As we slowly head into summer, I’ve been focusing on positive changes to my health and my environment! Wellness is NOT just about what you’re munching on and how many workouts you squeeze into a week, wellness is about
1. Skincare
Something I have been so excited about lately is skincare. I have been purchasing my own amber dropper bottles and filling them with blends of jojoba oil, tea tree oil, rose hip oil and sometimes lemon oil to use on my face. This, combined with finding a skincare routine that I can stick with, has helped me to become more comfortable in my own skin than I have felt in a long time. Two other things that have really helped my skin are: actually washing my face instead of just using makeup wipes (I am so sorry to all the estheticians who are rolling their eyes at this, I always just thought the makeup wipes alone were enough!) and getting rid of all of my makeup with talc in it as I realized it was causing a lot of skin issues for me!
Since I have been making my own face oil, I was looking at my husband’s bottle of beard oil and when I realized that it was just a blend of argan and jojoba oil, he got his own special beard blend too!
2. Organizing
We moved into our house in August and we have been so busy that I am still unpacking and organizing! Needless to say, I am really embracing spring cleaning right now. I am working on it a little bit at a time and while I unpack I have been able to organize our house, figure out what storage we need to build, buy or utilize and get rid of stuff we don’t need. We just finished building out our laundry room and my office and I am not going to lie, it actually makes things I “have” to do (like laundry) more enjoyable! Having a space that is organized is more aesthetically pleasing and I personally find it very calming. As an added bonus, the more organized I am the more time I save because I exactly where things are. I also end up saving money by not having to buy duplicates of stuff we can’t find (we have been SO SO guilty of this). My go-to’s for organizing have been not being afraid to throw out junk, donating stuff that I don’t need and lots of clear storage bins and cute baskets!
3. Taking Care of What I Do Have
According to the EPA, landfills received 10.5 million tons of textiles in 2015. That number is absolutely shocking to me! While organizing, I donated or sold about ¾ of my clothing, shoes and accessories. With fewer items, I am able to better care for the items I am left with. Taking care of what I do have has included finding better storage solutions, taking things that need to be altered or mended to the tailor and cleaning my jewelry and shoes. By taking care of what I do have, my items will also last longer which keeps my textile waste down!
4. At Home Workouts and Meditation
Guess what? I am human. Even as someone who is literally on the heels of being a full-blown nutrition professional, my food choices and exercise schedule are NOT always picture perfect and I packed on a few pounds over the winter. I have been taking advantage of YouTube’s plentiful selection of workout videos, yoga videos and guided meditation videos. I love this option because they can be done literally anywhere, by all fitness levels and with no equipment. As for meditation – WOW. This is something that I find to be both relaxing and revitalizing. Feeling parts of my body and the functions of my body that get lost in the day to day chaos literally never gets old for me!
