Hi weirdos,
So it’s been a while since I have been active here, so hello… how are you?
I know so much has changed since I last wrote a blog post, the whole world literally turned to shit. So before I go on, I want to say please be as safe as possible, stay home as much as you can, practice social distancing and wear a mask the correct way at all times when you leave your home. If you have lost a family member or friend in this time, I send all my love and condolences to you and your loved ones. I wish you nothing but healing. Also, note that I will be doing a couple of sales of makeup on my Instagram soon that will go to different charities so do keep an eye out for that.
Before all of this I actually decided to change my niche to self-care and I have slowly done so on my YouTube channel and social media. Now you may see many self-care posts since lockdown which I am glad to see but there’s many reasons I chose this niche well before we had a pandemic…
Why Self-care?
It was evident whenever I spoke about self love on my Instagram that many people struggled with this. I am very fortunate that I was raised by fierce strong woman and apart of programs that really aided me to look after of my self. When I say self, I am referring to my inner self. This encompasses my mental health, physical health, emotional and psychological well-being. So when you see self-care being all about face masks and skincare, that may be a trend but it really is so much more than that. It’s not really about luxury spa treatments, massages and so on. Self-care to me is improving my life in all aspects so that I can be the best version of myself in all facets of life.
Whether you are a mother, student, or working professional, you may find that most of lives are about others and being productive. We as women are constantly giving to others, we are always sacrificing for others and we so often get the leftovers. Growing up as person of colour in Durban, having worked shitty jobs for shitty men, I was told to “work hard, play hard”. “you can sleep when you die, “, “if you just work hard you will be fine, if you get a degree your life is set.” When I worked and studied full time, I ended up having a nervous breakdown. Now this happened years ago, but I realise now that many of my choices were based on others expectations. I literally had to go through all of this to quit my degree and pursue my passions. Once I let go of the things not meant for me and go back to my teachings growing up I was able to grow even stronger than ever before.
Self-care 101
I made a YouTube video about all what Self-care is to me. To summarise that, it means growing and evolving holistically. If you are looking back at yourself and your life and nothing is changing, you need to question yourself “Why.” I am not the same person I was a year ago, hell I am not even the same person I was 6 months ago. Self-care to me is a daily practice that allows you to be better, a simple thing like a gratitude journal can help with your emotional and mental health. At a physical level, changing your diet and being active will help you feel better. Self-care is practical, holistic and achievable for all people. It does always need to cost something, in fact most of should be inexpensive. You have to begin with yourself, you can not help others if your cup is empty.
Self-care practices
On my YouTube channel and social I have started showing and demonstrating the tools and techniques that you can use to start looking after your self holistically. You can start right now, take a deep breath in and out. There you go, you have already practiced self-care. I go quite in-depth on my YouTube channel but here’s a short list of what I have been practicing on my journey to self-care.
Gratitude journaling – Simply writing things that we are grateful for daily helps us appreciate our current life and keeps us positive about our lives and helps build self-esteem. It makes you happier! 🙂
Meditation- There is a video on my channel where I talk about the ins and out of meditation but you can start with a simple 5 minutes of guided meditation using the Headspace app. This helps your focus, your sleep and your overall mental health.
Eating healthier – While I do have good and “bad” days, overall I eat better than I did in the past. This includes all vegetables and fruits, but in the right quantities. We know we are what we eat so this is important to feel good on the inside which is not about weight loss. It’s about fueling your body with the things it needs.
Exercising – While I enjoy walking and hiking, it’s winter so I have started working out at home and including Pilates in this. This helps release endorphins which we know are “happy” hormones.
Seeking help – The main thing is getting help when I need it, also saying no and setting up boundaries. It’s about not biting off more than you can chew, it’s accepting that you are human and you may also need help from others.
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.”
–Audre Lorde
I would love you to think about the above statement, think really hard about this. Please do watch the below video on my channel to know more about my self-care journey and let know if you have practicing selfcare?
Until next time,
Much love
