Most of the routines you follow would fall under one of the categories of a daily, weekly or monthly routine. But have you really thought of a weekend routine?

For people working through the week, the weekend is not just a simple 2 days of bliss. There is laundry, cleaning, shopping, bills and more. If you do not plan the weekend well, trust me , you would feel as if you did not have one, and would really not be up to facing the coming week.

Come Friday night, and I am already dreaming about a peaceful early Saturday and Sunday morning.Yes, you heard me right, I wake up earlier than usual on holidays, and I am still trying to figure out why :).

Now for a sample weekend plan. This would possibly consist of the following items:

1. Laundry Work:
   • Wash clothes
   • Drop clothes off at the Laundrette , if any
   • Plan your dresses for the week, iron them and keep it ready. Saves you a lot of time through the week.
2. Clean and stow away things that have wandered over the week from their places.
3. Plan your meals and accordingly prepare your shopping list.
4. Plan other outings if necessary - doctors, library, wherever …
5. A to-do list for the week
6. Most importantly, set aside my-time to read a book or catch a movie or just plain relax!

The above list, with a few tweaks here and there works well for me.

Do set up a simple routine, and feel yourself enjoying the weekend and ready to take on the coming week with renewed vigor!

I once read an article that talked about a morning beauty routine and the first point in it was “Get up an 1 hour & a half before you need to be ready. “. WHAT? Give up a precious one hour of sleep for that? I’d rather look ugly.

What most people don’t realize, is that mornings are when they usually look their dewy best. I have known people who (surprise surprise) look great just as they are out of bed. Your body is rested and refreshed, your face will reflect exactly that.

So this is my simple, extremely easy-to-follow beauty routine for the morning

1. Have a quick lukewarm bath with a refreshing body gel (something containing bergamot / patchouli works great)
2. Cleanse your face with a cleanser containing vitamin c, the effects are visibly reviving.
3. If you regularly use a toner, go ahead with that. For an instant perk up, wrap an ice cube in a piece of cotton, dip into your toner and apply it.
4. Apply your moisturizer evenly and upward strokes.
5. Apply kajal/eye pencil.
6. Apply your lip balm and lipstick (if you wish)
7. Brush your hair

Bang you are ready to go!

A simple and elegant look is what looks the best in the morning and I am very sure this will help you achieve that.

So look great every morning!

A good night’s sleep is one thing we all look forward to and strive to achieve almost everyday. But with the harried lifestyle we lead now, it is the one thing that eludes us. It goes without saying that when we sleep well, we get up to a refreshing morning.

The surest way to relax ourselves into a deep and peaceful sleep is by controlling the incessant chatter of our mind and achieve a silence of our mind - In Zen, this is the state of no-mind. At this stage, you do not have anything nagging your brain, just something that is soothing it and leading you you to fall asleep.

There is many a way to get here, but one way I have found that works and is indulging enough is to sit down, introspect and meditate as the room slowly is bathed with a relaxing aroma of lavender. I use a fragrance vaporizer that diffuses a soothing lavender aroma into my room and into my brain, while I relax and curl myself to sleep. Our sense of smell is one of the most acute of our senses and it is deeply connected to our brain’s emotional part, which is why there is an instant response from our body and mind to any sort of aroma. The heightened sense of smell can make all the difference in your night.

Waking up the next morning is a breeze as you have slept well. Now, Is there something you can make to start your day felling fresher than ever? Use your fragrance vaporizer again - let it set the mood for your day. Choose from a selection of grapefruit, lemon, orange, peppermint, pine or wintergreen essential oils. As your coffee is getting ready, get the fragrance vaporizer up and enjoy a truly refreshing cup of coffee.

This doubles up as a ritual with which you both end a day, as well as start one. The fragrance vaporizer is one thing I have found extremely useful in my case, but simple incense sticks, serve the purpose just as well. This is from where I got both my fragrance vaporizer as well as few of my essential oils. An all time favourite in incense sticks is Nagchampa, which you can find here.

So flow in from relaxed to refreshed!

The Zen philosophy is one that I can deeply relate to - waking up to the moment and perceiving it fully. A heightened sense of awareness is what we need to feel, whenever we do anything.

zenmocha is about my experiments with applying zen, with a swirl of mocha, in my life.

I enjoy writing and I enjoy writing about these the most:

Wellness
Refresh, relax and revitalize yourself.

Staying Organised
Do more and do it well.

Looking Good
Look as good as you feel.

Get Cooking
Cook smart , eat healthy.