hello sweetest potatoes
similar to our fall night time routine
let's loosely reference traditional Chinese medicine
once again, for what kind of self-care to partake in for winter, to take care of our emotional health
for as the energy of autumn is descending
with the falling of leaves, dropping of temperature
and harvesting of foods
the energy of winter is dark, deep
and cool
the nights are longer,
its cold AF
and winter just somehow
hits differently compared to all the
other seasons
which makes
winter all about partaking
in soul-
nourishing activites
self-reflection, looking inward
and meditating
even more so than fall
winter is essentially the more intense
colder sister version of autumn
all about cultivating the inner-self
on an even
deeper level, including
resting, restoring, repleneshing
revitalizing the mind, body
and
as seen in the yin
and yang symbol, winter represents the
depth of yin, or quiet
slow
and
inward energy
dominates
which can probably explain sad
season hitting differently
however within the depths of yin
there is still an underlying spark of yang
waiting to emerge, winter is known
as hidden beginnings
within stillness, energy is
gathering beneath the surface
waiting to shoot up
and prosper come springtime
as a continuation of our
how to un-potato your life challenge
we're spending
every week of January focusing on
a different
dimension of self-care
we've covered
physical and mental wellness so far
today we're on emotional wellness
being aware of our feelings
positively handling stress
as well as
compassion
love and kindness
for ourselves and others
before talking about food
which I'm very excited to talk about
I want to first show how I've
been using found time to read more
specifically I'm reading
Turning Pro
which is my theme
for the year
what we get when we turn pro is we find
our power, we find our will
and our voice and we find our self-respect
become who we always were
but had, until then, been
afraid to embrace and live out
I've been very intentional
with swapping out time I reach for my
phone to scroll Instagram
to picking up my Kindle
instead whether it be
to the bathroom
taking a breather on my couch
or waiting for my soup to boil
2019 and 2020
were years for audio books
where I preferred to listen over read
this year it may very well be
the year of the Kindle
alright, if emotional health is
defined as the ability to
successfully
handle life's stressors and adapt
to change in difficult times
many, many things
feed
into
how were able to handle life's stressors
including taking care of our diet
although what we eat
falls better
into the physical wellness bucket
think of all the times you were angry
and/or moody only to find
that all you needed
was a glass of water to de-raisin
or some food to saturate
your hanger, I know this
all to well
according to traditional Chinese medicine
warm, hearty, nourishing foods
help restore nutrients into our
bodies, big stocks and bone broth
are also great as well as
eating black coloured foods, like black
beans, sesame seeds, and seaweed
my moms been telling me since I was
peewee that white foods are
also still great for winter as it is for
fall so dicon seaweed
tofu bone broth
miso soup it is
another way I rest and restore is to
wind down with some k-dramas
I'm currently watching True Beauty
and Mr.Queen, both are
hilarious and
lovely shows so far
I know it may not be the best to be distracted
when you're
eating and be glued a screen
sometimes I prefer watching shows while I eat
so I don't spend the rest of my evening
on my phone on or
on my laptop watching
that was yummy
okay, I'm gonna clean the dishes up really quickly
put the rest of the food
back in the fridge, then
and move on with the rest of the evening
I'm gonna try on some glasses because I'm in
some desperado need of new
glasses
prescription
glasses, go to journal
take a shower, put on a face mask
and finish the rest
the rest of True Beauty
this next point is mostly about taking time
to take care of yourself and to do the things
you've been putting of for a very
long time
I discovered Warby Parker years
ago or around the same time Tom's shoes
became a thing. This to me was the
era of for-profit before good
companies would donate say
in Warby Parker's case a pair
of glasses to someone in need with every pair
of sold. Which I think is awesome
Warby Parker also has a
free at
home try-on program
which is what I am trying on
now. You can order five
pairs of glasses to try in the comfort
of your home for free for five days
there is absolutely no obligation to buy. Shipping
is free and there is a pre-paid return
label included with your order
Ok, I think these are my favorite
so far
Sorry, there is a glare.
How do I block it?
I like this one
and these ones
yes
yes, yes, yes
I like these
so these are the ones I've had for
over five years now
you may have seen in my older videos
I never really wear glasses in videos
because it just has the glare
you can't really see my face
so this is the one I've had
I love this one
it's called chamberlain
my
prescription hasn't changed too much
if anything, it got lower
which I think is an absolute miracle
considering how much
time we're spending indoors
in front of our computers either working
or just watching shows
friendly reminder, get your eyes checked
If you haven't done it in awhile, you either surprise
yourself with it decreasing
or you'll surprise yourself with that
you should've gotten glasses a long, long
time ago. This is a huge part of self-
care that, maybe we don't talk about
as much, our health, the health
of every single one of our body parts
our eyes, our ears, our mouth
oral care, everything
so important. Okay let's go to
that side of the room
to do some journaling
I'm watching too many K-dramas
CRINGE
If you're in the market for new glasses,
Warby Parker is committed to providing
exceptional vision care online and in-stores
offering eye-glasses, sunglasses
eye exams and contact lenses
glasses start at 95$
including prescription lenses
sunlight glasses, progressives, and blue light lenses
are also available
you can try five pairs of glasses
at home for free
at warbyparker.com/rowena
next up, time for some self-reflection
I'm going to be using Aileen from Lavendaire's
Artist of Life workbook
I know we just finished our own series of How to
un-potato your life and this is technically ongoing
and some of the questions are
repetitive, but I think there's a difference between
talking through my dreams
and it's just nice being
told what to do every once in a while
I take journaling very seriously
so on the topic of looking inward
winter is a great time to look at our
fears, try to name it and
ask ourselves why it is there
at the same time, it is also important to practice
self-acceptance. Observe
your fears without judgement, to be able
a sense of freedom from them
Be a gentle witness to yourself
don't worry about over coming your
fears, but rather recognize
and accept that they exist
and try to understand why
what desires and passions
fill my heart, and how is it
in turn, molding my
mind
find your values, discover what's important to you
and focus on that
if we're able to do this
we'll be able to keep our emotional health
in tip-top shape
if you need some help, may I
suggest week three of
our how to un-potato your life challenge
where we identified our life buckets
values, and whats most important to us
wink, wink
that was great
so, I got through a good chunk
of it
and
I'm feeling pretty good
still a bit more to go
and I'm gonna call it a night
one of the main things that
came up
was
this fear around
being judged
fear around disappointing others
or this fear that
when I show my true self
they'll be people who
don't like that
and I think these days
with a lot of the
cancel culture
dragging culture
tea culture, like
whatever you want to call it
it just can be a pretty scary time
but at the same time I think
this year is the year that
I want to
be true to myself
and stay true to myself
in whatever capacity that means, I don't know
but
whatever it is,
continue to
be who I am
be committed to all the things I am doing
and if things come up
if opportunities arise,
don't
let
fears of others
and other's thoughts
and disappointing others
don''t let that stop me
from being who I am
letting my true self show, ya know
the quirky, goofy
side that you guys have seen more of this year
but maybe not as much in previous years
because I just feel like
like I'm more buttoned up
and I want me to be the version you want me to be
but I think the version you guys
want me to be is myself
so
let's do that
and I have a couple more things I want to do
tonight, I would like to
shower, but I think my hair is okay
so maybe I just go another day without showering
I will wash my face and put on a face mask
relax a little and
meditate a little before bed
because that was another big thing I
kept writing
meditate, qi gong, read more
let's do that
just wanna show you guys one thing
before
I
wash
my face
I got my little chair that I
was telling you guys about
it swivels
as we wind down the evening
with the one self-care activity
that I am most consistent with
besides face-mask, I wish I face masked more
let's talk a little more about
willpower
the spirit of winter is
or willpower
its the steady determination or consistency
of how we live our day to day life
and its interesting that there is a different meaning for willpower
in the east and in the west
in the west, willpower is defined as
control exerted to do something
or restrain impulses
in the east, willpower is defined as
the anchor for our inner nature
very similar to the analogy we mentioned a few
videos ago, where if you're grounded
in your values and who you are
no matter how hard the wind blows
and how big the waves are
your ship will sway
but it's still within the radius
of the anchor
this is very much the east's definition
of will
I'm quoting this from an article I read online
I'm trying to find it
but Im struggling, I'll do my
best to link it down below
when the anchor is strong and firm
one can change orientation
without loosing one's sense of self
a truly strong will is determined but
also adaptable
life is constantly changing and
requires resilience and the ability to
adapt and transform
what this means to me is that
while self-control and determination
is needed, there is also an element
of going with the flow and honoring
changes of seasons in our life
of course, fundamentally this comes at the expense of
knowing who we are and what we value
just like there are two sides to everything in life
like the yin and yang
there is a yang side of willpower
which is the western take on willpower
self-control, determination and a
yin side of willpower
which is the eastern take
the anchor, honouring seasons,
and all that good stuff
so in this season in our life
let's be intentional with how
and where we are spending our time
and energy
focus our time on
activities that we're drawn to
and let go of things that don't align with our heart
as the dups of the season welcome us
with open arms to poke our core
and connect us with our untouched emotions
and lastly,
we're approaching sleepy time
sleep and wake up with the sun
capitalize on the healing effects of sleep
sleep used to be honestly a chore to me
something that got in the way of
my working days, and
now that I am saying this out loud
it sounds so silly, now
I reframed it as something healing
and beneficial for me
so it's something I look forward to
something I am incredibly grateful for
and it's really changed the way I
sleep and view sleep
altogether
yes, sleep is very important
rest is very important
and if you need a permission slip
or an excuse to sleep more this winter
here it is
according to traditional Chinese medicine
rest up in winter
and with that
thank you so much for joining as always
here is the biggest *voice hug* <3
EVER
I don't know why that just went solo
thank you so much to Warby Parker
for sponsoring this video
and we'll see each other next week
for social
wellness
buh-bye!