In these days when life has been restricted to the four walls of the house, we try not to let ourselves be overwhelmed by the circumstances and to be as resilient as possible, that is to find the positive sides even in this new situation.

We at Massage in Chianti have compiled a list of 10 moves, five by Flaminia and five by Elisa, which make us happy right now. Ten new habits, or home activities that we can now do freely and easily and that make this waiting period much lighter.

Flaminia

Waking up late in the morning – I’ve always been a sleepyhead since I was child and one of the most “challenging” things in adult life is just getting up early. Whether it is for work, to see to children, or any other task, waking up at 6am has always been a struggle for me.

Now, however, that all the work is concentrated in the house, being able to sleep until 9, sometimes even until 10, is the most beautiful thing there can be!

I train every day with my daughter – be it yoga, Zumba, hiit or cardio, since I have been at home every day I have time to do at least half an hour of movement and the best thing is that I managed to involve my daughter too in these fitness activities… because training in twos is even more fun!

Clean – well, cleaning gives me joy. But not the simple daily cleaning but being able to clean or tidy up those remote corners of the house that I would have otherwise not considered,  – this fills me with great satisfaction.

Dedicating time to the body-beauty routine – these days, in addition to waking up late, I also devote a lot of time to the body-beauty routine, or I do all those actions such as body brushing, sponging, doing face and / or hair mask, which I usually manage to do very little on an ongoing basis.

Reading novels – I am a great reader of essays and study books. I like to keep up to date, study and deepen new understandings of things that can help me expand and improve my work. For this reason, novels are usually very far in the background and often also in the third place with the result that I end up reading them only on vacation. In these days, however, I have rediscovered the pleasure of a good book, a compelling story that takes you in and is a thousand times more satisfying than a film!

Elisa

Since I was a child I have been very curious  and as a woman I often find it difficult to carefully select the passions and things I want to dedicate myself to, because on the other side of that curiosity my problem is time. Sometimes I feel like Alice’s rabbit running as she screams “it’s late, it’s late” and in the meantime she’s still wasting time:  I don’t have enough time to cultivate all my passions and this sometimes leads me to feel dissatisfaction and frustration.

When the quarantine began, after my first reaction of anger at being forced not to do what I want, I found many positive aspects in staying at home … I finally have all the time I want for my passions and I no longer have regrets and I can no longer blame anything or anyone if I can”t do it!

These days at home with the family have given me pleasant surprises including dancing to one song a day and finding at least one positive aspect of staying at home.

So below I will list the five discoveries that make me happy:

– Slowness is a pleasant and unexpected companion. Not having great commitments and to meet daily deadlines, I can expand my time in doing even the most simple things. First of all a long and slow breakfast with American coffee and a book to read.

– Do yoga every day – Sometimes morning and evening. How nice to feel the body”s flexibility and with fewer pains, a calmer mind and emotions. I really hope not to lose the healthy rhythm and dedicate an hour a day to my well-being.

–Read and study: from Ayurveda, to nutrition, to aromatherapy, up to video editing, there is never enough time to get to the bottom of it all.

– Singing and playing the harmonium are two passions that feed me a lot but that awaken the “saboteur” in me; in everyday life I find every possible excuse not to put myself in it, even placing the harmonium in the last drawer of the closet. In this week I re-discovered the pleasure of singing and playing for myself just for the pleasure of doing it without criticizing myself.

– Last but not least, put the nail polish on my nails. How much I like this and how often I never allow myself. Finally I allow myself to “waste time” to do something “frivolous” and this is a joy for me. I change the color of the nail polish at least twice a week and it is also an opportunity to have a chat with the female teenager in our family.

To date I am grateful to have discovered in myself many daily challenges still to be lived but also many victories that I did not know I had achieved.

My wish is to transform this very difficult period for everyone, into a time to get to know myself better and be a little more forgiving and sweet with myself even when I feel uncomfortable.