(Upbeat music playing)
Having a long to-do list of all the things you need to accomplish before you clock-out for the day can be really daunting.
So starting with what you're most comfortable with will ease you into productive and fulfilling day filled with all the self-love and self-care you deserve :^)
For me, a day of self-care always begins with tyding and cleaning. I feel like I've been starting most of my videos with some sort of organizing.
But clearing this space around me really does help me clear my thoughts.
And having a clear mind is imperative to being our best, doing our best, and living our best lives. :^)
Taking the first step towards something greater and wonderful is never easy.
Leaving your tree house of trust and comfort isn't easy either.
But change doesn't happen by doing what's easy.
It happens by getting comfortable with the uncomfortable and taking that first step anyway.
The good news, the first step doesn't have to be anything ground breaking.
My first step was picking up what was on the floor, putting it back where it belongs, and vacuuming.
(Vacuum noises)
In other words, finally getting around to do what I've been neglecting to do for weeks.
Moral of the story, just start.
Because taking that first step will ultimately lead you closer to where you want to be.
What we eat directly effects the structure and function of our brain, which effects our moods.
Because our brains are always working around the clock, regardless if we're awake or sleeping, it requires a constant supply of energy, and this energy comes from the foods we eat.
I love my green smoothies and healthy frozen foods because I'm the queen of convenience and sometimes there really just isn't enough time to cook a real meal.
But at the end of the day, a liquid diet and highly processed frozen foods, no matter how healthy, is not really sustainable.
It's still best to eat real whole foods, if and when possible.
So I've been making a point every weekend to cook at least one meal, while I'll meal prep for the week and clean out the fridge.
Today, I made Japanese curry with onions, potatoes, carrots and cauliflower.
Ate this with soba noodles, it was so good. :)
Leeks with siracha tofu and steamed broccoli with olive oil and Everything Bagel Seasoning.
Start with whats manageable and work your way closer to your ideal routine.
Be mindful of what you eat and pay attention to how different foods affect you.
Try eating a clean diet for one or two weeks by cutting out processed foods and sugars, and take note of how your mind and body reacts to it.
Studies have shown that you'll feel both physically, mentally and emotionally better, and that's the objective of taking care of ourselves, right?
Since I started helping out at the Beauty Within channel, I've been doing a lot of research on cosmetics and skin care, looking into all the ingredients industry standards.
And lets just say, labeling within the beauty industry is severely unregulated. I was shocked.
*hello darkness my old friend*
This is a super important component of self care because our skin is our largest organ, absorbing up to 60% of the products applied to it.
So it in turn effects our overall health and well-being.
I've been making a conscience effort to swap in cleaner skin care products into my routine, and was so excited when Follain sent me this super cute care package.
All non-toxic, vegan and cruelty-free. This Osea ocean cleanser actually smells like the ocean on bummy summer morning.
And I've been using it every day! The smell honestly puts me in such a good mood because beach is life, and the ocean is my home. :^)
If you're not familiar with Follain, they're a clean beauty retailer that believes we should never have to compromise our health for beauty.
Think Sephora of clean beauty. They do all the heavy lifting, with rounds of rigorous testing to ensure and give us the piece of mind that all the products in their shelves are 100% non-toxic.
Going back to the first point of starting with whats manageable, if you're looking to detoxify your skin care game before investing in a full-size products, you can test out the clean essentials kit,
which is suitable for all skin types.
The kit is normally $45, but the first 200 people will get 60% of, with free delivery! So that's dollars. I got you with the math. :)
If you're like me, you don't wake up in the morning with a goal of wasting your precious morning hours, scrolling through Instagram.
But hey, it's my reality and it happens often.
Which is to say, that for as busy as we are, we can always find time through out our days to do at least one we've been meaning to do.
As I've mentioned in my previous video, I want to learn more about my people's culture, mainly the Chinese language in general, and more specifically, traditional Chinese culture.
To learn more about Chinese history and get better at listening, I started watching Three Kingdoms, which is the transitionary period between the Han and the Tang dynasty.
One of the bloodiest, yet romanticized, periods of Chinese history.
To brush up on my writing, I've been copying Zhuan Falun, the book written by the sounder of my spiritual practice, Falun Dafa.
And to dive even deeper, I've been reading these books on ancient Chinese philosophy, on the women of ancient China, on one of China's 4 great classic novels, and on Chinese war strategies.
Regardless of what your one thing is, follow it, and see where it takes you.
It's that whole, "going wide and deep" thing into anything and everything that interests you.
The benefits of having interests and hobbies are plenty. It's been helping me structure my time better, promoting flow, ...
... helping me be more social, because I'm talking to my coworkers who share the same interests.
And helping me, all around, just cope with stress and anxiety.
Speaking of being more social, a Harvard study found that it's close relationships, more than fame, class, money, IQ, or even genes, that keep people happy across their lives...
and delay mental and physical decline.
In this hyper-connective and digitized world, we are actually moving further and further away from real connections and collectively experiencing higher levels of...
loneliness, envy, anxiety, depression, and decreased social skills.
The good thing is, there are many things we can do to deepen our relationships and reconnect with each other.
All it takes is a willing heart, a bit of effort, and your time.
A few things I like to remind myself are to put my phone away when I'm out with friends, especially if we're eating together, ...
To go beyond that, "Hey how are you?" "Good, you?" "Good" exchange, and really ask questions like, ...
'How are you really doing?"
"How have you really been feeling?"
"Any strange things happen to you lately?"
"What's been keeping you up at night?"
And also saying yes to more social outings in general with friends, even if it's just once a week or calling my parents on my commute home every night.
So, as much as we love this whole "hiding out in our caves" thing, and as glorious as it can be most of the time, ...
we should try to make more time for real, in person, human interactions whenever possible.
And do a better job at keeping in touch with friends through technology, like sending texts and facetiming, ...
instead of just liking their instagram photos and keeping up with their lives via their stories, because I am very guilty of this.
Whether we realize it or not, we spend the majority of our days doing things we've already done hundreds, if not thousands, of times before.
Even what was new to us a few months ago will become routine.
Very rarely do we actually try new things for the purpose of engaging in a new and unique experience.
But what if we made a point to do exactly that.
Similar to taking the first step, trying something new can be something super simple.
For me, it was lighting incense. Something I grew up around but haven't touched in over a decade.
There are many reasons to burn incense these days, but since I've been interested in learning more about traditional Chinese culture, ...
I asked my mom about the significance of lighting incense, in the context of Buddhism, ...
And it seems to be routed in intention.
It is believed humans can not offer anything of value and worth to Buddhas, as we are humans, and they're gods.
So burning incense with a pure and devout heart is a form of respect.
A lot of magical things have been happening all around me, so I was super down with this because it was exactly what I wanted to do.
And like clean eating and clean skincare, there are clean incense as well.
The sourcing ingredients used is important, and the one I'm using is made in Taiwan from natural sandalwood, all natural adhesive, and 100% chemical free.
It's linked down below if you're interested.
All this to say, trying new things will help you work a part of your brain you haven't worked in a while, which helps stimulate creativity, ...
which helps you overcome the fear of the unknown, which helps you get to know yourself better, ...
which is an essential part of self care! So many wins! So. many. wins.
Have faith and trust in yourself and others, and in something greater than yourself, be the universe, God, Gods, or Buddhas.
I'd like to believe that the greater forces beyond us have our best interest at heart.
That life doesn't happen to us, it happens for us.
That we have the choice to either, sit on the sidelines and pass and endure whatever's thrown at us, ...
or take control of the drivers seat and actively steer our lives in the direction we want.
It's like Steve Job's quote of connecting the dots looking backward. No matter how awesome or not awesome our lives are in this moment, ...
it's incrementally moving us closer and closer to where we need to be, and in time, the dots will all connect and it'll all make sense.
And remember, it's all temporary. Happiness, sadness, joy, anger, peace, frustration, feelings, all feelings. It's off-leading.
So trust in yourself, and in the process, believe you're in good hands, and you will be.
Sending every single one of you beautiful souls a giant smothering bear hug, voice hug, all the hugs in the world! <3
I love you guys, thank you so much for joining me. I hope you like this video! Be sure to give it a thumbs up and subscribe if you're not already.
I'll see you guys in the next video, Love you! Bye!