HEALING || 1 Month of Radical Self-Care

 Merry Meet!

How have you guys been? What's up my little Enchanted ones?

See, the month is coming to an end. And it's been one hell of a weird month.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

TW

Let's preface a bit. 

23rd of February, I decide to have not one, not 2 but 5 beers. In the midst of packing, with full frustration with my life as I was not living the truth and have been like in this stagnant puddle for what seems like to be forever I decide to hurt myself. 

Yeah, not cool, I know.

I ended up in the hospital, in the ward and spent a few days with other wackos, only to realize that my problem is actually easily solvable. 

So, I took my handy dandy journal and started journaling my days away. 

Once I came out, I had to have the inevitable talk with my managers at my job. Cause, you know, a girl has a 9-5, she's gotta eat.

And guess what? They're not happy. They lay me off.

But weirdly enough they lay me off only for a month and give me one whole entire month just to work on myself.

It was a sign. And that's when RADICAL self-care began. 

Here's are top 5 things I did for my radical self-care month that made the biggest change:

1. MOVEMENT.

Dude. My brother in spirituality. Anyone. I was so stale, my energy was so off, and my ass would literally get cramps from sitting too much. 
So the first thing I decided to implement was movement.
My decision came to the one that I enjoy the most-- yoga.
And honestly? Doing yoga for a full month, every day... Life changing. 
First I noticed that my flexibility got back.
Then I noticed I am less anxious. My energy was no longer stale and stinky and my movement kept new energy coming. 
I would feel endorphins and dopamine literally as soon as I got into that child's pose. 

For you, movement might look different.
Other options are out there, and as the weather is getting warmer here in my little cave, I might pick up walking. Or maybe even running.

See what works for you best. Listen to your intuition. Try things out until you find what makes your soul sing.

2. NUTRITION

So, I am very lazy. Well, I was. Now I'm a different person. 
Before I went to the hospital, my diet consisted exclusively from carbs and fast food. 
Not saying those are bad foods but when that's the only thing that you eat?? Sheesh.
So I started slowly transitioning to going vegetarian (future post incoming) and eating more fresh produce. 
The first change I noticed was of course how much energy I suddenly had. How fresh that energy was.
The second thing I noticed was my appearance. I was no longer as bloated, my skin started to have this glow, my eyes were glinting and my hair got a bit better. 

Change up your eating habits. Try to aim for a few days a week where you eat healthy food. Healthy doesn't necessarily mean vegetarian. Listen to your gut (ha!) and follow your instincts.

3. GETTING THE HELP I NEED

I am a psych case. With my borderline personality disorder and possibility of bipolar disorder, my mind can sometimes get into this jumbly mess of depression and anxiety and no joy and everything will die out eventually yadda yadda you get the drift. 
My medication I was on prior to me going to the hospital just weren't working for me. That doctor wasn't working for me. 
And until I journaled in the hospital, I didn't realize that I can just... Change doctors.
I'm a very smart dumb person.
So I ventured out and got myself a brand new psychiatrist that put me on a whole different set of meds that are doing wonders and now I feel loads better.
Also, I have an amazing therapist. She is the kindest, sweetest girl and our communication is excellent.

Point is -- If you need help, don't be afraid to ask for it. Go to therapy. Take your meds. It really does make a difference.

4. WATER

Ahh. the age-old productivity guru advice. Drink some water. 
But here's the kicker... It actually works. I start my mornings with chuging down 0.5 L of water before anything and I carry my water bottle around the apartment with me. It's like we're conjoined twins at this point. 
One more time, the first thing I did notice was that I had a lot more energy. 
The second was- my skin cleared up, my digestion got better and I had way less cravings that usual.

Get yourself a cute water bottle and give it a try. Write about your results in the comment section or on any of my social medias!

5. QUITTING ALCOHOL FOR GOOD

Alcohol and I, we have this toxic relationship. I wish I could say that I am that type of person that can have one glass of wine and be done. No. no, no. I gotta get sloshed every single damn time.
And when I do, well I tend to make shit happen. I'm a shitty person when I am drunk. I cry, I argue, I yell, I hurt myself and the people around me.
So, as part of radical self-care, I quit drinking alcohol. And it hasn't been easy. But I can see the results already. My skin is looking better, my thoughts are more clear and I am slowly fixing relationships around me that were destroyed by alcohol.

If you can manage to stay at one glass, that's fine. But if you're anything like me, well... Then let's quit together! Try to lay off of alcohol, give it a try and tell me how's it going for you. 
I'll make a separate post for this one for sure.

This month has been a blessing and I am so thankful that I got a full month just to focus on myself. 
Now that I might go back to work, I know I will have less time, but I will have habits that I picked up in March with me to take into April. 
I will do an updated version of this for sure, once I start working again. 

Thank you for reading this, Enchanted.
Find me on my social media and reach out, I promise I don't bite!

Blessed be. and may we meet again!

- v i v r e e -