3 Simple Ways to Take Better Care of Yourself (Habits That Actually Stick)

And this topic came to mind after I was talking with a friend about a class that I love in New York City called The Class, quite literally.

And a basic way of describing this workout class is that it's a somatic workout.

And for those of you who are not as comfortable with letting loose yet, it might be a really uncomfortable experience at first.

But essentially, think of it as therapy through body movement.

And the reason why I frame it like that is because it does do a lot of releasing in your system and while talk therapy is one form of releasing, dancing and moving your body and releasing through different movements and with certain music and the beat is also another form.

To the point where I know two people, one of them I know personally and one of them I've seen in class, where it's not necessarily uncommon for people to have a release where they cry at some point or towards the end of the class because it's like a really big release.

And as I was telling a friend of mine how I highly recommend this workout class, she actually told me one of the main reasons why she hasn't tried it yet is because she hasn't cried in many, many years.

And I was so surprised by this.

And she acknowledged that she would suspect that it would be a very, very big release for her because it is such a somatic, workout and so for that reason that's something that she wants to kind of like gradually work on on herself before she goes and does like a class where she's around other people and that kind of thing so I totally understand that but as I was reflecting on that conversation it didn't really occur to me that for some people they might not live as loosely as I have been lucky to do so or they might be in their own process for better taking care of themselves.

And I personally view that as, you know, in terms of like giving yourself the space and opportunity to cry as you need, to feel your emotions, to feel every single thing.

I find that a very healthy process.

And I also will say that from my experience, despite how I have a lot of strength, mental toughness, and I think in some ways I can come off very strong and firm.

Somehow along the way, I'm trying to think back to...

I want to say at some point in the middle of my college years, I started to pivot a little bit more towards this softness for myself where that guard was dropped And I really removed any fear around being emotional and feeling the things that I felt and being really honestly quite public about it.

Like I obviously talk about it on this podcast because I am not afraid of the feelings that come up.

I am not afraid to talk about it.

I'm not afraid to acknowledge that.

I've had the same psychologist for three and a half years.

He's incredibly helpful for me.

And funny enough, I always say he because yes, he is a guy.

And so many people always are amazed that like, I have a male therapist.

And that's just what works for me.

Like I knew that about myself, I knew that that would be the best dynamic for my personality.

But I also recognize that a lot of this may have came from earlier years of emotional hardship that enabled me to be extremely loose and extremely open for the most part later on in my 20s.

And so when I reflected on all of it, I realized that It comes from the compounding effects of taking care of myself.