donna: self-love is wellness
This week sitre is speaking to Donna Bartoli from Brighton. You’re missing out if you don’t follow her on Instagram. She writes and posts the most soothing and calming updates, giving us her best skincare tips, recipes and ways to nurture your wellness through rituals such as your morning routines. We dived into Donna’s holistic wellness approach which especially focuses on self-care - and she believes sex and intimacy has an important role to play here.
We enjoyed this conversation so much and we hope you will too. And we’re sure you’ll want to follow Donna on Instagram and you can find her right here (if you’re aren’t already scrolling through her beautiful feed).
Hi Donna, can you first give our readers a bit of insight to who you are, what drives you and how you’re feeling at the moment?
Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Donna Bartoli, I’m 42 years old and live on the South Coast of England, a sometimes sunny Brighton & Hove. I work as an online content creator with a huge focus on skincare & wellness, in fact I like to call it a 360 degree, holistic approach to looking and feeling your best. Passion drives me, always needing to work in an environment that I truly love and care about is important to not only my mental health but also my need for being creative, I just tik better that way.
We love following you on Instagram as your feed feels like one big wellness treatment. How did your wellness journey start?
Well, thank you. I really look at my platform as a way of educating but also somewhere that makes me feel good when I look at it, I think that projects across to my community because I’m often told that I give a sense of calmness in my work so I must be doing something right! My wellness journey has really come from within though, a need for myself to always feel good which naturally progressed to sharing online.
Have you ever tried to not prioritise wellness? If so, how did that affect your life?
I don’t think it’s ever been a case of not trying to prioritise wellness, more about life getting in the way of it. There have been many points in my life where circumstances have left me at extremely low points, fears almost that I would never recover from them but small changes and adopting daily habits gave me the power to embrace wellness as a whole, everyday. I love how I feel both physically and mentally since turning 40, I think that was a huge turning point. I know myself and what I want from my life now which is empowering.
Do you think intimacy and wellness are connected?
I think if you allow yourself to be connected in that way then yes, absolutely. Sex often comes with a myriad of un-healthy issues both physically and mentally .
sitre would like everyone to see sex as much more than just a ‘basic drive’ and instead see it as something you should nurture the same way as you prioritise yoga or a nice skincare routine. How do you think we can all create a more mindful relationship to intimacy and sex?
I think if everyone approached sex in this way then it would create a different mindset right from the start. From a woman’s point of view though this comes from a place of self-love, if you don’t love yourself then you’re never going to experience the true pleasure of sex with the right partner can be. Don’t think of it as something you have to do, more something you want to do and explore more deeply.
Skincare, beauty and general wellness has gotten far regarding creating products of high quality and without any toxics. Do you think the sex wellness industry has gotten as far in this process?
I would love to see more natural, quality focused products in the sexual wellness industry and to also see them more in the mainstream outlets. Why shouldn’t sex products be manufactured to fit in with all the organic, sustainable requirements the beauty industry calls for now?
Do you think there’s as much openness around sex wellness products or do you think taboos are tainting the conversation?
Unfortunately it’s still a very taboo subject that quite often has such a seedy undertone. Personally I’d love to see them categorised more in the beauty sector and regarded as highly as all the other products you use on your body. At the end of the day, it’s all the same and should be manufactured and formulated to sit alongside. If more people spoke about them in a way of helping both physically and mentally then it would change the narrative most believe when it comes to this subject.
Finally: If you were going to guide someone who wanted to explore sex wellness - how would you advice them to start this journey?
Firstly, learn to love yourself, inside and out and I know this sounds incredibly cliche but without that you’ll never experience the true sense of exhilarating freedom sex can bring. Then, approach sex in a way of asking yourself what you want out of it because you both need to be on the same page. Anything that affects you mentally, in the wrong way is an un-healthy approach to wellness. Always be true to who you are.
Thank you for sharing Donna.
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