This pandemic is yet to cross into our rearview mirror, it’s still hard to remember what day it is. Much less, how are you and I supposed to deal with getting up in the morning? Masks are part of our new every day normal. Losing ourselves in Zoom meetings without any inkling to how we can help our mental health during this pandemic.
The days where our heads hang heavy on our shoulders are becoming a dime a dozen. Get this one thing, if nothing else:
There’s no right or wrong way to feel when the world outside is nothing like we know or we loved.
The universe has a habit of making us see things in perspectives of our nightmares. This is a way to get out of your head and into your own life.
Stretching
Back then, it was during gym time and you didn’t want to be the one being gawked at for the PACER test. Adulting has left the humble good stretch to nature in the morning, after that it slips the mind entirely. Not an active blip in our radar, more an automatic tendency.
There’s more important things to worry about than stretching. How to get out of the least favorite thing on the chopping block this week. At least the “office” no longer even “requires” real pants. Crippling anticipation holds us hostage for the day even in our days off. Stretching more than that morning stretch, gifts us awareness of our bodies. Our bodies are aware of our minds, so make it a give and take.
It’s all about the mutual respect, going into year 3 of the pandemic, we need to respect our stretching. Stretching feels boring when the day stretches (pun intended) for miles ahead. Stretching benefits the emotional roller coaster today. It gives space to let go of some of yesterday’s emotions.
Our minds rush to a million ways the time would be better spent. Why would you and I stretch when those other things fall to the back burner? Bring the mind out of our bodies that are stuck in last week’s cradled sleep position?
It’s imperative that we steal away those few moments, a couple of times a day, to stretch. Those pops of release our bodies make are worth it. A mini reset smack dab in the middle of the day. For those moments, we don’t have to think about what our brain is doing. Bring the focus on where we are, right here in the moment. When a pandemic is ravaging the world, it’s an amazing feeling when to focus on where we are right now.
Wash your face
There’s a sweet spot between 10 step korean skin care routines and splashing some water on our faces. A clean, soft face brings the day in fresh as a daisy. Don’t go through a bunch of motions under the pretense that you have to. We reach past the simple solutions convinced it’s not worth doing. Self sabotage for facial care has been allowed to flourish in this pandemic. We’re stressed, tired, and we are afraid. Dragging ourselves through the muck because we’re breaking out more than usual. Further digging in our heels at this new “normal”. Washing our face in the morning(and night) has the magical effect of showing ourselves some affection. It’s well earned and sorely missed when tomorrow is drastically different from yesterday.
Constantly, you and I need to bring to the forefront of our minds that we wash our faces because we love, not hate, ourselves. 3 simple steps. Wash, treat, moisturize/sunscreen. One of twitter’s favorite estheticians, Tiara (www.twitter.com/makeupforwoc) vouches for simple, effective routines(and sunscreen). It’s easy to find ways to hate our acne,or hate the way our faces are we’ve been trained to. Imperfect skin is beautiful, it deserves to be cared for. Acne isn’t something we need to be tearing ourselves apart about. The simplest answer is the best one. Make sure you wash your face.The important part is to stick to it.
We pamper ourselves by making skin care a priority. You and I can prove to ourselves that we are worth the attention to detail. The power in deciding how we follow our routines. A promise to spend time looking in the mirror and being gentle with ourselves. Every day, giving ourselves the chance to get to love the skin we show to the world. In an intimate way that is unique from the rest of the world. Easily worth the 10–15 minutes. Nurturing the ongoing journey of learning about ourselves.
Relish in the process
We always rush from one thing to the next. Checking off the first thing, to check off the next. Rushing to be bored doing something else. With newfound time at home, slow down. You and I need to take on our days intentionally. Deliberately making space between tasks. Validate our own experiences as human beings.
Time in the shower is the perfect place to experiment with taking intention in the day. Soak from head to toe for enough time that your body acclimates to the temperature. Caressing and massaging ourselves thoroughly. Appreciating the feel of our own skin and indulging our vanity. A few moments well spent actually eyeing the limb we’re cleaning, finding something to love about it. Focusing exclusively on self adoration without lingering on whether we feel we’re worth it. Turn the water a little cooler before hopping out.
Take this notion out of our bathrooms and with us into the rest of our day. What does morning coffee smell like? Does the warmth or taste land first? Draw the curtains open and let in a wink of sunlight. Noticed the pretty bird outside? Even with COVID-19, there’s a beautiful world out there that we get to live in. There’s things to appreciate that we never spend too much time on. Being that “there are more important things”.
Check out.
Ignore the daily news, ignore all the negativity that’s consistently vies for our attention. It eats at our spirit. Our brains trick us into believing we have to know, be up to date and be informed. Make some time in the morning to check out. The impact has the potential to be life changing. Slow down, relish. it’s a work in progress, for all of us. We could find joy depending on nobody and nothing but ourselves.
Stretching and knowing how to make your showers more enjoyable help make our brains pay attention to our bodies again, you and I are alive. We are here and we have some control. Pampering ourselves, treating ourselves, loving and respecting ourselves. We deserve to be treated with love. We deserve that the person we will guaranteed spend the rest of our lives with to be a happy and whole. We do better for ourselves, then in time, do better for others. Being the best person we could be, amidst the world being on fire, is a two step process.
Step one, start with ourselves.
Step two, move on to everything and everyone else.
Day 2: https://medium.com/@sincerelyyoli/not-obvious-obviously-b714c2460c98
Day 3: https://medium.com/@sincerelyyoli/the-big-scary-7c408b5a8be3
Day 6: https://medium.com/@sincerelyyoli/no-pressure-1613292bc1fd
