A vision from your higher self…

You open your eyes and as they adjust to the warm morning light that peeks through your linen drapes, you remember where you are. It’s not a dream, you’ve woken up to another glorious day in the Algarve. The turquoise , crystal shore is a stroll away. Your body is rested, you can feel her vital energy begin to stir, an excitement for the beauty you’ll soak up and the ideas that will bloom today.

You slip into your silk robe, and smile at it’s burst of luminous colour and intricate pattern. Hydrating your body with spring water infused overnight with fresh grapefruit, lemon, mint.

You bathe with luxurious handmade soaps; citrus and herbal essential oils and natural goat milks. Then slather your body in a creamy, mango and vanilla body butter, also handmade by a local artisan.

You dress in your finest to celebrate your spirit. Choosing your jewellery each morning feels like being a child in a candy store, but you know, a very stylish, luxurious one. You relish wearing your favourite garments every day, because every new day you get to live this beautiful life is a cause for celebration.

What next? It’s time for you to tend to you. A creamy dreamy coffee at your local gorgeous cafe of course! Its joyful patterned tiles and soft plastered walls, lush plants that dangle and cast botanical shadows across the worn wooden tabletops make you sigh with appreciation every time you enter. You take a deep breath in and as you exhale your body settles, she’s calm. She’s well. She’s seen.

You settle at your favourite table and a bottle of sparkling water appears with a glass. They know your favourites here. They know you. Shortly after, your perfect coffee arrives. And every day you think “it can’t get better than this!” It’s rich, complex and delicious. With slight hints of toasted caramel, dates and vanilla. The scent revives your soul. You savour it. You admire the hand-thrown cup it arrives in. Run your fingers over its rippling, speckled glaze. And appreciate the bamboo tray it rests upon. A ceramic spoon laying by its side. You feel cared for, welcome here.

There’s a small amber glass vase on the table with a single, fuchsia pink bloom unfolding it’s soft silky petals. She too is greeting the morning sun.

You place your journal on the table. A hand made book with its one-of-a-kind marbled cover and softly textured, eggshell toned paper inside. The kind of paper that begs for beauty to grace it’s pages. Your dreams, your poetry, your most precious plans. You pull from your bag a stack of magazines filled with inspiration, ready to feed your creative soul. And a book that you’ve been looking forward to losing yourself in.

In the new found space that exists in your body, you sense a cocktail of feelings and emotions. Contentment, excitement, expansive possibility. Freedom to be, relief, openness. Joy.

You’ve nothing to do this morning, nobody else to tend to. Only you.

Enjoy it, enjoy this life.

You deserve to have what you want, just because you want it.

You deserve to feel good today.

And every day.

You deserve to feel alive!

By Aimee Johanan