Friends. I’m about to change your life. This is a routine I started doing a while ago because I don’t always feel like dealing with a bath and sometimes don’t have the time. I find that as I age, I am trying to create small routines that can center, ground, and relax me in a short amount of time. Enter the five minute miracle shower. This is perfect if you don’t have a bathtub, don’t like baths, or simply don’t have the time! I personally like to do these miracle showers on days when I’m not washing my hair because my showers are really short and this doesn’t add in a lot of time. This is extra amazing if you are a night shower-er and can use it to calm down before bed!

Follow these steps and I guarantee you will get out feeling calmer and more centered:

Turn off the lights.
No candles. No lights. If you have a window this may be a little difficult if you don’t have curtains but try to make the room as dark as possible. I like to crack my bathroom door so I have the smallest amount of hallway light coming through. If you want to turn on some spa music, white noise, waves, etc…feel free!
Get in and sit on the shower floor.
However is comfortable works, just make sure you are facing away from the water. I like to adjust the shower head and position myself so that the water is hitting my neck and trickling onto my back.
Take 3-5 deep breaths.
I’m talking the best deep breaths you’ve ever taken. Work on focusing your breathing and breathe a little deeper with each one.
Facial Massage (30 secs to 1 min)
Make sure your face is a little damp and using your ring and middle fingers, move in slow circles starting at the center of your chin and moving upward and outward across your jawline. Once you reach your ears, move back to the center of your face just above where you started the previous line of circles. Move outward and upward again slowly, repeating this process until you reach your forehead.
Pressure Points (30 secs to 1 min)
Using your same ring and middle fingers, make even smaller circles, applying pressure to your temples, starting of your brows (orbital bone), and under your cheek bones right where you would contour. Don’t actually lift your fingers off your face while making the circular motion.
Back (1 min)
Lean forward slowly letting the water massage hit your entire back. Once you reach the lower back slowly lean back into your initial sitting position.
Neck circles (1 min)
Slowly circle your neck a few times in a circle, letting the water pressure hit your head and massage your scalp. Do the same amount in the opposite direction.
Take 3-5 deep breaths.
Try to take even slower deep breaths than the beginning and repeat this whole process if you have more time and need more calming.

Remember, this was a practice I invented myself that was born out of what feels good. If you find that something feels good add it to your routine. Leave me a comment below if you try this and let me know what you think!

Have a calm and centered night,

Andrea

I realized recently that I haven't shared a topic on here that I talk about a lot in my non-blog life. I am just going to come out and say that I hate the phrase 'Self Care'. It's not so much the term that I hate but the trend that it has become in today's world. Stay with me. I think that taking time to yourself is crucial, but let me explain why I feel this way.

I find that the phrase 'self care' has become a trendy word for procrastination and a gold mine for the marketing of products to us. 'Practice self care and buy this bath bomb...you deserve it.' I know you've seen these campaigns and messages and frankly it frustrates the crap out of me. Taking a bubble bath is really great but if you have several things that you need to get done that night, a bubble bath can wait until tomorrow. However, if labeled as a 'self care' moment, it's fine to push off your priorities.

If we are so stressed that we need to take a break and pause for a minute to take a bubble bath, I believe true self care is figuring out what is causing these moments of burning out and readjusting your life so it doesn't keep happening. It's crazy to keep doing the same things and expecting life to get easier if we don't self reflect and make some changes. There are no products that are going to fix the unbalanced life we are living, so today I'm offering you some tips to truly practice REAL self care and dig deeper into the stress of our lives. Use self care to really change your lifestyle so you can set yourself up for success and reduce stress and anxiety.

Please be sure to comment below with your thoughts on the 'self care' trend and whether you agree or disagree with me.

6 questions to ask yourself to practice REAL self care:

1. What is one area of my house that I can tidy to relieve some anxiety? I am a huge believer in the idea that if your environment is messy, you will feel more anxious. Is there one space that you look at day in and day out, that could be tidier? Spend some time tackling it and I guarantee it will make your home more pleasant.

2. What is the one thing on my To-Do list that would relieve some stress if I just did it? We all have those things on our lists that are either tedious tasks or simply no fun, but need to get done. Recognize this task as being annoying and just do it. Think about how relieved you will feel when it's done and carry that thought with you through the process to motivate you to complete it.

3. What is one thing that I don't want to think about right now but need to? This could be in many different categories of life. Sometimes we push things off or put them on the back burner because we don't want to think about them, but acknowledging them can take a huge weight off our chests. Debt is a great example of this. If you have no idea how much you owe in student loans, car loans, etc....ADD IT UP! The scariest part is looking at that total number, but once you do it, you can create a plan to get rid of it.

4. How would I feel if I didn't let these anxious thoughts affect me? Sometimes we need to practice self care because we can't get out of our own heads. Trust me, I'm right there with you. But if we take a moment to think about how we would feel if we didn't let the stress and anxiety affect us, we give the anxiety less power and it's easier to think through it. Really try to think about the actual emotions you could be feeling instead.

5. Who can I call to just listen to me work through this stress and anxiety? Something that is really helpful for me to do is to talk to a close friend about whatever is bothering me. Venting in a sense and getting it all out, can be all we really need to feeling better. Sometimes it's helpful to hear someone say yes this is stressful and it's okay to feel this way. For me however, I like doing this because often it's helpful to have my best friend say what's the worst that could happen.

6. Do I have a habit that I don't like and what can I do to stop it? Sometimes we don't realize the habits that we have created unless we measure them. I recommend to friends all the time to track what they spend their time doing and what the pros & cons are for each activity. If you don't like the habits you see, work to get rid of them! If it's a pretty big habit, look for support in your community to break it!

Overall these questions encourage self reflection which I am HUGE on! I talk about it all the time with people because I believe it is so important to make changes when it's necessary and redirect what we are doing on a daily basis. I hope these questions encourage you to practice REAL self care and change your lifestyle for the better instead of supressing it with another bath bomb.

Have a beautiful day,

Andrea