As I’ve gotten older it’s become more important to me to live an intentional life, in all aspects – family, relationships, home, career, health, wellness..
I touched on this topic back in February (you can catch up here) but obviously, life as we know it has changed since then. I am someone who needs structure and routine, so when the pandemic first hit in March, I felt like I got thrown for a major loop. Not to be dramatic, but it takes work and dedication to develop solid habits and this whole thing was wreaking havoc on my mental health.
And then, after a few days of sulking, I circled back to that post and was reminded once again of my core values and what I know I need to to be my best self. I knew I had to be more intentional with my time and start taking better care of myself. I know from experience how powerful these tiny acts can be when they slowly add up. And they do.
Intention means making choices in all areas that are meaningful and embody respect for you and your future self. As a woman, that could include anything as simple as skincare to choosing the birth control that is right for you [empowers you to stay focused on your goals, your well-being and navigate your life journey with intent].
As someone who talks a lot about building your future on your own terms, this is an important topic to discuss. I’ve had my own journey with birth control, which I wrote about in detail here. Not being on the right birth control for me, resulted in major skin-related issues, including Melasma, risking stroke and having to switch to a safer option for me, a copper IUD (little backstory for you ;).
This year on ‘Self-Care Day’, I am proud to be partnering again on the #MeAndIUC campaign to pick this discussion back up.
#MeAndIUC is a birth control education movement designed to help women make informed contraceptive decisions, empowering them to accomplish their goals and live with intention.
The goal of #MeAndIUC is to empower women to take control of their futures by proactively making informed decisions about their birth control options so they can focus on leading the meaningful life they want.
An update since we last chatted:
+ how I’m taking care of myself during lockdown
+ how I practice daily self-care
+ how I’m progressing with goals & intentions for 2020 [despite this shitshow]
+ my birth control plan moving forward
……scroll down to read
HOW I’M TAKING CARE OF MYSELF IN LOCKDOWN
If you follow along on my stories, you’d know that I like a good routine. It’s fun to create a schedule for myself and carve out time to build good habits. My skincare game is on another level these days and not only that, they provides a sense of ultimate well-being when practiced consistently. Things I do to make sure I’m taking care of myself in lockdown [+ beyond]:
+ fuelling my body with nutritious foods & smoothies
+ drinking plenty of water throughout the day
+ getting to bed at a decent time
+ doing some type of movement, daily
+ create a calming, relaxing environment at home
+ listening to my body and giving in to it’s needs
HOW I PRACTICE DAILY SELF-CARE
Ultimately, the list above is what I would do regardless of a global pandemic, but with the added time at-home and overall stressful uncertainty that comes along with it, the self-care part of this has never been more important. To expand on the notes above, here are a few things I do each day that feel like they make all the difference in both my mood + physical body:
Daily skincare (morning & night): taking care of my skin and my body (both internally & externally) is a high priority for me. I only use high quality skincare products with nourishing ingredients to hydrate and protect. Getting into the habit of promoting good circulation, has also been incredibly helpful. I love using rose quartz rollers + gua sha tools for this. *tip put your roller in the fridge for 10 mins before using, for a chilled treatment.
Proper hydration & nutrition: being home all. the. time. made me kinda lazy about eating/drinking water. I think maybe the lack of routine? Not sure but since I went back to planning out our weekly meals + grocery lists it’s made my life a hell of a lot easier. To hydrate, I’ve been finding different ways to mix it up in the water dpt. switching between ice lemon collagen waters to sports drinks to cold infusions.
Exercise: this is crucial for me. My whole day can very easily go right down the toilet if I don’t get some sort of movement in, in the morning. If I wait until the afternoon, there’s no guarantees. As you know, I’ve been boxing for 5+ years but with Covid, the studio was shut down and I haven’t been back since they re-opened. I was super lost with workouts bc let’s face it, working out from home is NOT the same, at all.
Combined with my low-ass energy, I landed on doing yoga videos every morning and made it kind of a ritual. Lighting palo santo, opening up all the doors and windows in my living room…it became a whole thing. I also was introduce to Melissa Wood Health’s long & lean workouts on her app. Been doing her workouts + meditations daily and it’s been life changing. Let me tell you.
Lots of time outside: there’s nothing more grounding than getting out & soaking up all that fresh air. My dog makes this really easy for me so there’s always an excuse to get out, even only to take 5.
Reading for min 30 mins: I love a good reset of the mind and nothing gets me there quicker than some quiet time with a good book. You guys already know my book preferences, but if not here you go.
HOW I’M PROGRESSING WITH GOALS + INTENTIONS IN 2020
When the lockdown first began and everyone went into panic mode, I have to admit it was really confusing to figure out what to do with myself. I’m sure a lot of people felt this way. Even though I do have a home office and normally work from home, my schedule up until this year had been VERY different. In the sense that my days were always structured in a way that would break the day up.
Obviously there were a lot of projects and partnerships that got pushed or postponed, and for the first few weeks that really got me down. I was becoming super frustrated and impatient with not knowing how things would go, but if I’ve learned anything in life it’s that you have ZERO control so it’s better to ride the wave.
I made a choice right then to stop worrying and wondering about the future and get busy doing what I can right now. Instead of trying to control the future I just decided to commit. My new plan is to use this unforeseeable amount of time to keep my head down and continue building forward. Jotting a few notes down of what I’m focused most on RN:
+ committing to my health & wellness daily
+ moving daily
+ keeping consistency within my business & social channels
+ building a new website, blog & newsletter
+ brand partnerships for 2021
LIVING WITH INTENTION
This August I’m turning 34 and feel really comfortable and confident walking into a new phase of life. My husband and I have been together for 13 years and will be celebrating 5 years of marriage this summer.
Up until this point, I have felt very clear on my decisions in terms of being on a birth control pill. They say once you know better, do better. So, once I knew that birth control was no longer the best option for my body, I switched to the IUD and never once had an issue.
Now that we are in a more established position to think about expanding our own family, I have made the decision to have my IUD removed to give my body a break. It’s a super exciting time and one that I am grateful to be in the position to experience. I don’t feel any rush or pressure to meet a certain timeline, we are just enjoying life together, as we always have.
If there’s one thing I could applaud my younger-self for, it would be for being intentional and proactive in how I choose to shape my life. I always wanted to be a career woman and making the right decisions for me along the way to be able to fully realize that now is truly a gift.
Reminder: your life is up for grabs, it’s up to you to take exactly what you want.
BE INTENTIONAL.
This post was sponsored. As always, all thoughts + comments are my own.
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