Mercury is in the microwave again..
Pillars of Life to combat Mercury in Powerade
Hello gremlins,
Apparently, Mercury is in the microwave again? I don’t know but stay safe out there xx.
I come bearing gifts of wellness to get through this Powerade and I hate to admit it, but it turns out doing all that healthy stuff makes you feel good?
Over the last week, I set out to really focus on my health from different aspects. One week of full commitment, no days or activities missed and shiieeett, I feel much better for it.
Today I’m going to lay out what I did and it’s nothing groundbreaking, nor is it a crazy amount of activity that you can’t incorporate yourself! Don’t worry my fellow brethren, I’m somewhat in touch with reality and understand that the average Joe doesn’t have 4 hours to spare in the morning to do a 10km run, sauna, plunge pool, meditation, gratitude, journal, read, drink an alkaline-grassfed-organic-smoothie, and a 20-step skincare routine. Sometimes you hit the alarm and you’re out the door. Of course, you’ll feel better if you can meditate and speak your affirmations for 40 minutes every morning, but it’s not always realistic for us peasants who aren’t influencers.
Let’s dive in:
Before setting my goals for the week, I reflected on the Pillars of Life or Pillars of Wellness framework (which I touched on briefly in my interview with Greta a few newsletters back). Here’s a cute chart of the pillars I used:
For each pillar, I set a goal(s) depending on what I thought I needed more of. Some goals were to complete every day and I got to give myself a nice little star of achievement when I did it (I’m big on extrinsic motivation). Others were every second day or just by the end of the week. The every day goals were largely tied to the pillars of Spiritual, Mental, Emotional, and Physical to consistently bring myself back to the present. Okay let’s go!
#1 Mental, #2 Emotional, #3 Spiritual
I’m going to merge mental, emotional, and spiritual because I feel what I did overlaps with these pillars.
15 minutes of reading. Doesn’t matter the genre. Exposure to words builds your vocab and it’s not about using fancy words but rather being able to express yourself efficiently. It’s mostly just nice quiet time, tbh.
Journalling. It’s good to get it out of your head so you don’t have to think about it anymore. Sometimes finding the words as you write your thoughts is the way to work through it and let it go. OR document something amazing that happened. Doesn’t always have to be an existential crisis. Write about something good that happened. Little gratitude xx
Meditate with a side of breath work and stretching. I set for at least 5 minutes but often went longer depending on how I felt. Smaller more consistent meditation and breath work are found to be more beneficial than irregular hour-long sessions!! I did this to obviously calm my mind, but learn to be present, take in my surroundings, think about how I was feeling in the moment and how my body expresses those emotions.
Cold showers. I’m not selling my kidney just to use a plunge pool in London. So I’ve opted for ending my shower COLD and focusing on my breath to train my body and mind how to deal with stressful situations.
#4 Physical
Exercising 3-5 times a week. I’m on a new program from my physio to complete certain routines every second day with optional runs every other day (Really, I just want a PHAT ass next summer)
Morning/Evening sun: so important to get your silly face in the sunshine. For vitamin D, improve mood, and to set your body clock. Fun fact: the quality of your sleep is also determined by what you did 3 days prior. So be consistent, king, and set your body clock right!
Coffee AFTER FOOD (apparently this is especially important for the girlies). I’m guilty of having coffee as soon as my eyes open in the morning. But this week I’ve delayed it and had breakfast first which honestly left me feeling even hungrier because I don’t normally eat breakfast but alas, no coffee on an empty stomach.
Tea. I could do a whole segment on tea and maybe I WILL?! Because tea is the underdog of health. I’ve always loved tea. Mostly for the vibes. But the health benefits are really something and such a cheap way to incorporate vitamins, antioxidants etc etc good stuff (spearmint, hibiscus, dandelion, chamomile are my favourites for digestion, skin, balancing hormones, relaxation)
#5 Social
Humans are fundamentally social creatures. Some people would disagree because people can be stupid, which causes unstupid people a lot of stress and frustration. If you don’t feel negative emotions towards other people’s stupidity…I’m sorry to say it boss..but you might be stu—. I set the goal to reach out to one friend/family member. I managed to facetime several times with friends and family back home and set up an in-person catch up for later in the month. This is your reminder to message a loved one to say hello and do a little life dump together xx.
#6 Environmental
Clean your space queen xx Declutter your belongings. Create an optimal living and working space for you. But also, change your environment and touch some grass or something.
#7 Financial
Not much I could do with this one thanks to London transport robbing me in my sleep (why is the TfL always taking money out at the Devil’s hour??). But planning a little budget.
#8 Occupational
I focused on developing skills and building my network. I signed up for a free online program and spent a solid amount of time reading, watching, or listening to podcasts about anything from soft skills, hard skills, and health tips. After all, I have a teaching degree so naturally, I am committed to being a LiFeLoNg LeArNeR. As for the network building, I personally despise the world of LinkedIn and I truly believe it’s the most toxic social media platform. But your “network is your net worth” (a post from (insert any businessman/woman). So if you’re on LinkedIn, send me a connection xx I’m trying to get to 500.
At the end of the week, I reflected on what I did or didn’t do enough of and how it left me feeling, which has guided the actions and goals I’ve set for this new week. Humans are fundamentally flawed and I think that’s the beauty of the human experience. So don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t do it perfectly. It’s just about showing up every day <3
I say this all to say, look after yourself my kings and queens xx Let’s also not blame Mercury for the state of the world. BeReal. The world has been in turmoil for a while. Leave Mercury alone - she’s doing her best just like the rest of us.
That’s all from me this week cutie patooties! Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.
*** TOP TIP ***
Don’t forget to use up your allotted sick days at work. You deserve a day off <3
Kindest Regards,
Your CSO - Chief Slay Officer,
Achilles xoxo