My Personal 2016 Wellness Wrap Up!
♥ local lunar babe @chi.borrello
Hey 2016! You were actually an awesome year for me, thanks for existing and allowing me to exist through you. I love to reflect, so the following are some of my health & wellness highlights:
– Self-care became the top priority. After a few years of insane stress + anxiety, working 24/7 & zero holidays, all of that changed when I finalised the sale of my old business. Actually – it took a little longer if I’m being honest. At first I felt relieved, but also out of sorts. I’d been working so much that it felt wrong to have downtime, so I started freelancing & picked up a few ongoing marketing clients who were all AMAZING, and the extra money was terrific, however I was back to working 7 days a week and exhausted. Any days off I had from my regular job I was face deep in other work & I was burning out. Something had to shift, but I wasn’t sure what it was quite yet. All of this lead to…
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– Another life changing Bali trip (full review to come soon!). In June I spent 10 days in Ubud with my boyfriend & bestie, and it changed everything. We decided to create a DIY yoga retreat, this meant 2-4 yoga classes per day, meditation, incredible vegan food, loads of coconuts, cold-pressed juice & kefir, Ayurvedic treatments, pool time, a little exploring & lots of rest too.
It was here that I realised what I had been doing. I was focusing so much on work that I had absolutely no time to take care of myself. Being constantly tired, daily 2-3 hour afternoon naps, fluctuating moods & regular junk food cravings had become my new normal. I knew what I had to do.
As soon as I returned home I contacted my clients, thanked them for being wonderful & bowed out. I now enjoy 2-4 days off a week for the first time in around 5 years and have never felt healthier.
♥ Sunshine + cats!
– Moving House + Sunshine!. Prior to my Bali trip, probably the biggest event of the year occurred. I moved house! From my teeny tiny falling apart-ment of 6 years, containing zero sunshine opportunities & zero landlord fucks (the place was practically in disrepair, but I did love it), to a giant, beautiful old house with a cat, huge backyard, plentiful slices of sunshine, AIR CONDITIONING (a big deal!!!), fireplace, amazing kitchen and a million other great things. Let it be known that having space to dance around, a couch outside to enjoy the morning breeze & birds, loads of flowers & trees, and a little bit of heating/air conditioning does wonders for your overall wellbeing – who knew 😉
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– Seeing a Naturopath. I wrote a big article outlining the reasons why I saw a Naturopath when I was feeling healthier than ever. And I can now attest that it’s absolutely one of the very best things that happened last year.
I’d seen Marnie a few years ago and loved her down-to-earth approach. I was already feeling great, but knew I had a few lingering deficiencies that could be improved upon. Actually they were pretty important ones! My iron was incredibly low (just below the lowest acceptable minimum) and my vitamin D levels weren’t great either, more than likely due to living in the no-sunshine-home mentioned above.
Both of these have a huge impact on mood and energy. Having struggled with intense chronic anxiety and low energy in my life, I knew it was time to get on top of these once and for all. I’m now spending a little bit of time in the sun every day, taking Vitamin D supplements to help & taking Iron supplements too. Interestingly, low iron is a pretty slow fix. It may take up to 2 years to get the levels to their peak, but I’m feeling better every day and excited to continue on this journey to full health. If you need a Naturopath I can, and always do, highly recommend Marnie Downer in Mount Lawley / Inglewood.
♥ Running around Lake Monger
Running. I’ve always found it difficult due to the aforementioned anxiety and low iron, however in June of last year I decided to recruit a friend and finally give it a real go. We decided on Couch to 5K, which is an 8 week program available as a phone app or you can just time your runs (the app is much easier!). This program does as it says and gets you from the couch, to being able to jog without stopping for 5K.
I have a confession to make, however! Due to my yoga teacher training, other fitness classes that need to be taken as part of my job, sicknesses, weather and general life – my pal and I are actually only up to ‘Week 5’ of Couch to 5K!!! But we’re both okay with it. At the beginning neither of us could jog for even 60 seconds and we are now able to cruise through 5-8 minute runs without collapsing. We’ll get to the full 5K this year 🙂 The mental and physical benefits have been fantastic – increased confidence, calmness, flatter stomach, better sleep, increased overall fitness – the list goes on.
If you are able to stick at it 3 x per week as the program suggests then you will get there much quicker than us, as we’ve only been able to squeeze around 1 per week in.
Hot Yoga Revelations. Listen closely, I’m about to share something that might change your life, as it is starting to do so for mine. So, as you may have gathered I do a bit of yoga and take a few fitness classes, partly because it makes me feel fantastic & partly because my job at lululemon requires it (cool job!).
What I’ve only JUST realised after all this time, is how incredible I feel the day after a hot & sweaty yoga class, but the kicker is that it HAS to be in a heated room. Why? I have absolutely no idea yet! All I know is that the day after sweating it out in warm to hot yoga, I feel INCREDIBLE. The only way I can describe it is a childlike feeling of joy and contentment that permeates through the whole next day and often lingers into the next.
You best believe I’ll be experimenting more with this in 2017!
So that’s my wellness year laid bare for you, I’d absolutely love to read your personal wellness discoveries of the year – and if you have any exciting plans for 2016, so share with me in the comments below! 🙂
Be well,
Annette xo