My Wellbeing Toolkit: Shauna Harrison

When she’s not moving, blogging or acting as an Associate at John Hopkins, Shauna (@shauna_harrison) is listening to Hip Hop and… trying to ignore her phone. If only setting boundaries with the addictive tech was as easy as becoming Dr of Public Health, hey? It turns out even the most ‘on it’ of us still need a little help with a wellbeing toolkit every now and then… Her feel good WIN is “moving my body, feeding my mind, filling my heart and sparking my soul” so if your goals are the same, take inspiration from Shauna’s tips and you might find something to add to your own personal toolkit.

“The wellbeing challenge I struggle the most with is technology! I know I’m not alone, but I’m so terrible at creating boundaries here,” she says, “I’m so bad at following the guidance that all the experts give. I want to be better, but clearly I don’t want to badly enough to make the changes.” As everyone on a wellbeing journey learns at some point, if something doesn’t fit YOU it just won’t stick, so if better sleep is your goal with giving up tech, try adding not subtracting - create a sleep routine or swap in small changes to your existing routine, like a natural sleepy fragrance in your cleanser, or have a calming candle burning in the background as you wind down from the day. It’s all about the small steps that work for YOU rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

And as you benefit from the little wellbeing boosts you’re adding in, you’ll start to see BIG benefits, and might even get the momentum you need to make those bigger changes like sticking to a tech curfew. But if you’re still a little lost with it, we all need something to bring us back to ourselves. For Shauna that’s to “MOVE! In some way. Even if it’s just a walk or a few stretches. Focusing on the body pulls you into the present.”

Speaking of bringing the focus back, we’re big advocates of journaling for wellbeing and this is a practice that’s made its way firmly into our toolkits at NEOM HQ. “I think it’s great to have a place to dump what’s in your head,” says Shauna, “Even if it’s just a few words.” This habit can have an effect on a few different wellbeing goals - try jotting things down in the morning to clear your mind and get better focus throughout the day, or put pen to paper as part of your bedtime routine. Emptying your head (even just a little) has a similar effect to sharing your problems with a friend or therapist, letting your brain process the events of the day so you can fall asleep with a serene, uncluttered mind.

If you need a little more help with that serenity thing, a bath is always a good idea, and something even the most active of us can benefit from, “I don’t moisturise my legs and arms enough throughout the day because I’m so often sweating (it makes for slippery arms and legs or I sweat it all off!),” says Shauna, “so using the body butter at bedtime allows me to get the benefits of moisturizing. Plus, it smells great,  and bonus! Magnesium is something I take already, so that’s just a great extra”. 

If you’re not up on why magnesium should be a part of your wellbeing toolkit allow us to introduce this wonder mineral that supports over 300 of our bodies’ functions, optimises our vitamin levels, reduces stress and anxiety, improves recovery from workouts and MORE. It’s something you can up in your diet (spinach! almonds! cashews!), take as a supplement, soak up via salts or apply directly to your skin in the form of our wonderfully whippy body butters.

Find loads more tips on starting (and building up) your personal wellbeing toolkit on the NEOM blog.