A lovely blogging invitation recently came my way from John Lewis, Cardiff. Their ethos is all about customer service and experience and they want to showcase this through various events that they are hosting.

My invitation was to a morning of yoga, relaxation and wellbeing, which I practically bit their hand off to attend! I think we are all in the need of learning how to slow down and not to fill up every minute of every day, something I am guilty of. What was lovely was that Sophie, my seven year old was also invited to join me. Purely from a PR advantage point of view, I hasten to add, as Sophie, I am told is an absolute carbon copy if myself (I apologise on a daily basis!). So, not only did we have the delight of this scrummy invitation, we also had a beautiful package delivered to us with top-notch yoga kit in it!

Now, my greatest fear about taking Sophie (aka ‘Miss Woo’) along with me was that she does this ridiculous imitation of the Julie Walters/Victoria Wood ‘Two Soups’ sketch whenever you mention yoga. She acts like the old dithery waitress and asks “Did you do this?” whilst doing a ridiculous, awkward, old aged yoga pose (no offence to the elderly here!) and has me in stitches. Thankfully, the yoga mats were strategically placed and Woo was put behind me so that I couldn’t catch her eye and Julie Walters impersonations managed to be suppressed!!

Being on the… erm… short side, I was worried that my capri fit shock absorber leggings would be more like ankle grazers. However, I was pleasantly surprised and felt all grown up wearing ‘adult’ sportswear for once. We were provided with those toe-socky things, the ones where you put each toe into a glove like sock – they totally freak me out and I managed to leave them still wrapped in my bag, never to be promised an outing… not on my feet anyway! Sophie had no worries whatsoever with regards to her lovely outfit, everything fitted beautifully and she loved the colours in the leggings and said that the top was soft and felt-like inside!

The yoga session was lovely: not too heavy, not to many unusual “Ummmm’s” or elastic band poses. I really enjoyed it. We then moved on to a lovely healthy breakfast, feeling very relaxed and in my case rather un-flexible. John Lewis provided what we should be eating first thing in the morning, such as yogurt with berries and granola, along with fresh smoothies and herbal tea (noted and re-noted). By this point Woo was getting a little bored and found a baby high chair that she thought would be fun to climb int0 – seriously?!!!! Daddy day care had been arranged but there were 15 minutes to kill so we jumped at the next opportunity to have a relaxing hand and arm massage by the lovely Liz Earle consultants. The products smelt amazing and I always think they look lovely displayed in a bathroom due to their calm, fresh colours on the packaging. Being a bank holiday Monday the store had some fantastic offers on and were hot on their price match in all departments. I didn’t get chance to go downstairs to look in more detail at Liz Earle but I will be sure to find the body oil they used which was non-greasy and still feels lovely on my arms now.

Attending events like this gives you the opportunity not only to discover new brands and try products but to meet other bloggers too. Having never been one to win much in chance giveaways, I was totally blown away when my name came out of the hat to win the Fitbit Charge 2 wristband! It literally was like having a birthday with the amount of goodies we were kindly gifted! I am very much swaying towards a more calmer, mindful lifestyle, at least as much as my chaotic personality will allow. I particularly loved the mini Buddha and candle (also in the goody bag) that can hopefully remind me each day that ‘Go slow’ is the way forward. To see all of your nearest John Lewis’s events, go to the Customer Services page and scroll down to the ‘What’s on‘ section at the bottom. They will soon be filtering the events according to the store of your choice.