You've likely heard of white noise as being helpful for winding down, but what about 'white time'?
It's a concept that life coach Anna Miller of The Ardour in London's exclusive Marylebone Village prescribes to all of the clients who walk through the perfectly polished doors of her clinic.
"I always recommend my clients set aside an hour a day of 'white time', they can do whatever they want during that time, but it must be for themselves," says Anna. "A lot of the time, this involves exercise and getting fresh air. Exercise causes your brain to release endorphins and serotonin, also known as the happy chemicals which can immediately lift your mood - many use it as a distraction from their ongoing thoughts and use this time to completely check out."
A unique new concept
Anna and her business partner, renowned cosmetic expert Dr. Paris Acharya, opened the doors to The Ardour earlier this summer, offering life coaching and aesthetic treatments all under one roof, with bespoke packages created to address stress management, to help clients through divorce and programmes tailored to menopause.
Why the merge of aesthetics and life coaching, you might ask? After working together for six years, Dr. Paris and Anna noticed that there was a lack of truly holistic approaches to beauty and wellbeing.
"Aesthetics and life coaching were never combined - it was either one or the other and no one had explored the link between them and how they could be extremely beneficial when paired," Dr. Paris says of why they created their unique concept.
Aesthetics meets life coaching
"I found that many of my aesthetic patients were struggling with personal aspects of their lives which resulted in skin issues, hormonal challenges and general health concerns," she explains. "It made sense to put them in touch with Anna to delve deeper and truly understand the issues beneath the surface, hence where our idea for The Ardour came from.
"We believe that true beauty radiates from within, and our goal is to help our clients unlock their inner confidence and vitality, allowing them to embrace life fully."
Anna echoes Dr. Paris' belief, adding: "We believe that true beauty encompasses more than just external appearance. It's about achieving your fullest potential in every aspect of life—health, beauty, and overall wellbeing."
The stress management package, for example, combines aesthetic treatments including toxin injections to target the muscles that go into spasm during periods of stress to combat the symptoms from teeth grinding, to frowning, headaches and temporal pain. The package also includes medi-facials and life coaching to relieve the physical manifestations of stress while simultaneously addressing and tackling the underlying origins too.
After life coaching sessions, clients can book in for a facial, giving them time to reflect on what they've uncovered in their chat with Anna. "Too often we have to rush straight back to work, a facial allows time to consider your coaching before getting back to your busy day," they tell me.
ADVICE: I have high-functioning anxiety – here's how to recognise it
Happiness from within
The Ardour's ethos centres around beauty radiating from within, believing that feeling happier physically on the outside can drastically improve your mental health.
"Of course, it's all about what's on the inside that matters, and you shouldn't care at all about what others think, but having the confidence to be comfortable in your own skin is a force to be reckoned with," Dr. Paris says of the transformative feeling of being happy with your physical appearance,
"Whatever your goals may be regarding your skin and body, it's all about feeling love for yourself and being kind to your mind, no matter what anyone else says or thinks."
Anna agrees with the holistic approach, adding: "Our overall goal at The Ardour is to help our clients unlock their inner confidence and vitality, allowing them to embrace life fully, and a big part of this is through their physical side - not only through aesthetics and treatments but through my wellness recommendations.
"Making the time to be active and get fresh air every day can drastically improve you mentally, and will also have benefits physically too."
READ: Always busy? Try these go-slow tips for a happier life
A labour of love
Dr. Paris and Anna are feeling more personally fulfilled since launching the clinic, too. "I've realised that everything I have ever done, jobs I've had, books I've read, courses I've been on, new skills I've learned, have all led me to exactly where I am now is extremely fulfilling and rewarding," says Anna.
"Finally, I am no longer in pursuit of anything. You really do have to trust the process, I'm proof of that and love that I can be an example to my coaching clients."
