This New Concept Means Getting A Beauty Treatment Can Improve Your Mental Health

Being an adult can be hard. We have to find time to sleep eight hours, work eight hours (minimum), take care of a living space, maintain relationships, socialise, and on top of all that, take time for ourselves. I'd love to find time to meditate and practise mindfulness more, but I really struggle to prioritise it when there are so few hours in the day. But one well-known beauty app has come up with the idea of combining one of your regular beauty appointments with a spot of 'me time.' Can a manicure be a mindful experience, though? I've looked into it...

Beauty bookings app Treatwell has discovered that its customers are desperate to have more time to themselves. Of those surveyed, 74% told the brand that they struggle to find the time for self care, with 63% saying they’d like to prioritise it more. Treatwell also discovered that most of us don't currently use the time we have during beauty treatments to properly relax, either. When getting our nails done, only 34% of us use our manicure as an opportunity to switch off, and 63% of people said feel obliged to make conversation with our manicurist; a stat I can definitely relate to.

So they decided to kill two birds with one stone and launch a 'Mindful Mani' campaign, which encourages customers receiving a manicure to switch off, plug in, and fully relax, with no fear of judgement in the salon. The fact that we no longer have to worry about offended someone means we can use this time to practise mindfulness, Treatwell proposes.

So how exactly can we do this, and is it even really possible? Let's start by reminding ourselves what mindfulness actually is. Mindful.org give the following definition:

"Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us."

What's more, mindful meditation "gives us a time in our lives when we can suspend judgment and unleash our natural curiosity about the workings of the mind, approaching our experience with warmth and kindness—to ourselves and others."

By these definitions, it seems absolutely possible to practise mindfulness while having a manicure. The ability to switch off and focus on one thing (having our nails done) offers up the perfect opportunity to relax and be fully present. Treatwell’s internal Mindfulness Ambassador, Leanne Evans, explains that a mindful mani allows customers to "unplug from everyday problems and worries and take back time for themselves." In short then, it's an excellent chance to sit down, meditate, and just be calm.

If you're not a big manicure person, don't worry. The idea is that having any kind of beauty treatment, whether done by a professional or by you at home, can act as a perfect time to practise mindfulness. Not into getting your nails done? Why not try one of these other acts of beauty self care to practise mindfulness:

• Getting your hair done
• Having a facial
• Going for a pedicure
• Having a massage
• Having a shower
• Applying your skincare routine

Find out more about the Treatwell Mindful Mani campaign here.