There’s two kinds of people in this world. Morning people, and people who are simply not. And if you’re the latter, even opening your eyes can be the ultimate struggle. But life goes on. And if you’re in need of tips to making mornings that little bit more glorious – you’re in the right place.  Let’s rise and really shine…

Get A Good Night’s Sleep

Okay, so kind of an obvious one here but getting a good night’s sleep will inevitably make you have more of a spring in your step come the AM. And I’m not just talking duration but quality too. Whether that’s a blackout blind, good quality bedding, what position you sleep in and the room temperature. It’s also about lighting candles, opening the windows and refraining from using technology too much at bedtime. It’s like laying the foundations of a house – if you don’t do it properly, the structure will just collapse, and your body works in the same mentality – treat it well.

Find What Wake-Up Call Works For You

For some, your body may wake up to the sun naturally rising (not as easy come winter). For others it’s only alarms that will work. Some people set a calm tone to bring themselves out of their slumber whilst others choose a deliberately annoying tune so that they just have to switch (or hit) it off. A good call, literally, is to put your phone or alarm at the opposite side of the room to you so that you have no choice but to physically get up to turn it off. 

Jump In The Shower

Having a refreshing shower is the quickest way to feel more alive and more on board with the whole morning malarkey.

Put Some Music On

Fan of music? This one’s for you. Pop a playlist on whilst you get ready. It’s  20-30 minutes of dedicated chill time, and makes the whole process a lot more fun. If you want to stay on the right side of your partner/flatmate and neighbours – keep the volume down low pre 9am obviously… 

Work Out

Whether it’s 20 minutes yoga or a 5k run outside to clear your head – you’ll not only feel great physically but mentally it’ll set you up for the rest of the day. It’ll makes you reluctant to eat unhealthily too knowing that you’ve done so well in the morning.

Find Out What’s Happening

Whether that’s a quick BBC news bulletin on TV or seeing how your family in OZ are doing on Facebook, catching up with what you’ve missed will put you in good stead for the rest of the day. Thanks to Facebook, you’ll know when your friends birthdays are, (in case you’ve forgotten) so keeping on top of things has never been easier.

Eat Well

Virginia Woolfe once said how “One cannot think well, live well or sleep well, if one has not dined well” and I couldn’t agree more. Have a hearty and/or healthy breakfast to start the day right. Find what dish works for you and start doing that more often.

And if all else fails, put on a good outfit and fake it ’til you make it. Or at least until you wake up. 

Today is a very important day. Today is World Mental Health Day!

Mental health is an extremely critical part of our lives, and for many years, hasn’t been held as highly as it should have been. An individual’s mental health affects every aspect of their life.It affects their ambition and goals, it affects their motivation and spirit, and as a result, it completely affects their behaviour. So in order to be as successful and sassy as we all aim to be, we need to make sure that we’re feeling super super great, both mentally and physically.

And who knows better than The Mental Health Foundation as to how to look after your mental health?! Here are the top 10 tips on how to look after your mental health from the experts themselves… And I might have expanded on them a little.

1. Talk about your feelings

Talking about how you feel is a really important part of looking after your mental health. Don’t let your feelings build up, express them and take a weight off your shoulders! And if you struggle to talk with someone, try writing it down – it might make all the difference.

2. Keep active

The foundation promotes keeping active because it can boost your self-esteem and concentration as well as helping you sleep and feel tonnes better. Maybe we should go for a little jog today (or a fast walk…)

3. Eat well

YES! I feel so much better when I’ve eaten good food, especially after a few days of naughty eating. Mother Nature is your body’s best friend – invite her round for tea!

4. Drink sensibly

We all love a night out, but drinking sensibly is essential when looking after our mental health because alcohol is only a temporary fix and will leave you feeling worse in the morning… Opt for a takeaway and stick Bridget Jones on tonight with your friends. Have a chill.

5. Keep in touch

Apparently chatting on the phone to your friend who left for university for 5 hours is actually a really good idea!!! Of course it is! Chat to your friends who you need to catch up with and you’ll find yourself having a fully engaging conversation which in turn will leave you positively glowing…

6. Ask for help

If you’re struggling, communicate. You aren’t a superhero and sometimes people will forget that – after all, you are a pretty amazing human being. Let someone know if your workload is too much or if you need help with something – we’re all human, of course we’ll help each other out… You’ve just gotta ask.

7. Take a break

I totally encourage this one. I will always make sure I take a lunch break at work and take breaks between studying. If you don’t, you’ll just melt and stress yourself out. Have a nice hot bath when you get home and leave your phone to charge in your room for a while. Take a break! Have some time away from it all and 

R E L A X.

8. Do something you’re good at

Having a hobbie is ace. Not only do you enjoy yourself, but you can also feel pretty good about yourself if you’re doing something you’re good at!

9. Accept who you are

Don’t try and change yourself. Be you, because you’re most beautiful when you’re loving who you are.

10. Care for others

Look after everyone else too. Not everyone will have read this article. Think your friend is stressed? Get them to communicate to you. Is your mum a bit down? Run her a bath and give her some time out. Look after others how you want looking after and we’ll all be fit as a fiddle.

Remember that the World Mental Health Foundation has tonnes of advice for you with plenty of charities out there that are ready to help if you’re not feeling 100%. Check out mentalhealth.org.uk for any further information!

Hope you have a beautiful day today everybody – keep smiling 🙂

X Factor head judge Mr Cowell celebrates his birthday today so we celebrate his best bits, in video form. Enjoy… 

His first ever TV appearance 

We’ve all sent a drunken message that we forget we wrote and get next morning regret – but how many of us text our fave brand instead of bae? Well that’s what happened to Lucy last weekend and this is the LOL convo that went down…    

Fall”s here and with it disappears our motivation to leave the house come the colder weather. So we’ve teamed up with Brooke and Erica from Pumps and Push Ups to help get your exercise game face on and get out of the house. All of the running tips you need to know about are here…

Start slow! 

Don’t take to running thinking you’re going to run several miles your first day. Start with a small distance, like a mile and don’t attempt to run the entire thing. Begin with a brisk walk to warm up and try running for a minute and walking for a minute. If you go too hard too fast, you’ll end up with painful shin splints and possible injuries! If you continue to build on your endurance, you’ll be running miles in no time.

Run in intervals 

This is kind of like taking it slow, but for a different reason. If you’re running for fitness, intervals are where it’s at! You will get more out of your run if you vary your pace, rather than a long steady pace.

Gwen Stefani celebrates her 47th birthday today and we can’t even deal. HOW DOES SHE LOOK SO YOUTHFUL?! What are her secrets? But she’s not the only one. There’s a whole squad of Hollywood’s golden gang that seemed to have been blessed with eternal youth. We’ll have a dose of what they’ve had please…

Lace your go-to finish? Here’s how to look hella hot just like mega babe Rosie HW who absolutely killed it in an all black everything look in London

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