It's time to fill your cup. The summer holidays provide space to fill the energy stores with everything your heart desires. We asked founder, Mette Skjærbæk, about her summer holiday plans, which of course are centered on DO YOU in all sorts of guises, but which all have in common to find the inner sense of self - whether it's through books, social relationships, podcasts or dreams.

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What do you associate with summer?

More freedom, lightness and silliness. I love winter for its coziness, tranquility and presence, while summer gives me the feeling of spreading my wings. Spring and summer are the high season for aromatherapy, and I fall in love with nature all over again every year.

What is your best summer memory?

I don't have one best summer memory in particular but I picture the sea, my children, friends, sunsets, blankets, cooking, talking and laughing, fresh strawberries, rhubarb and peas from little roadside stalls.

What will you spend your summer vacation on?

I am going to Samos for a week with girlfriends and children and to Langeland with my sister and children. Then I will visit my family on Funen, enjoy the summer at home and with my colleagues at work. I love holidaying at our home as much as when travelling; walking slowly down the street towards the beach with bare toes, feeling the small stones underneath my feet.

What are you reading this summer?

I will be reading crime novels - I love that. It's like disappearing into another world. I am currently reading books from Sissel-Jo Gazan and Maggi Kempinska. I will also be reading Rikke Hertz and Anders Hansen's new book Consciousness. And hopefully use the Holistic Herbal – Guide to making and using herbal remedies by David Hoffmann, which a dear friend has just gifted me.

What will you be listening to this summer?

When it comes to music, I am going to make new playlists on Spotify - I love taking  time out for that. To disappear into the music and to discover something new. I love the playlists on KARMAMEJU SKINCARE Spotify - I always gravitate back to them. During my vacation, I will spend time lying on a sunbed and just drift into the world of music. Soft house, R&B, pop, blues, classical and soul are some of the genres I like the best.
At the moment, I'm quite interested in understanding how experiences and traumas, that have been stored in our body, can be released, so I will be on the look-out for a good podcast with that subject. 
And I think that I will listen to the podcast series In the deep stillness of the forest as well. 
Two more that I have on my list is Wellness with Ella and Astropod. 
Since I was very young, I have been interested in self-development and psychology, and I love to feel that I am constantly developing.

Do you have a favorite spot in Copenhagen?

I actually don't - Copenhagen is so incredibly rich in opportunities and experiences, and I love change, so there are always new places to visit. I love the area where I live and feel so lucky after ten years in metropolises like Milan, Tokyo, London, Paris and New York to live in a big city that offers so much nature and, most of all, the sea.

A vacation spot you're still dreaming of?

The Amalfi Coast is calling, so is Costa Rica. I dream of sailing in the Caribbean, I would love  to swim under the Agua Azul waterfalls in Mexico, and to go hiking in the mountains. The list goes on and on. I dream of making time and space to travel for longer periods at a time, when my youngest daughter is older and no longer needs me in everyday life.

A practice I would like to start or get better at

I've just started (again) to write down three things I'm grateful for every morning. Although I am very grateful, it is such an affirming exercise. I write "again" because it's not the first time I've started it, but now I'll try again and see if it can become a permanent ritual.
And then I would like to do a short meditation every morning. I have a thousand thoughts when I wake up. When I start the day by "switching off" everything, and, for example, only concentrate on visualizing a flame on a candle, I get flooded with the most wholesome calmness in my body. I do it often, but I really want to do it every day. Presence and capturing “the now" must be the most beautiful way of
life.

Where do you find inspiration?

Everywhere and nowhere. It is like a source, a long series of coincidences, that turn into ideas. Of course, platforms like social media, magazines, exhibitions, people and so on can be inspiring, but I think the source of genius is time and presence, and that your own brain is the inspiring source that can create something completely new. I am very aware that my creativity slows down and is compromised when everyday life is too busy and overstimulating. So, inspiration comes to me by creating calmness around me - then it's like I see, hear, smell, taste and feel everything much more.

What do you bring with you when travelling?

Besides clothes and the necessities, I always have a notebook for words and thoughts, to press flowers into and to save a feather I found or for an important business card etc. My tarot cards and the book to interpret them are also often in my bag. They have been with me since I was 18 and they always open up for deep conversations when we use them. Diving goggles so I can swim far if the sea is nice. A few bottles of essential oils to create fragrance in the room and/or WOOD wardrobe fragrance to purify air when I arrive somewhere new. Books, headphones, tea and lots of skincare to create a home spa wherever I am.
Share your KARMAmoments and be inspired by others #KARMAMEJU



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