In the hustle and bustle of modern life, it's easy to overlook the little things that can have a big impact on our mental well-being. I certainly feel the strain of the shorter days, and try to pack a lot more into daylight than I do in the summer, and this takes a toll. While popular strategies like exercise and mindfulness meditation are undeniably beneficial, there are some lesser-known techniques that can work wonders for our mental health. Here are five hidden gems that I plan to try this winter that you might not have heard of:

1. **Gratitude Visualization Sessions:**
Take a few minutes each day to visualize three things you're grateful for. But here's the twist: imagine those things in vivid detail. Whether it's the warmth of sunlight streaming through your window, the aroma of your morning coffee, or the smile on a loved one's face, immerse yourself in the sensory experience of gratitude. This practice not only shifts your focus to the positive aspects of life but also trains your brain to notice and appreciate the little joys that often go unnoticed.

2. **Sensory Grounding Exercises:**
Engage your senses in simple yet powerful grounding exercises. For instance, carry a small vial of essential oil with you and inhale its calming scent whenever you feel stressed or anxious. Alternatively, keep a smooth stone in your pocket and rub it between your fingers to soothe frazzled nerves. By connecting with your senses in moments of distress, you can anchor yourself to the present moment and alleviate feelings of overwhelm.

3. **Random Acts of Kindness Journaling:**
Make it a daily habit to perform at least one random act of kindness and then journal about it in detail. It could be as small as complimenting a stranger or as significant as volunteering your time for a cause you believe in. Reflecting on your acts of kindness fosters a sense of purpose and connection with others, boosting your self-esteem and overall sense of well-being.

4. **Nature Bathing Breaks:**
Take regular "nature bathing" breaks throughout your day, even if it's just for a few minutes. Step outside and immerse yourself in the sights, sounds, and sensations of the natural world around you. Feel the grass beneath your feet, listen to the chirping of birds, and breathe in the fresh air deeply. Research suggests that spending time in nature can reduce stress, anxiety, and rumination, while enhancing mood and cognitive function.

5. **Laughter Therapy Sessions:**
Dedicate time each day to indulge in laughter therapy. Seek out humorous content that tickles your funny bone, whether it's a comedy podcast, a funny movie, or silly cat videos on the internet. Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural feel-good chemicals, promoting relaxation and reducing stress. Plus, sharing a laugh with others strengthens social bonds and fosters a sense of camaraderie.

I've read recently how incorporating these five hidden gems into your daily routine can work wonders for your mental health, helping you cultivate resilience, joy, and inner peace amidst life's ups and downs. So, why not give them a try with me this winter? I think anything is worth a try to help us find those little sparks that make us that little bit happier every day :) 

 xxxx

For the first time I was able to go to Pride in London this year, and it was fabulous! I live near Brighton, so I've been to our Pride Parade many times, but this was a London first.

It was so lovely to be around such a happy crowd of people, celebrating love and diversity.

Here are some of my piccies from the day. 

It went on for hours after this, but I was with my daughter and we were desperate for a drink and a sit down.  The start was delayed for an hour due to protestors, so we'd been there a loooong time! We watched again from another place later, but we too far back for pictures. 

I'd absolutely recommend going to anyone, dressed up or not! 

When people make a purchase from my store, I send a little feedback email so people can let me know how they feel and how I can improve. 

New and updated Breast Form 500g comparison sizing PDF

It's great for comparing the shapes, and you can print it out and compare it to your chest to see how it will work with your body frame.

Download here, and print in actual size

More coming as soon as I can.

Jo xxx

Hedy Lamarr was an Austrian-born American film actress and inventor who was born on November 9, 1914 and died on January 19, 2000. She was a film star during Hollywood's "golden-age" and was often typecast as a provocative femme fatale.  She appeared in many films throughout her career, including "Ecstasy" (1933), "Algiers" (1938), "Boom Town" (1940), and "Samson and Delilah" (1949). She was married six times and had three children. 

What interests me about her, however, is that she was also an inventor who pioneered the technology that would one day form the basis for today’s WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth systems. Her achievements are a little geeky for me to fully understand, but she basically co-invented a technique for "spread spectrum communications" that paved the way for the tech in all our gadgets that we use today.  Lamarr's invention was originally intended to help the US Navy remotely control torpedoes during World War II.

She also created a patented "Secret Communciation System" designed to keep the Nazis from intercepting Allied transmissions by jumping radio frequencies.

Lamarr was also inspired to innovate in the world of aviation as Howard Hughes (a businessman and film director) wanted to create faster planes that could be sold to the US military. She bought a book of fish and a book of birds, and looked at the fastest of each kind. She combined the fins of the fastest fish, and the wings of the fastest bird, to sketch a new wing design for Hughes’ planes. The military ordered 100 of the planes in 1943, but only 2 prototypes and a mockup were ever completed. Still, this is quite an accomplishment for someone who is also a current Hollywood actress, I'm sure you'll agree. 

Lamarr was rightly given an honorary award by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in 1997 for her contributions to the field of technology, and I feel she deserves more recognition. 

I think she is a remarkable woman and I am so glad she received that award before she died and also was able to see some of the modern uses for the technology before she passed in 2000.  I would have loved to have met her for a cuppa and a chat. 

To read more, see: 

Hedy Lamarr | Biography, Movies, & Facts | Britannica

How Hedy Lamarr and Her Inventions Changed the World (leaders.com)

Hedy Lamarr (womenshistory.org)

  xxx

As you may have seen, all my new stocks are finally here! I am just booking into my system the last ones (style 9 in the clear colour), as I need to find them a more permanent home, but all the breast forms are back in stock.

I have also made a little run to test how you like Teardrop 2 in an even bigger 1000g size. Coming soon! 

Just a quick little stock update for you:

I've had some terrible issues with sourcing my raw materials for my products, so you may have noticed that some of my breast forms in particular have sold out.  I have to allow that to happen, starting production after that due to these logistics, and I am so sorry about that. It means I will do bigger production runs when I do. 

The good news is that all the breast forms are currently in production, as well as breast enhancer styles 9 and 12. I am hoping for the following:

• Styles 9 and 12 to finish first and be back in stock in around 3 weeks.
• All breast forms to be finished and restocked by the end of April absolute latest, but hopefully closer to mid-April.

All my other breast enhancers are just going into production now :) 

It rolls around fast, but here we are again with another Black Friday/Black Friday week/Black Friday Month.

You can probably see that I'm not running offers for it here on my site, or anywhere else that you might find me.

The simple reason being that for an independent shop, it's become a beast that we can't contain. Buyers expect massive savings beyond the scope of what a small business can afford. It does depend on the business of course, so I can only really speak for my little store, but many of us keep our prices as low as we can and run on small profit margins all year round.  We operate our shops from a place of love and care for our customers, offering value and quality of service and product. Our costs are high, being such little enterprises who don't have the buying power of large stores, and we absorb those in order to offer a great value product.  

So, when it comes to massive savings, it's just something I can't do.  If I could do it, it would mean I would be charging you too much in the first place.  

I think that's a better way to run my store for you, and I hope you agree. 

 x x x 

Here is the latest update from Royal Mail regarding ongoing industrial action affecting my posting and deliveries of your products:

Information about deliveries

Strike action in delivery offices will take place on Friday 4 November and Thursday 9 November. Customers will not receive a delivery on those days.

Customer Service Points will be closed on those days and Redelivery and Parcel Collect services won't be operating.

I have just spent my lunchtime reading about this remarkable woman, so I just wanted to share a little info about her here. I do love to highlight the achievements of feminist icons and trailblazers through the years.

Angelica Kauffmann

Anglica was a painter, who carved her way in the male dominated world of art and became hugely successful in London and Rome. She was born on 30th October 1741 in Chur, Switzerland. Her father was an impoverished artist who encouraged his daughter's interest in art. By the age of 11, Angelica's prodigious talents were widely recognised: she was a gifted musician, spoke four languages, and was commissioned to paint portraits of aristocrats and members of the clergy.

Her mother died when Angelica was 13 and she and her father moved from Como to Milan and then to Schwarzenberg in Austria before returning to Italy, where Angelica became a member of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze in 1762 – an extraordinary achievement for a woman of only 21. As famous for her charm as she was for her artistic gifts, she became a fashionable portraitist for British tourists in Rome – then the centre of the Western art world – and became close friends with Joshua Reynolds (they painted each other's portraits).

The year before the inauguration of the Royal Academy, however, Angelica's life was marred by a terrible scandal: she was duped into marrying a man who presented himself as Frederick de Horn, a wealthy Swedish count. He was in fact a penniless valet. The relationship ended after a few months, but not before he had humiliated Angelica and stolen her savings

Thankfully, in the wake of these devastating events, Angelica's friends rallied around and she gradually recovered financially – she was, by now, supporting her father and paying for the running of her household. Although Angelica earned her living primarily as a portrait painter – we know of 22 portraits, of which nine are self-portraits – she considered herself primarily a history painter.

In 1766, encouraged by Joshua Reynolds, Angelica moved to London, where she introduced the latest neoclassical ideas and established herself as a professional artist. Although 'self-advertisement was thought to be unfeminine', she was a canny self-promoter. Two months after her arrival, she wrote to her father: 'I have four rooms, one in which I paint, the other where I set up my finished paintings as is here the custom [so that] the people [can] come into the house to sit – to visit me – or to see my work; I could not possibly receive people in a poorly furnished house.'

In 1781, in London, Angelica married the Venetian artist Antonio Zucchi – a man, by all accounts, who was the opposite of her first husband. In July that year, accompanied by her father, they sailed for Ostend and eventually settled in Venice, where Angelica's portraits were in high demand. However, when her father died in the city in January 1782, Angelica couldn't bear to stay. Grief-stricken, they moved to Naples, where Angelica made sketches for a royal portrait, and then to Rome, where she became close friends with the renowned writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe whom she painted in 1787.

When Angelica died in 1807, she had successfully infiltrated the male-dominated world of classical and portrait art in both London and Rome, and established herself as a leading artist of her time. Although Kauffmann had been embraced by the Royal Academy, the battle for equality was far from over. It took 168 years from the appointments of Kauffmann and Mary Moser for a woman to be elected to full membership of the Royal Academy, with the arrival of Laura Knight in 1936.

Thank you to artuk.org for the information and Jennifer Higgie who wrote the fabulous article. If you would like to read more about Angelica you can see her Tate page here and her Wikipedia page here.