Days
Feeling stretched thin this summer? Here’s a gentle, practical self-care checklist to help you pause, reset and feel better—without adding on any more pressure.
You love the idea of summer—the long evenings, the slower mornings, the breezy dresses and flip-flops and maybe even a road trip or two.
But here you are, somewhere between the second heatwave and the eighth load of washing, feeling low-key exhausted and wondering: Isn’t this supposed to be the relaxing season?
Summer can be a swirl of too-muchness: too much expectation, too many people to keep happy, too little time to yourself.
That’s why we created a short checklist to help on overwhelming days—not to add more, but to gently guide you back to what you need today.
Because here’s what I’ve learned (the hard way): self-care in summer doesn’t always look like bubble baths or beach escapes.
Sometimes it looks like sitting on the garden step for five minutes with your phone inside the house.
Or letting the kids watch one more episode so you can be alone in silence and remember what your own voice sounds like.
I’ve coached women through every kind of season, and summer—while beautiful—has a sneaky way of stealing our energy.
We keep trying to "make the most of it," but no one talks about how much it can take out of us, especially when we’re already carrying so much.
This checklist isn’t about self-improvement. It’s about self-preservation. And maybe even a little more joy.
Summer Self-Care Checklist for Overwhelmed Days
For when you feeling wobbly, weary or just a bit lost in the swirl of summer...
Try one or two. You don’t need to do them all.
1. Move to a cooler room—emotionally and literally.
If you’re overheating, physically or mentally, step into shade. It can be a room, a car, a headspace. Give yourself that pause.
2. Have a "bare minimum" day.
Pick 3 things: eat something, drink water, send one message. That’s enough.
3. Use your senses to re-centre.
Run your hands under cold water. Notice the texture of grass under your feet. Inhale something fresh—lavender, mint, citrus. Let your senses bring you back to the present.
4. Draw a boundary shaped like a hammock.
Say no to something, kindly. Then rest in the space it creates.
5. Write a tiny list of what’s working.
Even in the mess: the good coffee this morning, your kid’s laugh, the breeze through the window.
6. Reach for real connection.
One message to someone who sees you. Not for advice. Just for being seen.
7. Put your phone in a different room for 20 minutes.
Not forever. Just long enough to change the rhythm.
8. Move your body to move the moment.
Step outside. Stretch your arms overhead. Walk to the end of the street and back. A shift in motion can soften the stuckness.
9. Let something go half-done.
It can still be there tomorrow. And there’s something ok about that. Let it wait.
10. Ask yourself one kind question.
What would feel good right now? Then honour the first answer that comes.
Even one of these actions can shift your day, your breath, your summer.
What’s on your personal self-care checklist right now?
Which one of these would feel best today?
If this resonated with you, here are 3 ways to go deeper:
Join our Summer Wellcation – a 4-week self-guided online reset to reclaim your season.
Subscribe to our newsletter – for more ideas, inspiration and emotional support.
Browse our guide to overwhelm — for more ways to navigate the days when it all feels too much.
Let’s create a summer that feels like yours.
Made image by Freepik
Vallis Farm
Seek out this farm in Somerset centered on learning and creativity, exchanging skills and ideas, while connecting you with the healing properties of nature. It’s truly a place to grow.
Go here if
You are looking for a beautiful space to share and swap skills, learn, grow and be in nature.
What is it?
Vallis Farm is a home for learning and creativity, for exchanging skills and ideas, a place to grow.
Why you need it
Nature has healing properties and this farm offers something special. Not only is the landscape stunning, the house warm and inviting but the people are welcoming and friendly.
What they offer
A range of workshops, supper clubs, weekly events such as yoga and pilates. They also encourage people to volunteer on the land to learn about their approach to sustainable gardening while being in the most healing of environments - the great outdoors!
What makes it different
Vallis Farm is a rather special place. The old Georgian farmhouse is warm and beautifully decorated with lots of spaces available to use depending on your needs.
The outside is even more stunning, just under 10 acres of rolling hills and woodland, a market garden using no-dig methods to grow local produce, a beautiful kitchen garden and roundhouse as well as shepherd’s huts that you can stay in. It's a truly restorative place to spend time.
What else do you need to know
You can book a range of spaces — whether that’s rooms in the house or the whole farm site — by the hour, for a half day or a full day, depending on your needs and budget.
Vallis Farm also welcomes people to pop over to have a look around. There is always someone there to say hello and show you this amazing place.
In their own words
Vallis Farm is led by an evolving collective of highly experienced craftspeople, compassionate educators and committed stewards of the land.
“We started Vallis Farm as a place to provide affordable spaces to local people. We have areas that have permanent tenants who are artisan craftspeople in their own right. We want people to know they will always be welcome to come and share their skills and knowledge with others. We truly are a place to grow and learn.”
Where inspires them
“It's proven time and again that nature has huge restorative effects. Not just on our mood but also on our memory, cognition and executive functions. We believe that being outside repairs the soul. If the weather is not our friend, our beautiful house has green views from every window which are also proven to help repair and restore our mental health. Having a place to just "be" is the most inspiring thing for us.”
A Thought I Kept: A New Wellbeing Podcast About the One Idea That Stayed
Introducing A Thought I Kept — a new wellbeing podcast about the ideas that last. Listen for real conversations, gentle insight, and the life advice we actually remember.
I’ve always loved a good idea.
A reframe.
A quiet insight that makes me pause mid-scroll, or scribble something in the notes app at 11:37 p.m. so I don’t forget it.
I love podcasts too. The kind that hold space. That shift something. That say the thing I didn’t know I needed to hear.
But lately I’ve been wondering:
Out of all the life advice, wellbeing strategies, and “you-have-to-listen-to-this” podcast moments… what actually stays with us?
What do we carry into our everyday lives, long after the episode ends or the book gets returned to the library?
We’re surrounded by incredible knowledge — how to be calmer, healthier, more grounded, more curious.
The science is smart. The frameworks are helpful. The tips are endless.
But when life happens — the real, messy, school-pick-up, half-asleep-on-the-couch life — what idea do we remember?
What thought do we keep?
A podcast about the ideas that last
So I made a podcast. It’s called A Thought I Kept.
Each short episode takes the form of a conversation with someone about the one thought they couldn’t forget.
Not because it was the most profound, or went viral, or solved everything.
But because it stuck. It mattered. It shaped something in how they moved through the world.
It might have come from a book.
Or a late-night conversation.
Or a stranger on a train.
Or a friend’s voice note, recorded mid-walk and slightly out of breath.
These are stories about the ideas that landed. The ones that felt personal. Sometimes private. Always real.
This podcast is for you if:
You collect ideas, but want to know which ones are worth keeping
You love good conversation but feel tired of overproduced advice
You’re a fan of wellbeing podcasts that center women’s voices, and the magic of “me too” moments
You’re curious, but craving softness
You’ve underlined a sentence and wondered why it hit so hard
You love wellbeing podcasts but crave something more human.
This isn’t a podcast about how to fix your life.
It’s about how we live with the ideas that gently shape it.
The trailer will be out next week with episodes going out on Mondays after that.
Subscribe to Substack to follow and listen.
I hope this podcast offers you something that stays.
x Claire
Goodwood Art Foundation
Discover the Goodwood Art Foundation, a feel-good creative destination blending contemporary art, nature and wellbeing on the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex. Explore a stunning landscape of thoughtfully curated artworks that encourage a sense of curiosity.
Perfect for
Art lovers, nature wanderers, the creatively curious and the quietly overstimulated.
For anyone craving inspiration with less noise and a way to feel more connected—to the world around you, to ideas and to yourself.
Why you’ll love it
The Goodwood Art Foundation isn’t just a gallery in the traditional sense — though you’ll find two stand-out exhibition spaces here — but also an invitation to experience art in a natural setting.
Set across the rolling chalk hills of the Goodwood Estate, it’s a space where sculpture and landscape meet in quiet conversation. Here, you get to wander at your own pace, following one of the three sign-posted trails. As you seek out the next sculpture, you’ll walk through ancient forests or wildflower meadows, coming across a natural amphitheater, chalk quarry and cherry grove as you do so. Pause a while and sit with something unexpected — an enchanting soundscape hidden in the trees perhaps or a view to the sea in the distance.
For the opening, Ann Gallagher, the former director of collections of British Art at Tate, has sensitively installed works by major contemporary artists — including Veronica Ryan, Rose Wylie and Isamu Noguchi — within the natural setting. There’s also a stunning solo exhibition of Rachel Whiteread, the first woman to win the Turner Prize.
What makes it special
Leading landscape designer Dan Pearson has created a 70-acre landscape that shifts according to 24 2-week botanical seasons. You’ll get a sense of how the land, the weather, the seasons and light all interact as you visit at different times of the year.
It’s the kind of place where you leave feeling lighter—and perhaps even a little rewilded, inside and out.
The story behind it
The Goodwood Art Foundation, newly opened in May 2025, is a non-profit on a mission to “foster wellbeing, creativity and lifelong learning for people of all backgrounds and abilities, through engagement with art and connectedness to nature.”
Founded by the Duke of Richmond and Gordon, the Goodwood Art Foundation is gounded in three pillars: art, environment and education, and explores how these can better support our physical and mental wellbeing, creativity and capacity to learn.
The If Lost take
We believe creativity is a form of self-care. There’s a palpable sense of permission here: to explore, to wonder, to allow ourselves to just be.
It’s also one of those rare spaces that nourishes your nervous system and your imagination at the same time.
Everything about it moves slowly, intentionally. There’s no rush. And that’s very much the point.
It’s a full-body exhale kind of place.
Practical details
Location: Situated within the Goodwood Estate near Chichester, West Sussex (also home to world-class motor and horse racing.)
Top tips: Wear comfortable shoes and dress according the weather forecast. There are indoor spaces but you’ll be spending a lot of time outdoors.
Check out Cafe24 for a full-menu with ingredients sourced from Goodwood’s regenerative farm. It’s located in a stunning steel-clad building designed by Studio Downie Architect.
Know somewhere that helps people feel better?
Nominate your favourite creative or feel-good place—or apply to be featured in the guidebook. Complete this form.
Walking for Wellness: How Daily Walks Brought Me Back to Myself
Discover the emotional and mental health benefits of walking with five mindful ways to walk, inspired by personal experience and wellbeing research.
It wasn’t until the pandemic that I discovered walking — not as a way to get from A to B, but as a way to come back to myself. Like many people, I found myself locked down, overwhelmed, and restless. My only escape was a daily walk.
It became essential. A bowl of milk to the day’s dry cereal. The thing that made everything else make sense.
Each morning, after waking to another repeat of the same uncertain day, I’d lace up my trainers and head out. Sometimes I went uphill, breath catching as I climbed towards the high view that held the San Francisco Bay and Mount Diablo in the distance. Other times, I turned down the trail, earbuds in, passing neighbours who had become companions in this strange shared stillness.
My walks weren’t about fitness. They were about sanity. A way to breathe again before returning to home-schooling, back-to-back video calls, and the quiet chaos of a household running on edge.
The benefits of walking for mental health
I wasn’t alone. According to the Mental Health Foundation, 59% of UK adults said that taking a walk helped them cope with the stress of the pandemic. In the UK, where I spent round three of lockdown, walking was considered so essential that the government protected it — up there with grocery shopping and filling your car with petrol.
These daily walks weren’t just good for our bodies. They were medicine for our minds. For many of us, walking helped re-establish a link between physical movement and emotional stability. And for some, it was the beginning of a new relationship with wellbeing altogether.
Why I kept walking (even when I didn’t have to)
I’ve kept walking. Not out of obligation, but because I now understand what it gives me.
I take a short walk before I collect my daughter from school — a simple mental reset after a day of coaching, writing, and running a business. I walk after dinner, letting the last of the day’s light touch my skin. I park further away than I need to when heading into Bath, giving myself that extra stroll in silence before a meeting.
It’s not always about the steps or the stats. I’ve let walking become part of how I design my day — like eating lunch, brushing my teeth, or drinking coffee. It gives me time to think. Time to feel. Time to stop being just a brain at a screen.
And the dog walkers I pass seem baffled that I walk alone — no dog, no Fitbit, no real purpose.
But here’s the thing: walking is the purpose.
5 mindful ways to walk when the world feels heavy
When I feel unmotivated, overwhelmed, or too busy to walk — I remind myself it doesn’t have to look a certain way. These are five gentle ways to walk that have helped me stay connected, curious, and calm.
1. Take a Colour Walk
This morning, I followed the colour pink.
It was a choice that made me look. Brash pinks and soft blushes showed up in unexpected places — roses in front gardens, foxgloves leaning into the road, a pair of pyjamas flapping on a washing line, and even the warm tone of a village pub sign. The pinks softened the streets I thought I knew.
Try this: Choose a colour before you leave the house. Follow it with your eyes. Notice the tones, textures, placements. Photograph them, sketch them, or just observe. You’re not documenting your walk — you’re getting more into it.
2. Walk Without an Agenda
“Take a walk without an agenda,” said Margaret Heffernan in her TEDx talk on thinking like an artist.
Leave your phone at home. Head out with no destination, no task list. Let the walk shape itself.
Can you hear the difference after the rain? Have the leaves turned? What’s blooming this week? Let your attention wander, gently.
The only cost is your attention. The gift is being where you are.
3. Try an Awe Walk
An awe walk invites you to look at the world with child-like eyes.
Research from the University of California found that regular awe walks can reduce stress, increase joy, and expand our sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves. Participants even began taking smaller selfies — a literal shrinking of the ego.
This week, I walked a slightly different route and was caught by wildflowers pushing through tarmac, a castle glowing yellow under a blue sky, and a pile of painted stones stacked on a gravestone by a child’s hand. Nothing grand, but all quietly wonderful.
Try this: Look for something vast or something tiny. Either way, let it move you.
4. Take a 12-Minute Brisk Walk
If time is the thing getting in your way, keep it short and purposeful.
In 52 Ways to Walk, Annabel Streets encourages a simple 12-minute brisk walk. That’s all it takes to shift your mood, alter your blood chemistry, and reconnect with your body.
Try this: Set a timer for 12 minutes. Walk like you mean it. Breathe deeply. Notice the shift.
5. Bring Company (Human or Otherwise)
Sometimes I take a friend. A quick lunchtime loop before school pickup. Sometimes I take a podcast — lately I’ve been walking with themes like overwhelm or emotional fatigue, choosing episodes that help me think differently.
There’s evidence that some of the emotional benefits of walking come not just from movement, but from connection. The nod of a neighbour. A chat with a friend. The quiet rhythm of shared silence.
Try this: Invite someone to walk with you. Or pick a podcast that feeds your mind as your feet move. Make it feel like a companion.
Let walking be whatever you need it to be
You don’t need to count steps or measure your worth in minutes. Walking is a practice — and like all good practices, it adapts to you. It can be fast or slow, quiet or sociable, structured or loose.
Let it meet you where you are.
If you need to ground yourself: walk.
If you feel cloudy-headed: walk.
If you want to think, or not think at all: walk.
You don’t need a goal. You just need to begin.
So…
What kind of walk are you craving today?
Which of these walking practices might you try?
Or do you have your own that sustains you?
We’d love to hear your stories of why you walk — and what you’ve found along the way.
Your next steps
If something here resonated, here are three gentle ways to keep exploring with us:
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Practical, non-performative ways to reconnect with your body — whether you're walking, resting, stretching or simply breathing. It’s about being in your body in a way that feels good, not forced. Explore your mind-body connection here.
What If Overwhelm Isn’t the Emotion? Why We Sometimes Feel Too Much, Yet Not Enough—and How the Body Can Help
Feeling overwhelmed but not sure why? You might not be feeling “too much”—you might be disconnected from what your emotions are actually trying to say. Here’s how to make sense of overwhelm through the body.
You feel overwhelmed.
But if someone asked you why, or what exactly you’re feeling… you might not know. You just feel off. Foggy. Wound up. Flooded. Blank. Wired and tired at the same time.
It can feel like too much is happening inside you, without a clear signal or message to follow.
But what if overwhelm isn’t the emotion you really need to deal with?
What if it’s what shows up when you haven’t been able to feel what’s beneath it at all?
The Moment I Realised Overwhelm Was a Cover Story
For a long time, I treated overwhelm as a standalone state. A sign that life was “too busy,” my nervous system was overloaded, or I needed a break. Sometimes that was true.
But what I’ve come to realise—through training, through coaching, and through my own lived experience—is this:
> Overwhelm can also be a symptom of emotional disconnection, not emotional excess.
It’s what happens when we intellectualise our feelings, or try to manage them from a distance—without ever letting them land.
We might think:
“I know I’m feeling something, but I can’t get to it.”
“I can name the emotion, but it doesn’t feel real.”
“I should be able to cope with this, but I feel flooded anyway.”
Sound familiar?
This is a pattern that many people (especially high-functioning, thoughtful people) fall into: you process emotions with words, not with your body. You understand emotions cognitively, but don’t always experience them somatically.
And over time, all the un-felt, un-integrated emotion starts to pile up. It doesn’t go away—it just gets noisier. Messier. Louder.
Eventually, it spills over—not as anger, grief, fear, or sadness—but as overwhelm.
When the Body Tries to Speak and We Stay in Our Heads
From a neuroscience perspective, this makes perfect sense.
Emotions aren’t just thoughts. They’re bodily experiences—changes in breath, tension, heat, posture, heart rate.
When we ignore those signals—or lose access to them—we lose our in-built self-regulation system.
If you don’t feel the emotion as it comes, your body doesn’t know how to process or release it. It just keeps holding it.
Without that physical experience, your brain can’t fully complete the emotional loop. So it stays half-finished. Repeating. Piling on top of the next.
Eventually, all those unfelt emotions swirl together into a kind of emotional static—a sensory overload without clarity.
We call that overwhelm.
But maybe we’re naming the storm, not the weather patterns underneath it.
What to Do When You Don’t Know What You’re Feeling
So if overwhelm isn’t the emotion—what is?
It might be grief. Or fear. Or anger. Or a layered, messy mix of all three. But if you’re disconnected from your body’s signals, you can’t access them clearly.
Here’s how you can begin to shift that:
1. Start with the body, not the story
Don’t ask, “Why do I feel overwhelmed?”
Instead ask, “Where do I feel something in my body right now?”
You might notice:
A tightness in your chest
A fluttering in your stomach
A pressure behind your eyes
Let that be your starting point.
2. Give the emotion a safe place to land
The goal isn’t to solve or fix the feeling. It’s to feel it enough that your body recognises it, processes it, and releases what it can.
This might look like:
Breathing into the part of the body where you feel sensation
Moving (gently, freely, without agenda)
Letting sound, tears, or stillness come through
3. Use overwhelm as a cue, not a verdict
When overwhelm shows up, treat it as a signal, not an endpoint.
It might be saying:
“You’ve ignored this too long.”
“There’s something here that needs feeling.”
“You’re carrying more than you realise.”
What if overwhelm wasn’t the problem?
What if it was your body’s last attempt to get your attention?
So the next time you feel overwhelmed, pause.
Ask yourself: “What might I be feeling beneath this? What hasn’t had space yet?”
And instead of trying to “cope” better or “think” your way out—what if you tried simply feeling your way in?
You might find that you’re not feeling too much…
You’re just not yet feeling what’s really there.
Want more support like this—gentle, science-backed, and full of things you can try?
Join our newsletter to better understand all life’s emotions.
Distil Coworking Somerset
Discover Distil Coworking Somerset—an inspiring rural coworking space set in a restored mill with gardens, café and community. Ideal for creatives, freelancers and small business owners looking to feel more connected and work well in beautiful surroundings.
Perfect For
Creatives, freelancers, small business owners, remote workers — or anyone craving a more inspiring alternative to working from home.
Why You’ll Love It
Housed in a beautifully restored former mill, Distil Coworking Somerset offers a calm and inspiring place to work with beautifully restored wooden floors, abundant natural light and views out to a landscaped courtyard. It’s the kind of place that makes you exhale as soon as you walk through the door.
Whether you're a small business owner looking for an inspiring workspace for your team, a parent looking to be super productive around the school run or you want a change from the commute to the city — Distil Coworking Somerset is designed to make your working day better.
With plenty of free parking, choose the scenic route and work from a beautiful location in the heart of the Somerset countryside.
What Makes It Special
Set within the wider Kilver Court development, Distil offers more than just a desk. Booking a coworking space here includes access to the lush 3.5-acre gardens — perfect for stretching your legs between meetings, taking a walking call or a giving yourself a moment of pause under the trees.
You’ll also find fashion and homeware outlets like Toast and Mulberry and a newly renovated café with a wellbeing-focused menu. It’s all part of what founder Sam Cunningham envisioned when he transformed this site: “a thriving creative business ecosystem that drives growth, sparks innovation, and encourages collaboration.”
Whether you're looking for a quiet corner to enjoy a warm cup of tea, to scribble ideas in a notebook or simply to close your eyes and let the gentle rustle of leaves spark fresh inspiration, this is garden coworking.
The If Lost Take
We often think of coworking spaces as urban hubs — but Distil is part of a growing movement to bring creative, connected workspaces to rural settings. While countryside living has its charms, working from home in remote areas can sometimes deepen feelings of isolation and disconnection. Spaces like Distil shift that story — offering a place to come together, connect and work alongside fellow creatives, freelancers and entrepreneurs who also call Somerset home.
Founder’s Go-To Wellbeing Advice:
“You spend a third of your life at work — choose environments that nurture your wellbeing and people who help you thrive. The right environment can do more than just support productivity; it can restore calm, spark creativity, and invite genuine connection.”
Some Practical Details
Book a desk, meeting room or the podcasting studio. Facilities include free parking, superfast WIFI, private call booth, shower and kitchen with coffee and tea.
During every booking, receive 10% off at the café and access to the stunning Kilver Court Gardens — the perfect place to recharge during the working day.
Distil Coworking will soon have an events programme up and running, including the option of remote attendance at some events. For anyone visiting the area, they also offer day passes as well as the option of booking by the hour.
Kilver Court, Kilver Street, Shepton Mallet, BA4 5NF, United Kingdom
hello@distilcoworkingsomerset.co.uk
If Lost Reader Benefits: Use code 'InnerCircle' for 10% off your first month when signing up to a monthly membership.
If you prefer to book on a pay-as-you-go basis, use code InnerCircleHotDesk for 20% off your first day pass.