#5

wellness

Hey sunshine! Happy Friday. Today we’re talking wellness. This topic took me a while to map out, where do I start and where do I stop? I could go on and on about wellness because my life completely revolves around this word. Whether I’m working, crafting or hanging with my friends all of it comes back to wellness. From Goop to Poosh, every bitch has their own definition of ‘wellness’ and my very unpopular opinion is I love and support them all. We’re all here just trying to do our best and feel well.

With that being said, I’m going to break today’s newsletter down into a few categories that most contribute to my overall well-being. Wellness for me means feeling present, content and healthy - having the energy and the spark to do all the things I want to do every day. I attribute that to supplements, sleep, healthy lifestyle and a practice of mindfulness.

supplements

I’m a marketer's dream and will purchase anything that will make me feel ‘well’ so I love a supplement. It’s a little dose of wellness! I’ve tried them all and I’m here to share the few I can’t live without.

• SuperYou by Moon Juice

  • I’ve taken super you for close to three years now. I did a monthly subscription when I purchased my first bottle for the 10% discount and never looked back. Super you is a ‘stress management’ supplement made with a blend of adaptogens including ashwaganda, rhodiola, shatavari and amla to target energy, mood and focus. I always bulk up my wellness routine when something tragic happens, like a boy hurts my feelings so I did start taking these shortly after the traumatic breakup that was ‘the Capricorn’. We’ll never know for sure if it was getting rid of the Cap or the super you that changed my life for the better but I like to think that it was both. I had the worst anxiety I’ve ever had and super you made me feel like a functioning human again. I went from constant tears and multiple anxiety attacks a day to a normal level of anxiety and far less tears. I’d prefer to never live a day without super you or with the Capricorn ever again.

• Rainbo Mushrooms

  • Two new additions to my morning routine are rainbo’s mushroom tinctures. I’m currently taking cordyceps for energy and lion’s mane for ‘brain power’. I’m loving this duo. I add a half dropper of cordyceps and two half droppers of lion’s mane to my green tea in the morning. They have a strong taste on their own but diluted in tea I don’t notice at all.  I’ll take an additional dose of lion’s mane in my afternoon matcha if I feel a spiral coming on but my morning dose typically does the trick. Rainbo links scientific studies on the product page of each of their products so you can see exactly how their claims are backed, which we love. Lion’s mane has been amazing for lowering my anxiety levels, it’s the boost I need on top of super you to get me to a v lovely anxiety-free resting place. I’ve seen a boost in my energy levels since I began taking cordyceps but that could’ve been due to my breakup with ‘the Pisces’. I again switched my wellness routine up directly after a breakup so it’s difficult to say if it’s singledom or the mushrooms that gave me back my spark. But I can confirm that water sign boys are exhausting.

• Elderberry/Sambucus

  • I took sambucus every day during the pandemic and haven’t gotten sick since. I also had literally zero contact with the outside world for over a year BUT take your sambucus.

sleep

Good sleep is the foundation of everything. You can’t heal, grow or thrive without a good night’s rest. I sleep 7-8 hours a night, typically from 10:30pm to 6:30am and I let very few things come between me and my rest. Setting good boundaries around your rest is a major key in establishing a sleep routine as well as creating a safe and comforting sleep space. My bedroom solely belongs to sleeping, journaling and my plants. The environment is minimal, clean and bright and there’s no room for distractions. My current obsession is sleeping with my blinds open so the sun wakes me up every morning with just enough time to journal before pilates. 

exercise (but not too much)

Working out is the fastest way to reduce my anxiety but its v important to keep balance in my workout routine. I typically work out 3-5 days a week and have at least two days off. Personally, exercise can be super addicting and I’ve definitely over exerted myself in the past (hi ballet seven days a week). After slowing down from ballet I got into a lot of intense, cardio workouts like spinning and bootcamp type situations. I loved how skinny I felt but those high-intensity workouts made my adrenaline levels shoot up first thing in the morning and never come back down. On top of my already anxious personality this was a no from me.

My current routine consists of pilates and walking! I go to pilates 3-4 times a week and walk almost everywhere. Pilates is the first workout beyond ballet that I genuinely enjoy. It takes so much focus not to fall off the reformer it’s essentially a meditation. An early morning walk to and from pilates is my favorite gift I give myself. If you’re in Chi and looking for a place to check out I highly recommend Page One in West Loop.

mindfulness

This takes so much conscious effort but once you get into the headspace it’s much easier to stay in. Being present and only spending your energy on what you can control and how you react in the present moment is truly the best way to live. I have never felt so light and in-control as I do without all these fears and expectations swirling through my brain. I really attribute my ability to stay in this space to journaling, positive self-talk and therapy.

• Journaling

  • I journal every morning. If you’ve been reading mermshit since day one you know this but if you’re new I’ll quote myself.

    • ‘First thing I do when I wake up is scroll on Instagram. I’m kidding but not. The goal is not to do this but I usually do. Then, I roll over to grab my journal and pen and start my morning pages. This activity is from ‘The Artist's Way’, a twelve week artist recovery guide. I just finished the twelve weeks earlier this month and I’m almost to 100 days of morning pages and have no plan of stopping. The goal is three pages of whatever it needs to be. Sometimes it’s filled with lovely ideas, like this newsletter, and sometimes it’s four sessions straight of me saying ‘I miss my boyfriend’ over and over again. (LOL the Pisces dumped me via text the day this newsletter came out.) I usually fall asleep between sentences and end up with pink pen marks on my cheek but it’s a great way to release any anxieties about the day ahead and take inventory of the current status of your life. I’ve found that if I write about the same complaint for more than a few days I’m more likely to take action on it once I get myself out of bed.’

• Positive self-talk

  • This is a skill that took a lot of practice and felt insane for a few weeks. I started this practice with simple morning affirmations and I was eye rolling and gagging my way through it. Now I wake up and give myself compliments until I damn near miss pilates class. I also have adapted this posi speak into the rest of my day. Especially in moments where I feel an anxiety spiral coming on. I take a step back and nicely walk myself through how to best and most effectively move forward from whatever situation has come up. I also tell myself ‘you’re doing amazing sweetie’ nearly 75 times a day because I am doing amazing!

• Therapy

  • I started therapy a few months ago because being in a relationship makes me want to die and I don’t think that supposed to be the vibe. And it’s not the vibe! I’m learning so much. Therapy has been incredibly eye opening and so helpful in putting a name to my patterns, thoughts and spirals. Instead of being like ‘I’m just chaotic!’ I can recognize that I’m being triggered and I know what I can do about it. I have also found that having a designated partner for tasks I don’t want to deal with or don’t think I have time for is a major key for me. When I know I have a zoom with my therapist to focus on my mental health and relationship woes, I make space for it and prioritize it throughout the rest of my week. It also gives me even more to journal about which we love.

And that’s wellness with merm! I hope you can take little pieces from what we’ve covered today and incorporate them into your daily life. As always, I’m giving you a gentle reminder that I do all of this and more and sometimes I still feel like shit. We’re all just doing our best. Love you! Stay well.