Setting the pace: 3 things I changed to take better care of myself

20.2.23

Setting the pace: 3 things I changed to take better care of myself

Sometimes, all you need in life is something to hold you accountable... Like your body reminding you that you made the promise to take better care of it. 

I used to think that new year's resolutions were a myth, a facade you use in front of people so you'll pretend to have a plan for the year ahead, the project to be and do better. I believed that new year's resolutions were an excuse for past behavior, a fake goal to have something to talk about at parties and dinners. But in reality, it's been almost three months, and I kind of think I'm kicking a** at resolutions. 

It's a common belief that we tend to let go of our new year's resolutions after three months because we have realized that we might have set the bar too high. After six months, it has become a vague souvenir, an idea we thought about and quickly deemed too hard to achieve. And finally, at the 12-month pinpoint, it has turned into an excuse for your new resolutions. 

Although I'm still currently at the baby stage of sticking to my resolutions, I feel quite confident in saying that I might have figured it out... Did I finally find the right ones? 

New year, new me... Well, new mindset. It was time to have better thoughts and words, and care for myself and my body. It's self-care time baby! So here are the three main things I implement to take better care of myself.

First thing: sweating! 

With the plan to start working out again, I signed up for ClassPass. Clearly, if 2022 proved one thing, it was that I couldn't stick to a gym routine when working out from home. It was too easy for me to look at my yoga mat from the comfort of my couch and contemplate the idea of putting on leggings while I was slipping on sweatpants. With the attention to getting my body back on track of peace, I started to sign up for a different class each week: hot yoga, chill yoga, reformer pilates, barre, modern aerobics, boxing, cardio dancing... The list goes on.  

Surprisingly I realized it was not the whole sweating that gave me the sensations of peace and happiness, it was the curiosity of trying new things. If I'm confident my body could handle more than one or two sessions a week and that I would see more results by doing so, it was not my first intention to get in better shape, getting in better mental shape was the main goal. Signing up for only one class a week meant having a body care ritual, something I knew I could commit to, and stick to. 

Second change: brushing and rinsing 

When I came across the "shower everything" TikTok trend, I thought I would give it a go. It meant trying to find small rituals I could add to my routine which basically means: spending as much time as I can in the bathroom before jumping into bed. We're talking hours, not minutes. It meant: dry brushing, makeup removal, face cleansing, exfoliating, masking, before stepping into the actual shower, scrubbing, then washing hair and body, then hair mask, and body lotion. 

While this ritual is only meant to be performed once a week and has proven to help to sleep better, I still keep on dry brushing a couple of times a week. What I also started to implement into my daily shower routine is rinsing my legs with cold water. If it helps get the blood flowing, for me it gives me a feel-good feeling about sticking to a routine that makes me feel good about my body and makes me see it a different way.

Last thing: nourishing

To say I've always had a bad relationship with food is an understatement... Growing up with a mom quite obsessed with her weight, but not necessarily ours, put the idea in me that I should be obsessed about mine too. Unfortunately, it meant starving myself rather than paying attention to the way I was actually nourrishing my body. Now 28 years old, I'm finally trying to stop feeling guilty about what I eat in a day and instead pay attention to what meals and nutrient could make me feel good. I won't lie, it's a long way to go. 

My new obsession? Understanding how my body works through my cycle, also knows as: finally trying to comprehend my period rather than complaining about it for a week, and learning the names of the other phase of my cycle. 

Overall, my new year's resolution has turned from "taking better care of myself" to "understanding and accepting myself". 

I guess it's an adult kind of thing. 

Love,

Elsa