What Restores Us?

Savoir and Mayfair Design District welcomed guests to our Mayfair showroom for an intimate evening of conversation with psychotherapist and wellbeing expert Yvette Vuaran. Together, we explored the people, places and rituals that help us reconnect and recharge, from the restorative influence of nature and the home to creativity, daily practice and the importance of making space for reflection.

A Conversation with Psychotherapist and Wellbeing Expert Yvette Vuaran

Savoir and Mayfair Design District welcomed guests to our Mayfair showroom for an intimate evening of conversation with psychotherapist and wellbeing expert Yvette Vuaran. 

Together, we explored the people, places and rituals that help us reconnect and recharge, from the restorative influence of nature and the home to creativity, daily practice and the importance of making space for reflection. At Savoir, rest has always meant more than sleep. It is about creating the conditions in which we can slow down, restore and feel well. The conversation offered an opportunity to consider exactly that through shared perspectives and a different way of thinking about the spaces we create around ourselves.

Savoir big sign on the outside of the Mayfair Showroom
A buffet-style food spread on a table with plates, bowls of salad and sliced meat, and small dessert pieces, set in the Savoir Mayfair Showroom with shelves and framed wall art in the background.

Restoration is about returning to yourself

“We might think of restoration as resting, sitting on a beach or going on holiday,” says Yvette. “But it’s not necessarily something we do or somewhere we go. It’s about how we return to ourselves.” 

It is about inhabiting ourselves in a way where we are regulated, responsive, alive and awake. 

One way to understand this is through the biopsychosocial model of wellbeing, which considers three interconnected aspects of our experience. There is the biological: sleep, exercise, nutrition and our physical health. There is the psychological: our thoughts, memories, experiences and expectations. And then there is the social: our relationships with family, friends, community and the world around us. 

We often focus on the biological or psychological aspects of wellbeing, but the social side is fundamental too. Our relationships, our communities and our connection to the world around us all matter.

Yvette Vuaran

Three women standing and conversing the Mayfair showroom setting with warm lighting and curtains in the background.
Three people conversing indoors in the Mayfair showroom with a yellow and brown patterned Authenticity headboard. One man wears a white shirt and light trousers, another wears a brown coat, and the third wears a black blazer and a dark fedora hat.

From looking to feeling 

In an increasingly digital world, many of us spend much of our time looking at screens and living in our heads. For Yvette, one way back is through embodiment – experiencing life through the body and the senses rather than simply thinking about it. Perhaps, she suggests, restoration is about moving from looking to feeling.

We all have different sensory profiles. The way we respond to light, sound, texture, movement, taste and touch is individual. That means we restore differently too.

Yvette Vuaran

Creating a sensory box

The objects and materials around us can play an important role in how we feel. For Yvette, things with texture, weight or scent can help bring us back into relationship with ourselves. “They help ground us, regulate our nervous system and essentially de-stress us,” she says. 

One of her favourite ways to explore this is through a sensory box: a collection of objects chosen for the way they look, feel or smell. “You can start collecting things that are not just beautiful to look at, but things that have weight, a smooth texture or a scent you enjoy,” she explains. “You may have scented candles, feathers, paintbrushes, a pebble or a crystal.” Closing your eyes and connecting with an object through touch or scent can be particularly powerful. We can also engage more than one sense at a time, layering different sensory experiences together.

A woman with long dark hair smiles while holding a glass in front of a glass door with the word 'Authenticity' on it, talking to another person holding a clipboard.
Two women in a modern interior space, engaged in conversation while holding small cups. One wears a blue striped button-up shirt and black skirt, and the other wears a bright blue jacket with striped trousers.

Learning to listen

Our bodies are constantly giving us information, yet many of us have become adept at ignoring it. “We have learnt to override our needs,” says Yvette. “We push through hunger to finish a task. We put off sleep because something feels urgent.” 

Developing greater awareness of what is happening inside us can help us recognise our needs earlier – whether that is rest, movement, comfort or stimulation. The aim is not perfection, but curiosity: learning to listen to our needs.

For me, silence can be deeply healing. It’s where we can actually hear ourselves.

Yvette Vuaran

What restores you?

For Yvette, restoration often comes through simple sensory experiences: lying on the grass and looking up at the sky, walking slowly, moving her body or taking what she calls a “sensory shower”, paying attention to the warmth of the water, soft light and familiar scents. 

Ultimately, she returns to three questions: 

What helps me feel safe enough to soften? 

What helps me feel present enough to connect? 

What helps me feel alive enough to create? 

The answers will be different for everyone because restoration is not one-size-fits-all. It begins with paying attention – to our bodies, our senses and the environments we create around ourselves. 

Creating space for rest 

At Savoir, we believe the bedroom should be a place to slow down, switch off and experience the restorative power of genuine rest. The bedroom is a sensory environment, from the feel of natural materials and the softness of the bedding to a bed that offers both comfort and support. 

Each Savoir bed is tailored to the individual and handmade using carefully chosen natural materials. As Yvette reminds us, restoration begins with listening to what we need and creating spaces that allow us to soften, reconnect and rest. 

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