How did you celebrate global wellness day? Partake in a spot of downward dog? Smear CBD oil over your joints? Ate a pack of lentils, chickpeas, legumes or kale? Meditate or even write poetry?
Wellness is undoubtedly woke; it’s the personification of woke, seething and smeared in it. Never have we been so concerned with our holistic health, what we consume and what we put out. In 2019, we are at the epicentre of the wellness movement and dedicated Saturday 8th June 2019 to celebrate and glorify this economically thriving construct.
Like most things ‘woke’, a few extra zeros have been added to the price tag of any item, practice or food that fits under the umbrella of wellness. I have spoken about the hefty cost of wellness, yet within the micro setting of the home or inner self, wellness can be practiced and embraced without cost.
Or, if chanting a few ‘ooms’ by yourself at home does not quench your wellness appetite, then I implore you to try these; they are free (or at little cost) and will allow you to embrace the onslaught of wellness activities available in ole London town.
Sweaty Betty Free Classes
I have previously written about the merits of a Sweaty Betty free class. It’s almost incredulous in this highly commercial age that a store would offer FREE exercise classes without the cachet of payment or sign up for offers. Yet, Sweaty Betty does indeed invite people to access and participate in their free classes, which range from yoga, Pilates, barre, HIIT and meditation.
Lumi Yoga, teacher practice classes
Lumi yoga is a celebrated yoga studio in Hammersmith. Usually classes will set you back at least £20, but on Friday and Sunday afternoons at 2:45, sign up for £5 class. It is taught by new Yogi teachers.
Teacher practice classes aren’t a unique concept to Lumi. Many different yoga studios encourage this (Apple Tree Yoga, is an example), and it’s a great way to support new yoga teachers.
Grow your own herbs
There is something eternally satisfying (and Instagramerable) in growing your own produce. Whether that be a simple basil plant in a terracotta pot, or a more robust rose bush, potatoes, chilli’s or pansies, creating a space which allows you to grow plants, vegetables and herbs will give fulfilment and pleasure.
Wellness should be about simple pleasures and feeding our primal needs as humans, and there is no better example of this then growing your own plants. It’s also surprisingly simply, easy and cheap too!
Don’t have a garden space? Not to worry. Plant herbs in pots and keep them on your windowsill in half light. Waitrose gardens has a great variety.
Get out and about
London is soon to be declared the world’s first National Park city. It seems almost incongruous, how could a city of 9 million people, dense and urbanised as it is, pertain to a national park status?
Cast your eyes to this: Richmond Park, Hampstead Heath, Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, Green Park, London Fields…the city is punctuated in open green spaces. To be a Londoner and have access to such a variety of parks and fields is unprecedented. So, enjoy and embrace it. There’s nothing that a walk among nature can’t cure.
Free wellness events
There are so many pop ups, events and festivals in this city that one’s social calendar can be overflowed and simply exhausting.
Streamline your next search on Eventbrite and look for free wellness events in the city. There’s plenty to choose from and you can both educate and entertain yourself within the practice of wellness for free.
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