Time for Yourself Belongs in the Calendar

Time for yourself rarely appears on its own. And Michaela Havlíčková, founder of Souladronka in Prague, has long understood that waiting until there is some time “left over” doesn’t really work. “Don’t wait until you happen to have time for yourself. Schedule it,” she says simply.

The concept behind the women’s boutique studio, set amid the greenery of Prague’s Ladronka park, is built around the idea that every woman needs a space of her own – regardless of age, experience, body type or performance. A place for movement and recovery, but also for slowing down, connecting with others and simply taking a breath. It is a philosophy that naturally extends into Michaela’s own life.

This summer reminded her that sometimes the greatest reset doesn’t happen on an exotic journey, but during a few days alone at a country house. That joy can mean sleeping on a mattress under the open sky, going for a run in the woods or simply making yourself a wreath from wildflowers. And that with life experience may come a new kind of freedom – allowing yourself simply not to do certain things.

We spoke with Michaela about finding her own rhythm, changing priorities, movement, books and family. And about why we don’t have to wait for the perfect two free hours to finally take care of ourselves. Because, as she says: “Even twelve minutes count.”

Returning to the usual work pace after the holidays tends to happen quite quickly. What personally helps you maintain balance and avoid being immediately consumed by responsibilities?

After the first half of the summer holidays, I realised that I had managed to do so much, seen beautiful places, travelled, met lots of interesting people… and yet I still felt just as tired. So I went to our country house by myself. I took my computer and a book and spent a few days there living a little like a hermit. I ate whatever the house, garden and neighbouring farmer provided, wore the same pair of shorts, slept and ate whenever I felt like it. I worked and didn’t work. I cleaned and didn’t clean. I read, went for a run in the woods, got on my bike, picked flowers in the meadow and made a wreath just for myself. I slept on a mattress outside the house and in the morning simply smiled at the sound of the rooster crowing.

And I realised that this is what works best for me. Nature, simplicity and time alone recharge me in a way that makes me look forward to the city again – to work, friends, clients and even the usual hustle and bustle.

And I’d like to carry some of that into the working year as well. So, just so I don’t sound like a wildly romantic dreamer detached from reality – from September onwards, I’m actually putting dedicated slots into my work calendar: movement, recovery, a walk and wine with my girlfriends, family, and Michaela alone. Because I’ve realised that if something isn’t in my calendar, it’s very easy for me to somehow “not find the time” for it.

If you had to choose one treatment, class, ritual or service as the ideal reset for the new season, what would it be and why?

This might come as a surprise, but for me, the best reset is to create a plan.

I’m someone who can’t be without movement, and over time I’ve realised that I can also overwork my body through exercise. I need to structure it in a way that gives me energy rather than takes it away. Last year, I went through our RESTART programme for women 45+ myself, and the most important thing I took away from it was actually quite simple: establishing REGULARITY. In sleep, food, movement and recovery. Finding a combination that works specifically for me and making it a normal part of my life. It may sound obvious, but it has brought incredible changes, and both my body and soul thrive on it.

And there’s one interesting thing I’ve noticed at Souladronka. We have an amazing massage therapist. When a man leaves after a massage, he usually books his next appointment straight away. He takes out his calendar, finds a date and that’s it.

A woman leaves completely blissed out, talking about how wonderful it was and how she absolutely has to start doing this regularly… but often doesn’t book another appointment. And then, once again, there’s no time left for her.

So, my reset? Don’t wait until you happen to have time for yourself. Schedule it. And take it just as seriously as everything else in your calendar.

Which moment from the past few months has stayed with you the most?

I’m very much a people person and relationships are incredibly important to me, so it has to be family.

My husband and I have been together for 25 years. We’ve been through different waves and ripples, as you do in life. And now our grandson Alfréd has come along and shaken up our lives in the most beautiful way. I had no idea how much an intergenerational relationship could bring.

With a grandchild, you have one wonderful advantage – the everyday responsibilities aren’t primarily yours, so you can spend much more of your time together simply experiencing it. And suddenly, I’m able to completely tune into his world and be present with him. I’m fascinated, for example, by how many things you can do with an ordinary potato. Look at it, smell it, bite into it, look at it again, roll it around, try to hit the door with it, examine it with fascination once more, and finally put it back in the box. I would only ever see it as an ingredient for dinner. :-) And then I watch my “tough guy” husband melt beside Alfréd, becoming so tender, and I see just how much love there is in him. Those are perhaps the most precious moments for me right now. Completely ordinary – and beautiful precisely because of that.

Which book have you really enjoyed lately, or which one has stayed with you?

I love books. And thanks to SouLab, our book club, I’m “forced” to read at least one a month, which is one of the best commitments I’ve ever made to myself.

If you’re not intimidated by more than eight hundred pages, I recommend The Eighth Life (for Brilka). I honestly don’t know anyone who hasn’t been drawn into that story. And I’ve loved Ken Follett for years, especially his Century Trilogy. I always say that if history had been taught to me this way in secondary school, perhaps I wouldn’t even have needed to study it. You suddenly experience historical events across the world through relationships, families, different social classes and human characters – and they begin to make sense in a completely different way.

For me, reading is one of the easiest ways to leave my own world for a little while. And sometimes, thanks to a good book, to return to it slightly changed.

What is your personal recipe for a moment to yourself when your calendar is full?

Good for anyone who has that recipe. I don’t. :-)

When work really overwhelms me, I often don’t have the energy left to do anything bigger for myself. So I try to incorporate small things into my everyday routine that are actually realistic. When I wake up, I don’t look at my phone for a while. I take some water – and, of course, coffee – go out into the garden and hit a few golf balls into the net or pull some weeds from a flower bed. I’m surrounded by greenery, fully focused on just one thing for a moment, with that delicious coffee alongside it. In winter, at least I can look out at the garden. Two sun salutations, pigeon pose, some deep breathing. And suddenly, you step into a busy day with completely different energy.

Perhaps that’s also my advice to other women: don’t wait for two free hours that may never come. Even twelve minutes count.

What resolution or mindset would you like to bring into the new season?

I want to focus more on myself and learn to set reasonable boundaries.

I’m around fifty, and most of my friends and many of my clients are at a similar age. And I feel that at a certain point, our priorities start to rearrange themselves in interesting ways. I don’t know how much of it is hormones, how much is age and how much is simply life experience, but suddenly I find myself asking more often: Why am I actually doing this? And do I really want to? Housework, for example. That’s quite something in our home. :-)

I’ve been a passionate – and, I think, very good – cook all my life. It used to feel completely natural to always be preparing something, organising things and taking care of everyone. Today, sometimes I simply don’t stand at the stove because I don’t feel like it. :-)

I’m even capable now of sitting down on the sofa in front of everyone, doing my own thing and leaving things untidy around me. It would have driven me crazy in the past. Today, it doesn’t bother me at all. And I don’t even get annoyed anymore that nobody else seems bothered by it either. :-) Perhaps this is the beginning of quite a liberating chapter. And I want to enjoy it. And I have one more specific commitment. As the owner of a movement studio, I’ve spent the past three years telling other women how important it is to make time for themselves. So it’s time I started following my own advice too.

I’m going to book selected classes at my own studio into my calendar in exactly the same way I schedule work meetings. Because I see health as an investment. And sport and a good mood are what keep me going.