My Wellbeing Toolkit: Dora Kamau

Dora Kamau (@dora_kamau) has dedicated her career to helping others connect with their REAL selves through meditation and gatherings that focus on intentional conversations. As well as being a qualified psychiatric nurse, she is a wellness alchemist and mindfulness and meditation artist, often masterminding group events that help women come together and have those real, positive and life-changing conversations. But when you’re all about other people, how do you look after yourself? 

For Dora, her biggest challenge is ‘maintaining a work-life balance. I find working in wellness can blur the lines between what is work and what is just life,’ she says, ‘not everything needs to be monetized or created for consumption! The best moments are kept sacred.’ Whether you work in wellness or not, that’s a challenge that resonates deeply - when was the last time you felt truly, honestly balanced, without feeling like you’ve given too much of yourself away? And (do we have to remind you), you can’t help anyone else if you’re not your best self.

This challenge is all about taking back some of that time and care for yourself, throughout the day and every day, through small actions and changes to your already-down routine. Dora has ‘deep breaths, reconnecting with your body and staying hydrated’ in her toolkit for this, all things that can be layered with techniques to give you a wellbeing boost where you weren’t getting one before. Lighting a candle with an energy-boosting scent, for example, takes seconds and will give you that edge in the morning while you get ready, and having a favourite fragrance or hand balm in your bag lets you spritz a calming scent or gives you that push to remember to stop and breathe just for a moment. Build these things up along with your favourite mantras or other wellbeing tools and books (Dora loves All About Love by Bell Hooks and My Grandmother’s Hands by Resmaa Menakem and feel some of that balance in your day start to tilt back towards center.

Dora is also conscious of time-suckers like social media, saying, ‘I was off social media for about 5 years and I probably would be off it now, if it wasn’t such a great tool for networking and building community. I limit myself to 1 hour a day and use my screen time timer to keep me accountable.’ Here’s where you can recognise the barriers that are getting in the way of your wellbeing goals, and take steps to change them - if tech is sapping your energy then timers are great, or maybe you need some energy-boosting vibes in your home, or some extra help sleeping and a bedtime routine. 

It’s not about giving up the things you love to do, just about making them work for YOU, in balance with your wellbeing goals. We love small tools and tips that you can have near you at all times, like an essential oil roll-on that gives you a centering moment whenever you need one, and products that work alongside the exercise that you love like a body butter that helps you hit that PB, or an oil that helps calm you in meditation.

Whatever that work/life balance looks like for you, we’re here for you with loads of tips that you can swap in and out of your personal toolkit. Inspired yet?