PREGNANCY: Organic Vital Touch Natalia Pampering Products

 

 Pampering during pregnancy has been an essential for me, it hasn't been every day, sometimes not even every week but knowing that I have a range of high quality, organic products aimed at my every expanding pregnant body has been very reassuring. Taking half an hour to look after myself, not worry about general life worries and really focus on bonding with my baby has been invaluable - if you haven't tried it then I'd highly recommend you do. Obviously life doesn't always allow for daily pampering but if you can grab 30 minutes every week you'll feel amazing for it and it's something to look forward to, through all of the uncomfortable days. 

Now I'm on maternity leave I've been able to spend a bit more time concentrating on myself - both mentally and physically. Pregnancy has definitely taken its toll on my body now - it's tired, achy, has the odd stretch mark and my feet/hands are very swollen. I'm certainly not complaining, it's incredible that I have a little baby growing inside me. Therefore I feel a certain level of responsibility to look after myself and consequently my baby. One way I've been doing this is through using high quality, organic body products and taking that time out.

Vital Touch Natalia has the most fantastic range of organic pampering products aimed at throughout pregnancy, labour & birth, new parents, baby and maternity gifts. Over the past month or so I've been lucky enough to trial some of the Vital Touch Natalia Prenatal products and I've been seriously impressed. 

The Vital Touch Natalia Prenatal Bath Soak* has been the only bath soak I've been using and now that we have a bath at our house (after a long 3 months without one!) it's been even more special. I like the fact that they recommend how many capfuls of the bath soak to put in, too often I pour and pour away, then realise I've emptied half the bubble bath in! This creates a nice amount of bubbles and smells very soothing. Personally it isn't the most moisturising bath soak for my skin, but when I've been pairing it with the Vital Touch Natalia Massage Oil* and Anti-Stretch Butter* my skin has felt very hydrated.

 

Vital Touch Natalia Prenatal Massage Oil* is seriously luxurious and has been so nice to use all over my body, not just on my back. When I can persuade Tom to massage my back (does anyone suffer from an aching back almost constantly in pregnancy?) he's been using this product. I've been impressed at how long it lasts, it doesn't sink into the skin straight away which is a downfall of a lot of massage oils I've tried. You don't want to get through half a bottle in 5 minutes because your skin drinks it up! I've found that massage throughout pregnancy has been a lovely way for my husband to bond with our baby. I've even packed this product in my hospital bag, so that it can be used when I'm in labour.

Vital Touch Natalia Instant Revitaliser* is a 'pick me up' in a roller ball - exactly what has been needed in later pregnancy. It smells incredible - think sweet orange, geranium and frankincense - all blended together for a refreshing uplift. I've also packed this into my hospital bag, so that I can roll it on my pressure points during labour. Anything to keep me going!

 

Vital Touch Natalia Prenatal Anti-Stretch Butter* is packed with nourishing, hydrating and natural ingredients that have really made a difference to the feel of my skin. It's never been so well hydrated, especially impressive as it was getting dry where my skin has stretch so much on my bump. It contains shea butter, avocado oil and rosehip seed oil with essential oils of lavender, mandarin, neroli and frankincense. Sensory and skin heaven.   

 

 Last but certainly not least the Vital Touch Natalia Prenatal Leg Refresher* has been a holy grail item for the last couple of weeks. As I've mentioned in a number of weekly pregnancy updates, I've been getting really swollen feet and hands thanks to water retention. It's been getting quite uncomfortable, as the skin gets tighter and I can barely bend my fingers and toes! So I've been enjoying soothing this product all over my legs - it's refreshing, slightly tingly and it encourages you to take the time to massage your legs/feet. This has all been helping with making my swollen feet/hand situation more comfortable.

What have you been using to relieve pregnancy aches and pains?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x

PREGNANCY: Yoga and Relaxation Session with MamaBabyBliss

I've always been curious about yoga, it sounds so relaxing yet strengthening and anything that improves my flexibility is a good thing. We had a relaxation day at work last year and there was a chance to either do dance or yoga - I jumped at the opportunity to do yoga! I found is much harder than I thought I would, I just didn't have the core strength. Then when I went to my booking appointment at 9 weeks pregnant I saw an advert at the hospital for pregnancy yoga. I was intrigued, presuming that pregnancy yoga wouldn't be as hard as I had found yoga.

Weeks past by and I didn't sign up to a class - moving house has been a massive distraction and made attending any classes a lot harder. As my back has generally been quite achy during this pregnancy I kept telling myself to find a local pregnancy yoga class and attend it, as it is supposed to be good for strengthening your back. Did I though? I'm afraid not. Time, location and travelling have all been hindering me, but then I was sent the Pregnancy Bliss Relaxation Yoga CD* by MamaBabyBliss (£12.99).

An audio CD that includes a range of tools to help strengthen your body and mind for a healthy pregnancy and to support/prepare you for birth. If you find visualising spoken instructions then the booklet included in this CD shows you what you should be doing for the yoga sections. However the CD isn't solely focused on yoga, instead it covers a range of topics including:

Breathing techniques for labour

Exercises to build flexibility in the hips

Positions for early labour and birth

Yoga to strengthen the mind and body

Exercises with a yoga birthing ball 

Daily relaxation and visualisation

Pelvic Floor Exercises

Pregnancy massage techniques for you and your partner

A pretty impressive range of topics for only £12.99! 

The woman talking on the CD is extremely relaxing, listening to it almost feels like a meditation session too. I'm not great at switching off and genuinely relaxing, I always seem to be thinking/worrying about something. But while I was listening to this CD I started to really concentrate on me and my baby, noticing the importance I relax for her and using it as a bonding session with my bump. I think I'm going to pop this CD into my hospital bag, so that I can listen to it while in hospital (might have to dig out the classic Walkman CD player!) during labour. Tom has also listened to it, specifically the massage section as massage can be a really effective way of reducing labour pains, as well as general aches and pains during pregnancy.

Did you try pregnancy meditation and/or yoga?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x 

RELEXATION: Tips on How To Relax

Relaxing isn't something I find very easy, my mind seems to be running at 100 mph at all times. I'm either worrying about something, thinking about work or what I should do next - my mind never seems to just rest! I hadn't really thought about this that much, it's just how I am and I was fine with that. I say 'was' because when I started working full time I quickly realised that I needed to be able to have some time just relaxing. There's always so much going on with my job and with my personality the way it is, it is very easy to become overwhelmed. I'm sure there are so many of you that feel like this sometimes too. At work we had a 'wellness day', a day all about how to relax. I honestly think this day should be compulsory 'training' in every work place because whatever your job you've more than likely felt stressed at some point. I have never really tried to make a conscious effort to relax before but after this 'wellness day' I have learnt so much and have since made a real effort to genuinely try and relax. We tried meditation, aromatherapy, yoga and dance. I had never tried yoga, meditation or aromatherapy - so I went in with an open mind.

Personally, I didn't really like yoga - although it is a great way to relax. I found it so hard to do any of the 'moves' - it seems even lifting my arm up for 2 minutes was almost impossible! However if you like doing toning exercises, you'll love yoga! One of my friends has completed a 12 week yoga course and absolutely loves it, so it's completely personal preference. That's the important thing with all of these 'relaxing tips' - what works for one person might not work for someone else. I just wanted to share with you all some of the tips I learnt and have helped me learn to relax.

I never thought mediation would be 'my thing' but I'm really warming towards it. There is something very relaxing about laying down, listening to peaceful music and really concentrating on relaxing every part of your body. I have downloaded a free app on my iPad Mini called 'Be Fearless'. It has one 'Stress_Relieve' 16 minute meditation for free, you can of course pay money to download others. It plays relaxing music and someone is talking to you, telling you how to relax. I can't 'turn off' for 16 minutes yet, I start getting distracted at around 8 minutes, but I'm hoping I'll be able to build up to complete the whole session.

Essential oils can be used for a wide variety of reasons, during the day we had the chance to make our own aromatherapy oil. As I very rarely feel relaxed I decided to design one aimed at helping with anxiety/stress. Peppermint and Neroli are meant to be good for stress relief, we mixed the essential oils with grape seed oil. It smells amazing and during that intake of breath it is quite relaxing.

Do you use any of these techniques to relax?

Feel free to comment :)