Soaking in Self-care
Quiet chaos is how I’d describe my mind processing and dealing with emotions. I know, I know, “Kaleigh, just do some yoga or take up sketching,” but it’s never been that simple for me (and trust me, if stretches were the key to wiping out my anxieties you would see my in the tree pose for the rest of my life).
Throwing quarantine into the mix heightened my internal chaos which ruptured out into tears while Josh and I were having a nice evening watching movies and eating marshmallows…ya, the picture you now have in your head of Josh confusedly staring at me with marshmallows in his mouth is right on target. I collapsed into a teary rant and he listened. We talked for a long time and pulled out our marriage journal to document and learn from our conversation. (Married friends, if you don’t have The Marriage Journal, I’ll link it here because it is amazing).
Josh helped me to realize that when my anxiety was raging I didn’t take proactive measures to release it. He said that I needed to start caring for myself even if that care was as simple as taking a bath. So, that’s when the water started running, my diffuser started pumping out calm vibes and I grabbed my new read. I went all out on this bath, y’all, and it was beyond what I needed.
Here are my tips to the ultimate Self-care Spa Night:
-Run a bath and add in Epsom salts to ease your muscles or bentonite clay for a body detox (I used bentonite clay here)
-Make it whimsical by adding in fresh orange slices and dreamy lavender or substitute with essential oils
-Get your diffuser going
-Grab a book or turn on that new podcast
-Settle back, sink in and start soaking in the self-care
I felt like a new person and, honestly, it wasn’t because of the dreamiest bath or the calming lavender diffusing behind me. It was because I put myself first and said no to my anxious combustion. I said no to allowing my emotions to pile up until they exploded out of me. I said yes to prioritizing my mental and emotional health and having the courage to ask my husband for help. It’s scary, but we don’t have to stay bottled up inside.
We can cry, scream, pound the ground, collapse in tears, and not be okay. But we can’t let it overcome us. Today, I want you to be inspired to create time and space for YOU. Be extra in adding freshly sliced citrus to your bath or lighting 15 candles while you listen to Schubert’s “Ava Maria.” Take that jog, paint the sunset, fix a cup of coffee at 6p.m. and sink into that bath. You can do this. So, here is to you, dear friend, as you sink into your self-care and begin your journey to saying yes to you.
From this little house wife,
xoxo,
Kaleigh Castle
