Sometimes You Gotta Glow Up

The sun is going down and September is almost over. I’m sitting out on my porch while the sky turns a soft rosy pink and the kids of the village kick around a ball in the rice field, not wasting a single moment of the fading daylight. I’m soaking it up too.

I spent the whole day doing absolutely nothing. My plan was to get up, have a smoothie bowl, go to the spa for three hours of bliss, and then spend the rest of the day poolside. Living the dream. Instead, I got up and drank half my tea, choked down my “horse-pill” sized vitamin, and started panicking about spending money on taking care of myself. A bit less Instagram-perfect. ;)

Why is it so easy to spend money and time on the people you love and so dang HARD to do the same for yourself once in a while?

This is part of the process. Self-care needs to be on my priority list, instead of something I do maybe twice a month (okay, not even then – I’m pretty sure touching up my hair doesn’t actually count, given how much work it is). I ended up compromising with my anxious feels and going to the spa, then coming home to sleep and rest and eat seaweed chips instead of socializing at a pool. #winning?

Sometimes You Just Have To Glow Up

I’m a little obsessed with this idea right now. The concept is essentially as follows – eventually, and sometimes at a pivotal time in life, we all feel the need to knuckle down on our flaws and work just a little bit harder to become the best version of ourselves. Sometimes this happens naturally, as part of a big life change. We may not even realizing we’re transforming over time. But a glow up can also be slightly more intentional. I’ve been wanting to crack down on this concept in my own life for quite a while, but haven’t made it a priority.

No more!

So many life changes are happening for me naturally right now, I figure I may as well work them in my favour. Here’s how I’m changing up my routine:

Physical Glow-Up:

• I’m finally taking my vitamins like a responsible adult, every day. Heh
• Hydration! 5-6 bottle refills a day
• Actually wearing sunscreen and taking care of my skin
• Using hand cream
• Stretching 2x a day like the doctor ordered
• Working out… okay, I haven’t been religious enough about this, but it’s a work in progress, right?
• Taking better care of my hair – reducing shampoos, introducing hair masks, taking biotin
• Laying off the makeup for a while – this was a minimalist packing trick, but my face is clearer than ever
• Actually taking my pain meds when I hurt instead of pushing through because “I always hurt, who cares.”
• Eating well, regularly
• Reducing sugar consumption
• Saying yes to rest
• Early bedtime, 6am mornings!

Mental Glow-Up:

• Meditation mornings – I love the Sanity & Self app for women, it’s amazeballs
• Working through my reading list – right now I’m working on a series of marketing reads
• REST. It’s so hard for me to make time and mental space for this
• Journalling, especially for dreams. Dreams have been rough lately
• Challenging myself to spend more time with other people even though I 1000% feel like a hermit right now
• Working on positive self-talk
• Sharing dinner with my community
• Talking myself through feelings of anxiety and self-doubt, but mostly demanding action of myself even when I don’t feel like it

These new habits get easier every day that I stick to them. So far it’s been a week and a half and I’m going strong and starting to notice changes in how healthy I feel. The mental project may take longer, but I’ve especially noticed that choosing community time over being alone draws me out of my low state by making me feel loved and supported, consistently. I’m trusting the process and giving it time.

The spa day was just an extension of this glow up project.

One huge perk of staying in Ubud is the drastically lowered cost of taking yourself out for a massage. I spent three hours getting pampered for – get this – 40 USD. Yes, please.

The massage was pure bliss, actually the best massage I’ve ever received. For once, my therapist knew exactly the right amount of pressure to use, found the painful knot that always forms behind my left shoulder-blade, and bent and pushed and prodded me into a perfect state of relaxation. From there, things got a little embarrassing.

You guys. The sheer amount of dead skin that came off my body. OMG.

First of all, my therapist had me get entirely naked. I’m usually not shy about my body, but I’m also never fully exposed to a stranger who is *vigorously* scrubbing every (seriously, every) exposed inch of my skin with handfuls of coconut shavings and rice in a cream mixture. It hurt. She took a good two or three layers off and the skin and coconut started to shed in a pretty significant pile all around me. When I was pink and soft and thoroughly scrubbed, I was allowed to rest my skin and my sense of modesty in a flower bath. I thought I was going to float away to another dimension. Amazing. If you’re ever in Ubud (and aren’t shy), definitely go to Jaen’s Spa and give this a try.

Moral of the story – spend time on yourselves, friends. You are worth it.

You’ll feel better if you make self-care and positive mental homework a daily priority. And at the end of the day, you’ll have much more to give back to your community and your family after taking care of yourself.

Also, self-care doesn’t need to look like chocolate and acrylic nails and flower baths.

It can be time for your morning meditation space, a commitment to put yourself out there more, mental space set aside for your reading list, or simply a focus on whatever part of your physical or mental health YOU want to glow up. There’s no reason to wait to start taking care of yourself.

On a final note, the Teen Program at FAS starts in less than a week! I’ve put so much time into drafting it out, and I’m psyched to see it all come together at last. Will I see you there? :)