February 17, 2021

I’m sure that I am not alone when I say that 2020 was filled with stress, anxiety, lack of sleep and lots of loneliness. Yes I was home with my family, yes I didn’t have to worry about who was going to watch my children or who would be able to pick them up, yes I was home for three months and was able to focus on tasks that tend to get pushed to the side when my husband and I are at work but nonetheless, it was incredibly stressful. About one month into quarantine I began to fully realized the importance of self care and now, 9 months later and back to work I still try and implement these 3 new self care methods into my day and/or week.

The first self care method that I began early on last spring was upping my skincare game. I admittedly was someone who would sleep in my makeup or only use a makeup wipe to “clean” my face and then slap on some generic lotion and call it a night. Now I see the benefits and importance of taking proper care of my skin. My nighttime routine went from maybe 5 minutes; brushing my teeth for 2 minutes and makeup wipe/lotion for the other 2-3 minutes and call it a night to around 15-20 minutes. It has become the time of day I look forward to most, 20 minutes to myself, focusing only on myself. Whether is my straight up skincare routine or a night where I decide to use a face mask, or under eye gel mask its self care that not only is improving my skin it also is extremely relaxing. Some of my favorite products that I have been using are Summer Friday Jet Lag mask; I leave this on all night and my skin is baby soft in the mornings, ELF Hydrogel Eye Mask; I notice the biggest difference in my under eye bags with these and using a face oil. My two favorite oils are Biossance Squalane + VitC Rose Oil and BeautyCounter No.3 Face Oil. These bother feel extremely luxurious and smell so good, I feel like I’ve just left the spa as soon as I put them on.

The second way I implement self care now is through fitness. Now if you follow along you know that this is something that is an ebb and flow in my life. I struggle with self discipline and carving out the time in the day to exercise. However I will say that they days that I exercise I feel much more relaxed, accomplished and motivated to complete additional tasks. When the weather is nicer (we are currently buried in snow in the North East) one of my favorite things to do when I am stressed is to go out for a run. The mental focus on reaching my goal and finishing my run clears my mind and the physical stress of pushing through until the end creates a sense of accomplishment. The endorphins released from working out supersede my stress and anxiety.

The third thing that I recently added to my self care routine is using a Gua Sha nightly. Full disclosure, I had no idea what a Gun Sha was until I saw someones reel on instagram and decided to give it a try and I don’t think I could ever go back to not using it. Its that good! If you’re new here, HI! I’m Melissa and a little background info, I am a Dental Hygienist as well as a Massage Therapist although my massage license is currently on hold as I am not actively working. Anywho, most people hold an extreme amount of stress is their face and jaw. Often times people will clench their teeth together while doing mundane tasks throughout the day and while it may not be significant enough to cause pain right now long term it may lead to problems. Now I know that I clench my teeth. I do it while I’m working, while I’m scrolling Instagram, if I am in a car for an extended period of time and while it may be slight pressure and I don’t experience pain from it, once I started using the Gun Sha I realized how much tension I was holding in my face. It was crazy, after the initial use I felt like I had just had an hour massage that focused on my face. The Gun Sha is also helps to move lymph, decrease bloat, break up fascia and improve circulation. If you haven’t tried it I highly suggest it.

I think we can all agree that 2020, quarantine, COVID-19 all suck! However, without the extra time off and increased stress I don’t think I would have taken the time to discover the importance of these three self care methods that have now become a part of my daily routine. Life can’t always be about work, or our kids, or the stresses of day to day, taking care os US needs to be priority too. These three things work best for me but for you it may be reading a book or taking a bath or meditating. Whatever it may be set aside time just for you; daily, weekly, monthly whenever you can get it in it is important and makes such a difference in our physical and mental health.

Some blogger friends and I have teamed up to share our self care ideas with you! Be sure to click through the links below to check out their self care blogs!

Allison; Life By Allison

Laura; Not Ur Average Mom of 5

Lexie; The Undem Family Adventures

Meg; Modest Mommie

Suleyma; Themed Out Mommy

Carrie; Flora Collector

xxMJB

February 17, 2021 – Wellness

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