My January Mental Wellness Routine
I’ve had a lot of big conversations lately about the importance of showing the process, not just of the extreme hard moments, but also of the moments when you’re building so that the hard moments don’t hit as hard.
Whether you’re navigating your mental health or grief, it can get hard. Days that randomly surprise you with all the feels usually aren’t the same days when you’re objectively learning what makes you feel better. Who has the bandwidth for that when you’re just trying to survive?
I had one of those days yesterday. My mom’s death anniversary is on January 10th and the grief around her 18th death anniversary feels new and heavy. Instead of trying out new ways to get through yesterday, I leaned on old favorites. Tried and true methods that help me.
I’ve chosen a few for January that will make up my wellness routine. These aren’t all of the tools in my toolbox, but I do consider them the heavy hitters.
I also put thought into why these and why now. January, while a new beginning and bright start of the year, is also a month long journey in building stamina again after an emotionally taxing holiday season. My focus this month is on recovering, resting, and taking in what will make me feel comfortable, confident, and with agency.
Therapy
Therapy is my every month staple. I see a therapist once a week for 45-minutes. Our sessions are at the start of the week and they help me process anything big that may have happened the days prior, while also giving me a clear mind for the week ahead. I know therapy isn’t for everyone, but it’s been the cornerstone of my wellness routine for the last 7 years. It’s comforting to have a place where I can actively go with questions about things that a lot of people (myself included) may feel I should already have answers for.
30-day yoga challenge
I’ve done yoga on and off for almost two years now. I used to go to a regular class back pre-COVID. Getting into a new practice didn’t happen in quarantine or after our move. Instead I would do a session here or a session there. In an effort to develop a habit with yoga, but also to remind myself that coming as I am is enough, I’m following along with Yoga with Adriene’s 30-Day Breath Challenge. So far, we’re on Day 5 and it’s felt good.
VITAMINS
I started taking Love Wellness almost one month ago. I’m going to do a dedicated post to my experience with them, but the high-low is that as the first vitamins I’ve ever taken, they’ve been amazing. I take two different ones, both focused on general health and vaginal health, and have felt the effects — less bloat, increase in energy, healthier overall vaginal health. The noticeable changes in my body have helped reinforce my desire to take them every morning.
ESSENTIAL OIL DEODORANT
I’m making the full switch to a natural deodorant this month. I started using Mindalt last month and I became a fan. It’s made of natural ingredients, including essential oils that release throughout the day and are basically triggered by your own sweat to do so. The smell combos help your mood. I’ve been using the Less Anxiety one a lot this week and even the smell of it has helped calm me.
journaling
A day before we made our way to Getaway House for my birthday, we stopped at Target for essentials, which for me included a new journal. The first page is the start of my new 28th year. Since then I’ve been journaling daily. While I believe in journaling a lot, it’s been hard to keep the habit up during COVID, January is my bigger push to take out the “musts” of journaling and simply make it what I need it to be.
Water
If you follow me on IG, you know I’m a big proponent of drinking water. It’s such a simple way to remind yourself that you’re your number 1 priority every day. I want to keep getting better at drinking water, so this is a focus for me this month.
clothes and makeup
I’m on Day 5 of intentionally getting ready in the morning. The benefits for me are two-fold — (1) it makes me feel better in the morning to put on something that feels more like “me” vs just a default uniform for sitting on the couch (2) I’m having a harder time with a nightly routine. If I put on makeup in the morning, I will definitely wash my face and brush my teeth at night. I am pretty good at always removing my makeup and not sleeping in it. Same cannot be said if I have a bare face all day. My mental health tells me lies about how being lazy is okay and not washing my face or taking care of myself at night is fine. For a few weeks, I’ve defaulted to feeling shitty about myself for not being able to push through the voices then I realized I could hop off that path and choose a different road. So, now, I’m tricking myself in a kind way to get the result I want at night, without talking down to myself in the process.
reading
Every day I pick up a book. I am not putting a metric against it. I don’t have to read for a specific amount of time or read x amount of books every week. Metrics feed my anxiety and my need for perfectionism, they do not serve my hope for calm and full life. Reminding myself of this has made reading fun again. I’m finishing up Anxious People by Fredrik Backman and cannot recommend it more.
I’m going to share what’s new in my mental wellness routine every month, but would love to hear - what’s in yours this month?