Loving Yourself Isn't Vanity. It's Sanity.

Is self-care just lighting candles and incense and hopping into a bubble bath so you can ignore your problems while Enya plays on full blast? No! Self-care is a vital part of finding a healthy mental and physical state and sticking to it. Sometimes, this happens to include a room full of perfumed smoke, lit by candles, occupied by a clawfoot tub filled to the brim with hot water and bubbles, but there are many other methods of self-care that people don’t immediately think of that I find incredibly helpful.

 

Cooking For Yourself

Cooking, to me, is extremely therapeutic. Even if, with my parkinsonism, I can’t always do fine knifework, I enjoy measuring and stirring and carefully watching items as the timers tick away. I happen to choose recipes according to the Mediterranean diet and it has worked wonders for my health. Initially, I started cooking and eating this way because of my mother’s heart problem, but kept it up when even I started feeling more awake, alert, and my excess weight started melting off with just a bit of exercise. And speaking of that…

 

Exercise

Exercise has always been a part of my life. In my earliest days, that meant gymnastics, but I soon transitioned to the love of my life, dance. I danced competitively for a long while before I started to become awkward – maybe from puberty, maybe from an emerging disability. Being a person with a diagnosis of Parkinsonism, I have learned the importance of rapid exercise in the effort to control one’s symptoms. With my balance basically being cursed, a real bike is out of the question. I don’t have a stationary bike, but I do have a desk cycle! I can pedal like you wouldn’t believe on that thing.

 

Sunlight

I know some of us live in some pretty dreary corners of the world – I’m looking at you, Seattle! – but most places will allow you to get some sun each week. Enjoy it! Feel it on your skin! Sunlight has always lifted my mood out of some dark pits. It’s the reason I invested in a Happylight. If you can’t get the real thing, just flip a switch, sit down and bask in the glow of your tiny, artificial sun.

 

Medication

If you have a diagnosed mental illness, this is possibly the most important form of self-care! I don’t usually condone shoulds and musts but you absolutely must take your medicine as directed. If you have trouble with it, you should talk  to your doctor about that trouble before discontinuing the medication yourself. Ideally, you should organize your medication every week and take it at the same times every day. Alarms help with this! I organize my medicine on Sunday night to prepare for a new week, but you should do what works best for you.

 

Grooming

To me, grooming oneself can be the most fun form of self-care out there and for me, it’s extremely effective. It never fails that when I blow dry my hair into a smoother, shinier texture I feel better about my appearance. Makeup follows. When my hair is in place, I’m usually willing to go a little bolder with my makeup – red lipstick, bright or glittery eyeshadows, statement blushes, pitch black lashes, but not all at once! I feel gorgeous, confident, and I can’t resist taking a selfie and posting it on my Instagram (@easilybridget).

 

So, I’m going to open this up to you guys! How do you care for yourself? Give me all the details and don’t be shy!