Recently, I have discovered that taking care of myself makes not only my life happier and more productive, but also it benefits my family. I am a working mom, so I do find myself trying to squeeze in more and more tasks into 1-2 hours I have when my toddler is napping or after she goes to bed for a night. I also realized that taking on 1 task and seeing it to the end makes me feel better and more fulfilled, rather than starting 5 tasks and getting them done at 90%. The latter does not give me a feeling of accomplishment and makes me more stressed and not nice to people around me. Here are my top suggestions on distressing and taking care of yourself, because if you don’t – who will?
- Epsom Salt Baths. One of my favorite ways to kill two birds with one stone is to make my own Epsom salt bath. Magnesium salts help to pull the toxins out of the body, replenish the body with magnesium, and calm down the nerves. In winter months it is great to use some ground mustard to make the detoxification effect stronger and to ward off colds and flu. There is even an Epsom Salt float tank in Gilbert now!
- Sauna (Infrared or Steam). It does not matter which kind of sauna you will use, as long as you will find to use one. Sweating helps to relax and to sweat out the toxins from the body. Followed by a massage and lots of water with minerals to restore the fluid balance in your body will refresh and invigorate you. If you use Reverse Osmosis water clean of ALL minerals and toxins – add some drops of trace minerals or a pinch of pink Himalayan salt to replenish electrolytes you lost with sweating.
- Get Moving. Take a brisk walk or do gentle yoga or stretching. Exercise helps improve your mood and makes you sweat, thus, helping gentle detoxification. You don’t have to do the whole 1 hour – start with 10 minutes and increase as tolerated. If you are into a little bit more sweat – try 7-minute exercise routine (7 minutes app).
- Coach.me app helps to stop stressing out about not acquiring new good habits and keeps you accountable to the new habits you chose to implement into your everyday life.
- Meditation. One may wonder what meditation has to do with detox. It is simple: we do have toxic thoughts, feelings, worries and anxieties about our loved ones and things we would love to change, but cannot. I highly recommend starting 3-5 minute a day meditations.
My favorite apps are:
- Headspace. It is a subscription service, but it has 10-day 3-minute a day introductory course on what meditation is and how to start meditating.
- Omvana. 6-Phase Meditation is amazing and helps to pause and think about life, as well as working on letting go of toxic and negative emotions and feelings.
- Relax & Rest; Simply Being are very similar apps so I would just pick one to try.
- Guided Mind. It features short (5 min), medium (15 min), and long (30 min) meditations. There is a variety of topics that help dealing with the stresses and challenges of everyday life easier. After all, if one cannot change the life circumstances, it is helpful to perceive them in a different way.
- Stop, Breathe & Think. There is even a version for children! Find peace anywhere (even if you are stuck in Phoenix traffic!!!) It also gauges your physical and mental condition and makes suggestions of meditative track. Just be careful, you may fall asleep if you relax too deep – at least, that is what happening to me each time 🙂