Our Wellness Toolkits
With world events as they are lately, and with May being Mental Health Awareness month, we thought we’d share an interesting idea we came across a few weeks ago. A wellness toolkit. The current global pandemic, which has required most of the world’s population (who can) to shelter in place, daily terror with the news and now the current confusion about reopening has created heightened levels of anxiety and stress in all of us. This can manifest in so many different ways from insomnia to agitation to difficulty concentrating, muscle tension and so many more physical, physiological and psychological manifestations.
A wellness toolkit is a few things that you know make you feel good. Keep a written list, keep a mental list but it’s been so valuable for our team to have our own wellness toolkits that we can lean on when needed, depending on the time of day and depending on how we feel.
Temi
Movement is my primary salve. Daily exercise in the morning has 100% been my saving grace through all this. That endorphin rush as I pedal away with loud music (through my headphones) before the family gets up, helps me get out of bed early every day. I’ve definitely noticed the downturn in my mood and my patience on days I don’t burn off that layer of stress in the morning.
Fresh air. When I’m perilously close to a melt down or when my son is, we go outside. If we’re pressed for time, we’ll take a break on the patio. If we have more time, we’ll go for a long walk to the Presidio. Fresh air, sunshine and greenery hasn’t failed us yet!
Sleep. If I’m feeling particularly stressed in the evening, I’ll probably just call it a night, grab my kindle and go to bed. Almost everything feels better on a good night of sleep! Double time with running an agency and homeschool is no joke and I’m totally wiped out at the end of the day. Every. Single. Day.
Candles. Find a scent you love. My husband and son got me a beautiful Aieul candle from The House by Tracy Simmons. After my son goes to bed, I light the candle and it creates a pavlovian response in me to start unwinding for the day. My other long term favorites are Diptyque’s Feu de Bois.
Read. Protect what you allow to enter your mental space. I find TV is rarely soothing for me so if I’m feeling agitated, I’ll grab a book and immerse myself in someone else’s world with someone else’s problems! One of my favorite quotes is about travel but I also find it’s so apt for reading “ We travel because we need to, because the distance and difference are the secret tonic to creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed, and that changes everything”.
Make something. Sometimes if my mind is racing too much to concentrate on a book, I’ll make something. Cooking is the obvious choice. But for a quick and easy olfactory creative fix, I’ve been making body butters for my family. I’ve been doing it for a while using a shea butter base and I have a whole drawerful of essential oils that’s allowed me to create a selection of different “blends” to use depending on anyone’s mood. I have a “sleep” one with a lavender base, a “morning one” with a sweet orange base. I’ve also created a few mists along similar lines.
Malia
Biking. Perhaps the best decision I made during COVID-19 was buying a bike. I found a local bike store that sold new & used bikes and instantly fell in love with a lightly used road/city bike hybrid and bought it on the spot. Since that day (about a month ago) I have ridden 90 miles! I try to go on a bike ride at least 3-4 times a week and always between 10-15 miles with an occasional 20-mile ride here and there. Living in Oakland, the city is extremely bike-friendly and they recently passed bills to shut down certain streets for biking only, so it makes biking so much fun and a lot safer. Nothing brings me more joy and relaxation than biking does.
Hiking. I live right next to Lake Merritt which is crowded 24/7. It’s hard for me to get myself to run, so the best exercise and stress release for me lately has been hiking. Luckily living in Oakland there are so many trails and with the beauty that is Joaquin Miller Park, the trail possibilities are endless. Plus having an #adventuredog gets me out of the house and on the trails almost every other day. Nothing like nature and fresh air to clear your mind and soul.
Painting. Ahh painting. My greatest joy. The day that lockdown started I ordered all new paintbrushes, watercolors, watercolor paper books, and guided watercolor journals. I was finally going to have time to paint every day as I have always wanted. For the most part - I have. I painted every night for the first 3 weeks of quarantine. However, as the quarantine burnout got more prevalent I stopped painting. I realized that painting was one of the things that really kept me happy and healthy and once I started painting again I felt positive and motivated. Those simple joys really keep you going sometimes.
Connecting. Perhaps the hardest part of quarantine has been the lack of social interaction and connection. I’m a little bit like a flower in that way and my water is my friends and family and without them, I begin to wilt. However, during social distancing I have surprisingly connected with my friends and family in a deeper way. My friends and I have our nightly “conference calls” via group FT where we talk about nothing at all yet everything at the same time. I’m thankful for apps like Netflix Party which lets you watch shows with friends and HouseParty that is pretty much group FT with group games. Staying connected, even virtually is so important during these times.