I read recently that one sign of trauma and ptsd is always needing something going in the background of your life – music, podcasts, the office on repeat (guilty🖐) – effectively drowning out the narrative of your life and keeping you distracted from any real processing. When I read that I was like, 𝑤𝑜𝑎ℎ - I’ve been doing that without even realizing it. I’m not really sure when it started but it’s definitely been pretty much constant since our quarantine. I’ve taken to wearing headphones while I work but then found myself wearing them on all day to distract me from the realities of the world we are living in today. I’m sure many of you can relate to this. It’s a pretty good avoidance tactic but doesn’t actually help us in any way. . I think this last cycle of anxiety and depression was even more intense since I had let most of my self care practices slide. I’ve often talked on here about the chase of Mr. Anxiety and Mrs. Depression in my life; how one often follows the other, but I don’t think I have shared much of what I do to handle these two bastards. Do you guys want to hear about it? . I gave myself the grace to take a break from my fiber work and solely focus on coming back to myself - on performing all the types of self care I have learned over the years. My plan is to share them all with you over the next week or so - some of them may may seem super simple and even obvious but I know that I often need a reminder and I think this is a great way to get the conversation of self care going. . So, my fiber+blood family, let’s come together this week and talk about mental health and share our self care tips. I’m looking forward to sharing with you what works for me and I would love for you to share with me and this community what works for you. Let’s build up our self care practices and handle this 2020 anxiety/depression like a pro!!

1.🄲🄾🅅🄸🄳 🄲🄰🅁🄴 🄳🄰🅈 Spread the love! Scott recently invented something I just have to share with you - it’s called Covid Care Day and it is the first tip in our self- care routine. And what is this cheesy sounding day about? Well, once a week (Saturday’s for us!) we take the time to connect with someone in our life - from our present or our past. After dinner, once a week, we sit together with pen and paper and write letters to the people we care about - telling those in our lives that they are loved and telling those from our past that they are an important part of our story. It has been a really special part of our new routine - and honestly, I think it’s so important right now to spread more love in our drowning world and help support those we care about. We are all struggling with this collective grief. ☀︎︎ Is this something you might add to your Self-Care Routine? I know we all have a lot on our plates right now - keeping our children alive, entertained and educated, keeping the house from being condemned, trying not to get fired or let your business go under and somehow, in it all, keeping sane is a lot - but I really do think you will all benefit from adding this love filled activity to your life.

2. 🅂🄾 🄼🅄🄲🄷 cardio this is probably an obvious one but it’s a biggy for me and has been since my anxiety/depression started as a young teen. I found out early that exercise was a guaranteed way to at least improve my metal health by 1% and most of the time that was enough to get the ball rolling for me. These days I often choose playing with fiber over playing on my yoga mat or treadmill, which is dumb, since the instant I start movin’ and sweatin’ I feel better. Many of you agree and have told me that exercise is a super important part of your self care routine too!

3. 🅂🅄🄽🄱🄰🅃🄷🄸🄽🄶 Damn, that Vitamin D is good! 🌞 I realized recently that maybe the main reason I find sitting in the sun so relaxing is that the bright blinding light and the excessive heat force me to just sit there and do absolutely nothing but watch O play and dip my feet in the water when I can’t take it anymore. Many times I have tried to work on my phone and I’ve even taken my rack out there in the sun to work on some projects but within minutes I am so hot I want to die and I just give up and let myself enjoy the sun and my son. I’m feeling very aware these days of how quickly life passes and can hardly believe the little bug I carried around in a wrap all day long is so big I can barely hold him. We have been together every single day and every single night since they cut him out of my body and somehow it doesn’t feel like enough - how can that be? I remember the first time (once I was out of my birthing fog) that I looked down at Ocean, nursing (always nursing!) in my arms and realized that I loved him so much it hurt and somehow I missed him even though I was literally holding him. I’m sure every other mom out there can relate to this strange and powerful feeling. Wow, I digress - what was I talking about? Oh right, Sunbathing - it’s self-care tip number three! Grab your sunscreen, ditch your clothes (all of them if you are comfortable enough and have a private area to lay out) and soak up that glorious sun!

4. 🄽🅄🄳🄴 🅈🄾🄶🄰 - or really doing anything naked. 🧘‍♀️ I’ve always been a bit of a nudist - I grew up in a home where it was ok to be naked but your privacy was also always respected so I felt safe and secure to be however I needed or wanted to be. So I’ve always enjoyed being nude in my own home - it was a bit of a problem when we lived in the city but now i can feel free to be just me out in the country home. It may seem really foriegn to you and maybe even unnecessary but I find that it really helps me reconnect with my body AND my soul to be without clothes for a while - doing a little nude yoga, sunbathing of course or even just lounging around, wrapped up in a giant comforter, watching tv. See you don’t necessarily need to be walking around with your bits all out if that’s not something you’re used to, but I do encourage you to take off every single piece of clothing, grab a giant comforter -use it as a bloody toga - and just be for a little bit. Do that a few times and maybe eventually you’ll be ready for some naked yoga. The combination of breath and naked movement really is something special.

5. 🅁🄴🄰🄳🄸🄽🄶 - I’ve found immense peace in books since a young child and have no idea why I hadn’t been reading the last few months - I guess it’s cuz I tend to replace everything with my beloved fiber arts 😬. . So I fixed that by reading constantly for a few days and replacing all my tv time with book time. I’m re-reading all the Ursula K. Leguin books I can get my hands on and man, it always amazes me how no matter what book I pick up, it has the words I need to hear at that point in my life, at that exact moment in my journey. Get ready for lots of The Wizard of Earthsea quotes in the next few weeks guys - so much good stuff in there. . Reading really is home for me and it really does improve my mental health - when I sit down to read I am instantly able to get into a meditative state and find that the escape I am looking for is easily found -and yet when I sit down and watch a tv show that meditative state is no where near. I’ve decided it’s time to listen to that and cut down on my screen time. . How about you friends? Is reading a part of your self care practices? If so, whatcha readin’? Please share with me below!

6. 🄼🄰🄺🄸🄽🄶 🅂🄾🄼🄴🄷🄸🄽🄶 🄵🄾🅁 🄵🅄🄽 Sometimes pressing pause on what we feel like we have to do and pressing play on something that sounds fun is a good way to give ourselves some self care. And although that’s hard for me to do when I have clients waiting - when I keep making mistakes, keep having to backtrack and generally just feeling a little lost in my work, I can tell it’s time for a break. There is a different level of meditation that happens for me when I make something just for fun, something easy, maybe something I’ve been dreaming of for a while or even something I’ve made before. Just letting something flow out of you while your mind takes a break and your soul gets a little recharge. That’s how the 𝕊𝕖𝕝𝕗-𝕝𝕠𝕧𝕖 𝔼𝕤𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕒𝕝 𝕆𝕚𝕝 𝔻𝕚𝕗𝕗𝕦𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕤 came about. I made something just for the joy of it as part of my self care and I think they shine with that intention. There’s a bunch left in the shop if you want to check them out. Have you made something just for the joy of it lately? Or maybe you cooked something just for fun instead of because you had to? Or you went for a run purely to feel the wind in your hair, not to burn those pesky calories - tell me about it below!

7. 🄶🄾🄾🄳 🅂🄻🄴🄴🄿 Sleep is a coveted thing here in our type one diabetic household. All bedtimes are filled with alarms and no one sleeps deeply for fear of O having a low blood sugar. It’s been 4 years since I have laid down for a nap without literally waking in a panic to check on Ocean’s blood. Both Scott and I need to work on how obsessive we get - as you can imagine, it’s easy to get so caught up in diabetes care that the rest of life just gets swept under the rug - including precious sleep. 😴 Scott has been stepping in and going with even less sleep himself to let me have a chance to finally get some extra uninterrupted hours in - to give myself some self care by doing NOTHING but sleep - turning my nurse mind off completely and knowing that Scott has Oceans blood under control and just letting myself dream. I didn’t dream much the first 2 years after O’s diagnosis - you can’t dream when you don’t sleep - and of course when I did dream it was filled with horrible, horrible things. It’s easy to see how lack of sleep so greatly effects our mental health - if we have a rough night with diabetes care, I am guaranteed to wake up with the heavy weight of anxiety in my chest or the blanket of depression over my body. So take that extra nap, go to sleep early, lay in bed in the morning with your book - I know that’s hard when we have kids but lets moms ask for a little more help - and when we get that help instead of doing more chores, take that time for yourself and 𝑡𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑛 𝑛𝑎𝑝.

8. 🄹🄾🅄🅁🄽🄰🄻🄸🄽🄶 - I journaled a lot as therapy in my teens and early 20s but have been expertly trying to hide things from myself for years. My wonderful friend @manicdirteater reminded me recently about the release that journaling can give. Writing down whatever it is you need to let go of - whether that is your traumas and losses or maybe your fears and regrets - not only does it help you by getting these things out but when reading back over what you’ve written, you may see patterns in your life and patterns in your mistakes and then maybe you can learn from them. And lastly, if it’s something truly terrible, truly horrible, that you just can barely handle writing down and you’ve been burying it so deep for years - burn it. You burn that little piece of paper you wrote it down on. I know, it might seem kind of silly but there is something magical about releasing our deepest darkest secrets that way and letting them be eaten up by the fire. It’s been a healing release for this guilt ridden momma. Just try it and see what you think - I really encourage you to add journaling to your self-care routine friends and tell me below if this is something you already do to process this crazy life.

9. 🄴🅂🅂🄴🄽🄲🄸🄰🄻 🄾🄸🄻🅂 Some of you may remember I was a massage therapist up until about a year ago (it’s all fiber, all the time now!!) - I regularly played with essential oils during that time but the focus was on how I could help my client find healing not how I could help me. I feel frustrated with myself that I have put my needs on the back burner for so long. I like to blame it on motherhood but the neglect was going strong even before my little bug changed the game. Not anymore!!! The second I cracked open my @youngliving Stress Away roller from @ohdarlingoils, the familiar scent immediately forced me to take a deep breath and let go just a little bit. I’ve been using it daily and have even got my boys into it - Scott and i are both finding it helps our anxiety and we are just so astonished at the power of essential oils. . Do you use essential oils as part of your self-care routine? What else do you use essential oils for? What are your favorite scents or scent combos? Are you as amazed as me at the power of our earth?

10. 🄳🄸🄴🅃 & 🅂🅄🄿🄿🄻🄴🄼🄴🄽🅃🅂 Food becomes a factor for most of us when dealing with anxiety or depression so it’s obviously pretty important for us to keep that in mind for our self care. Really trying to eat a balanced diet (that works for you! We are all different and have different needs!) and then maybe adding a few vitamins and supplements to top things off. I have recently added Ashawaganda, Rhodiola Rosea and Magnesium citrate as natural anti anxiety meds and have already seen a difference. Google em for more info cuz I don’t have the time or really the knowledge to tell you much about them; I just know they help me and might help you too. What vitamins or supplements do you take that really help with your overall mood and energy?

11. 🄻🄰🅄🄶🄷🄸🄽🄶 duh everyone knows laughing is the best medicine 😍 Watch a funny movie, Have a tickle fight with your child or just genuinely engage with your partner and let the laughter flow. Isn’t it amazing how a good belly laugh and turn your day around - I also just love to hear my boys laugh - it feels me right up.

12. 🄸🄽🅃🄸🄼🄸🄲🅈 I know this is hard for some people to talk about but it’s not hard for me so we’re gonna do it anyway. 🤪 I think that for most of us intimacy is a basic human need but it’s one they easily gets put to the back burner when live gets crazy. I mean, really, I get it – we are tired, we are burned out, we might be over touched with kiddos - and I also get that in the depths of anxiety and depression your sexual switch may be turned off - but intimacy means a lot things. So let your partner hold you, take a walk just the two of you holding hands and talking about real life - not all this political bullshit - eat dinner just the two of you and watch a funny movie, you get the idea - there are lots of things you can do to increase intimacy with your partner besides sex. HOWEVER, don’t discount the effectiveness of a fabulous orgasm to increase your over all mood and health - on your own or with your partner, but if you do have a partner, let them love you, let the spoil you, let them pleasure you - put the world aside and just try to be present with just the two of you.

Welp, that’s it for now! I would love to hear what you do to help balance this life, especially during this crazy time! Let’s talk about it and help each other through! Love you friends! Xoxo