A Discussion on Self Love, from Two Female Founders
Self care has been all the rave recently, and for a good reason. Ever since the first lockdown, most of us have spent more time exploring our interests, and re-evaluating our priorities. This has enabled many of us to finally incorporate self care into our lives to keep our mental wellbeing in tip-top shape during these challenging times.
As we enter a new year, we are faced with yet another whirlwind of content focused on goal-setting and change. At Kurami, we are passionate about celebrating self love. However, we have chosen to stray from the “New year, new me” mindset, and instead focus on learning to embrace who we are in the moment through gentle self care practices.
Throughout January, we have hosted an array of digital events in collaboration with various influencers and medical professionals to empower our clients by presenting just how impactful self love can be. One of our final events of the month was in collaboration with Francesca White, curator and founder of The Beauty Triangle, where she and our very own founder, Camilla, discuss the importance of self care in their lives.
Watch the Instagram live here.
C: Good morning, Francesca! How are you? Thank you so much for joining us today! I am so thrilled to be hosting this Live with you. As you know, this month we are highlighting the importance of Self Love both online, by hosting several exciting events on our IG, and offline in our boxes, by collaborating with different brands and treating our clients.
F: It is so helpful to have and host conversations, especially as the world is quite strange right now. I love your whole Self Care January and your aim to spread self love, and it is exactly what we need to be talking about at the minute.
F: What inspired you to host self Love January?
January is a particularly interesting month, because people are feeling all sorts of ways. They might feel positive, or pressured due to all the new year new me talk. As a health and food brand, we really wanted to focus on positivity this year, and instead of engaging with more common discourses that promote new year new me pressures, we really wanted to treat our clients, and support them in a more holistic manner by bringing experts and fresh positivity to their feed and boxes. One of the interesting things that we started to appreciate as we were planning this event, is that self love means a lot different things to each person.
C: Over the years you have gained such a unique vantage point, and have probably tried all wellness practices and beauty tricks out there! So, let’s begin by learning more about your background, and a little bit about you.
I am not a self care practitioner, however my background professionally has always been in health and wellbeing. I am the health and beauty editor at large at Tatler magazine, and I edit two supplements for them; The Cosmetic Surgery Guide, and The Spa Guide. I am very grateful to have this job, and the upside is I get to try incredible retreats and experiences, and meet the best people in the business.
Out of that grew The Beauty Triangle; this really fuses these two worlds. It was very much designed to give consumer audiences answers to their everyday questions about skin care, health, and wellness.
C: Speaking of the Beauty Triangle. What led you to start it?
I’d often find myself at an event or a dinner party, and I always got questions about who and what are the best services out there as of now. I now am able to provide these answers through events or webinars, connecting them to the best experts in the industry in all areas; from sleep to skin.
It is important that we are educating people, but empowering them as well, and that is my main goal.
Not everybody wants to solve their concerns in the same way. For example, with skin care, some may want to sort out their nutrition, whilst some are big believers in facial yoga. There are so many answers to resolving our overall well being, therefore it is important that you take a 360 approach and understand self care from a multitude of different perspectives. There are many different facets that we have to look at. It is about everything in balance.
C: What does self love mean to you?
I guess it is different everyday. It depends where I physically and emotionally find myself. Self love is linked to our self belief; I think we all hold ourselves to such high goals and standards. I think it is great for our motivation to have these goals, however we do need to be more realistic. With this comes recognising what our strengths and weaknesses are, and what we can do to best support ourselves.
Self love can be quite tough for many people, it can require pushing ourselves sometimes to practice habits that do not come naturally; it is choosing to put our needs before the needs of others. As women, especially, we may feel the need to support the people around us, but I do really think that self love is recognising what I need and choosing to prioritise that.
When practicing self care, I personally love running a long, hot bath at the end of the day, lighting a candle, and sometimes even bringing a book along with me. It can also mean nutrition and preparing a really lovely, nutritious brunch on the weekend, or going for a morning jog. It is all about finding the things that inspire you to be more positive. Recognise what your body really wants.
C: How do you believe self love can be practiced sustainably and consistently?
I believe it is important to refrain from making self-care a must-do. It is all about balance when finding sustainable practices, and enjoying the practices that you do put in place!
It can be helpful to “stack” your daily rituals as well. This means slowly adding in new habits to your existing ones. If you have a daily ritual, for example, a morning shower, it can be helpful to follow this with breathing exercises or a quick meditation.
F: Eating nourishing foods can also be a form of self love. What do you believe the importance of engaging in a positive discourse around and how can it be beneficial for one’s mental wellbeing?
I believe that food can be very complicated, as we all have very specific and varied relationships towards it. When we are eating, so many thoughts go through our brain. I once read that we make around 2000 food decisions a day!
I think the first step is recognising if you are restricting or labelling different foods. If you do not learn to work through your subconscious thoughts, then no matter what food is put in front of you, you will constantly experience struggle. Another tip is taking the time to appreciate the meal, whether it be from the moment you begin cooking it, or if you are a Kurami client, celebrating the meal that is put in front of you. I believe that this is key, and often forgotten when we approach eating.
Once we explore the relationship that we have with food, we can then begin to think about how we can achieve a beautifully balanced plate including all macronutrients. This can then lead to thinking about adding certain spices, flavours, and more. It gets more exciting as it develops.
F: You do such a good job at Kurami. I was honoured to try your 2 day meal path, and the meals that you create are so tasty but they are also so beautifully presented. As others say, we eat with our eyes. It makes such a difference! Your digestive juices kick in just by looking at your food, and it is a great way to prepare your digestive system to receive all of that nutrition. Your portion sizes are very good as well!
C: What we always say to the team is that if we look at a meal and we believe that it will not satisfy us, it most likely will not, so that is amazing to hear! Thank you for saying that. We also focus on individual ingredients and how each of them can be nourishing, rather than simply adding in one ingredient that has been deemed “healthy” or that is coined a “superfood”.
C: At Kurami, we are ever-creating new and nourishing meals and drinks to spruce up our meal paths. Is nutrition a large part of your self care routine? Why so?
I believe nutrition definitely plays a role in self care. Nutrition is a way that I know I can feel better, physically and emotionally. If we have a nourished meal, we have an endorphin rush as we feel accomplished. However, it is all about balance. I love chocolate and wine and cheese as much as the next person, however I understand that if I had those foods everyday, I know that I would not feel great.
It is all about consistently making the right choices; this impacts your skin, energy levels, immunity, and so much more! Have that piece of dark chocolate, however make the conscious decision of when it is truly best to do so.
F: What is your approach to balance?
When I initially started Kurami, I knew that I wanted to take the meals and foods that I enjoy, for example a laksa, and make it more nourishing. Laksa is delicious, and I wanted to eat this every Saturday, however it was not sustainable for me in the long run. We chose to play around with the dish and switch up a few of the ingredients. This enabled me to enjoy it any time that I wanted! I believe what is key is taking a dish and making it yours, as it prevents you from depriving yourself of the flavours and foods that bring you joy, whilst still allowing you to feel good about yourself.
I understand that this can be hard as some people do not enjoy cooking or they are unsure of how to make these switches, but there are now many choices out there; Kurami is one of these choices. We work with a registered nutritionist and she checks every single thing that we do; she is very strict! We help keep you aligned with the goals that you are aiming to achieve.
Overall…
Self care looks different to everyone. Different practices feel better to different people, therefore it is important to find what makes you feel most positive.
As Camilla and Francesca have discussed, nutrition can play a big role in taking care of oneself. Let us pamper you with our ready made, chef-crafted meal paths. Each meal is nutritionist-approved, and always freshly prepared.
Begin your Kurami journey today, and discover beauty from within.
