Day 15 of my 39-day self-care challenge

These (below) are knee pads. I bought them the week before I went to my first weekend intensive at the School of Womanly Arts. I first tried them out years ago, in pole dancing classes at a place called Felinity (it’s gone now but it was run by a genius woman called Alyson Joy, and💥it💥was💥so💥good💥).

The knee pads are for dancing, for anyone who’s confused. As a tall & un-sporty person, I’ve had sensitive knees since always. AND I’ve always loved to dance.

So you can only imagine how much pleasure, movement & FREEDOM this equipment has brought to my world.

I highly recommend knee pads for everyone. Fashion designers, if you could incorporate these into pants and then those pants become wildly popular so we can all go about life being comfortable/supported, that would be great, thanks.

Seriously, though. Listen up:
Every single morning I dance. I put these on my legs & dance in standing, kneeling, crawling & lying position, all over my whole house.

As I’ve mentioned, the neighbours already think I’m nuts, so all is well.
Unless you’re already a dancer, you can’t fathom how important this is for mental health.

Yes, exercise is important. Pilates yoga gym swimming boxing sports, yes yes of course! Even the running... I know you runners love your horrible torturous activity (lol jk I have so much respect for you).

But to dance is a different type of movement.

To dance is to get exercise & so much more: expression, release, inspiration, awakening & surprises galore.

Dancing puts you in touch with your body AND your soul. Dancing starts in the deepest darkest part of you & moves from in to out, growing you taller wider deeper. Dancing connects your masculine and feminine. Dancing unlocks the secrets keeping you sick. Dancing is ALL of your senses engaged, sight sound touch taste smell, libido, memory, imagination & the part of you that is God.
I call her Goddess.

Try this, on top of the personal development you’re doing: dance to 1-3 songs that turn you on every day for the next 5 days.

And if you are in a bad place, start with a song that reflects how you feel, then turn on.

Let me know what happens, bc I GUARANTEE something will.

Resources:
Sheila Kelley’s S-Factor (USA cities and online!)
The Femme! Experience (USA cities & Toronto)
Brass Vixens (Toronto Pole Dance)

DAY 4 OF MY 39-DAY SELF-CARE CHALLENGE

Saying YES to help…

In particular, saying yes when an auntie at today’s wedding offered - nay, INSISTED - that she pack us each a very full take out box of food for our drive. We were rushing around and I had half-assedly snapped up a few goodies onto a plate, covered with a napkin...

“That’s nothing. And it’s going to spill,” she scoffed, in true Auntie fashion. So depicted here are the remains. I ate about 5 spanakopitas and god-knows how many cookies.

Why is this self-care??

Actually a lot of brides struggle with saying yes to help. Taking a frigging minute for themselves, in life, let alone the wedding day. Sometimes not receiving help is a form of grasping onto control. Other times it’s a lifelong, learned habit of putting yourself last. After everyone else is taken care of, THEN you eat. Then you rest. Then you play. But often Then never comes.

What comes in its place is exhaustion, resentment, victimhood, and burnout.

I don’t blame any person, woman, or bride, for this behaviour. I have a lifetime of practice myself — it’s what we’re taught!

But I DO see the value in ending this. That’s why I’m doing 39 days.

And sometimes the most simple practices are the most profound. I let myself eat. I drank enough water. I remembered to pee... things that, during a BUSY 12 hour wedding day, are easy to forget, postpone, or avoid altogether.

My body thanks me. My work is more beautiful and profound. My jokes (I happen to think) are more hilarious. And somewhere deep in my system, I have demonstrated I am loved, by me. Loved and respected enough to be taken care of on the most basic level.

If you’re getting married and want to make your Snack Plan, I have a blog post on keeping H’Anger at Bay on the Wedding Day!

But in the meantime, how have you said YES to receiving, lately? Don’t forget to ask for and accept a little help.

DAY 3 OF MY 39-DAY SELF-CARE CHALLENGE

This morning I woke up and noticed I was kind of pissed off. I was lying in bed, thinking about two recent incidents where people’s behaviour had made me feel irritated.

As I replayed “what happened” in my head, I felt anger bubbling up again.

Suddenly I stopped. 🛑 Why was I re-living those moments? After ALL the mindset coaching I’ve done, I know that thoughts create feelings. And some feelings are TOXIC - you can literally feel the stress hormones pumping through your body as the thoughts occur.

I took a breath and paused to ask myself a few questions. I realized that these two events: 1. Were both in the past. 2. Had been discussed and resolved between us, as best we could.

I took stock and saw that I had expressed my displeasure, set my boundaries, made efforts to understand the other person’s reaction, and had also taken steps to separate my own responsibility and feelings...
So why did I wake up thinking about it?

I realized I hadn’t SWAMPED.
Swamping is a concept I learned when studying in New York, at the School of Womanly Arts, to help you work your emotions out of your body. Yes, your BODY.

I could think my way out of almost anything, but thinking is not always enough. 🤔We live in a human body that experiences, stores, and remembers all of our emotions... hence being able to feel when they’re pumping through your system.😤🤯🤬

If you can feel them entering, don’t you think you need to feel them exit, too??

We think in order to get over anger we need to relax, but it’s actually the other way around: we need to get the anger out IN ORDER TO relax. Swamping allows you to do this.

After I swamped, I felt great. In fact, I ended up dancing around my room and doing a strip tease in front of my bedroom mirror! 🔥💃🏻💦Ruminating on the past was the LAST thing on my mind. 🤣 I headed into my day with a glow and a heart full of gratitude.

Have you heard of this? How do you get your feelings out?

I’m including this in my #39daysofselfcare challenge. Why? Because if you’re not used to allowing “difficult” feelings, some people can find the idea of swamping terrifying... But I consider it one of the most pleasurable forms of self-care I know 😍 I’d love to hear your thoughts!