Time to slow down, recharge and find rest in your recess
STEP INTO THE WORLD OF RECESS LIVING
We all understand the concept of needing to rest, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to do.
How do we maintain a sense of wellbeing in our modern lives that can be busy, full and ever-changing?
(Even if we’ve designed it that way)
Finding recess isn’t about ignoring or resisting the challenges that can come up in life, but instead integrating wellness practices into all of our spaces and places. This encourages rest and mental mindfulness as everyday self-care, no matter our mood or mindset.
It’s also not about asking you to dedicate large chunks of your day to sitting still with your eyes closed – because that may work for some people, but it doesn’t work for everyone (and I would know, because I’m one of them. And if you’re here, the chances are you might be too.)
Instead, it’s about active meditation – what we like to call meditation for doers. The Recess Living approach is focused on mindfulness through making, and creating an opportunity to step outside of what you know and find the corners of yourself that you are yet to discover.
Through experiences such as creative workshops, supper clubs, panel talks and workplace wellbeing events, as well as supporting companies in creating people-centred workplaces that nurture these conversations, Recess Living is here to bring mental health to the table, and keep it there.
This is your community to explore alongside - we’re so happy to have you here.
Create some time for you
Introduce creative wellbeing into your workplace
Redesigning the way you work + play.
CONNECT
Creating time and space to reconnect with yourself and meet yourself where you’re at, and to connect with others for active shared rest or reflection.
DESIGN
Design your personal self-care tool kit to help you manage the different seasons of your wellbeing, as well as designing a way of working and environment that works for you and your energy.
AMPLIFY
Bringing mental health conversations into different communities, and implementing mental health frameworks to help employees and freelancers alike.
MEET THE FOUNDER
Hey, I’m Nina founder of Recess Living.
I’m a change-maker using the craft table and the dinner table to invite mental wellness practices and conversation into our everyday.
3-MINUTE SPEED DATE
My self-care love language is…Time spent by the sea. Though day to day I’ll settle for a stroll along the canal because #LondonLiving
Home feels like . . . My Mum’s Jollof, Strictly on the tv and freshly laundered bed linen
The actress that would play me in a movie is …. Kerry Washington circa Olivia Pope - we’re both ladies who love creative problem solving and a killer pantsuit.
Most likely to begin a sentence… I was listening to this podcast and …
Nearly two decades of working in the highly pressurised TV industry, where I had been burying myself in being busy and doing too much for too long without the right support, contributed to burnout, depression and a big need for change.
In TV production 16-hour days weren’t unheard of (and neither were 1am WhapsApp messages asking you to reschedule the following day’s proceedings). The industry was competitive, so you kept on going. It was relentless and unforgiving.
Creativity became my output. Making things with my hands, getting messy, having no fixed attachment to the end result, improvising — that was where I could find a moment of stillness.
Over time, I realised a powerful connection between busying my hands and quieting my mind. This is how I could enjoy the benefits of mindfulness, my way.
“My brain is fraaazzled atm, but I'm so grateful to Nina for creating a space to get lost in some arts and crafts for a few hours. It was just the antidote needed after what feels like a really long week.
No laptop. No work. No stress. Just chilled vibes and great company.”
— Dominique
When I left my role in the television world, I had a headful – and notebooks, plural, full – of ideas. From those rose Recess Living, and it’s now my full-time job working with individuals and workplaces to bring mental health to the forefront of the conversation, and keep it there.
(I still have the notebooks, by the way! The first thing I ever wrote down in there was an idea for a supper club, a night in which instead of placing experts and practitioners up on a stage to speak at the audience, they sit with the audience and their shared experiences. These became my Twice As Nourished supper clubs, spaces where we come together to share our truths, our journeys and our healing. Resulting in a greater sense of hope and endless possibility.
To accompany my lived experiences and Recess Living's mission to help you elevate and develop modern mindfulness practices that demonstrate that rest, in all its many forms, is empowering. I’m currently deepening my training in the mental health and wellbeing space and exploring how I can build upon my skills as a qualified mental health first trainer to include certified coaching practices into my work with Recess Living.
Here are just some of the wonderful wellbeing driven companies we’ve created experiences for
We each need to celebrate our personal commitment to ourselves. Whatever these mindful moments look like to you, we’re making them non-negotiable.