Safer At Home | Week Unknown

I went to the grocery store for the first time in 3 weeks yesterday.

And as I am sure most of you are aware, there were many guidelines in place for proper social distancing. While I did not have to wait in line outside to enter, I did have to stand on a big red dot that represented the correct distance that should be between myself and the nearest person.

I stood, hand sanitizer in pocket and mask on face, in disbelief. Unlike the times I usually wait in line, mindlessly scrolling on my phone— I didn’t want to touch or potentially contaminate my phone. So, without distraction, I found myself quickly lost in thought.

It wasn’t until a man interrupted me that I realized just how deep in thought I was.

I was looking at the cashiers behind a glass protector. I was looking at everyone in masks, myself included. I was staring at all of the empty aisles, where the once stocked shelves resembled a storm I never thought would be reality. How did we get here? Is this really real?

There are moments I feel more connected than ever, with time to slow down and reason to call my friends and family more often. I’m connecting with people on social media, supporting businesses I am proud to support, spending more time doing things I love. But then there are times I feel agitated when someone gets too close to me, or overwhelmed when I look at the world’s current state of affairs.

But then a man interrupted my thoughts, perfectly putting into words everything I was feeling…

This is crazy, isn’t it?
Ya. It is.

———

Anyways — here are a few things/thoughts that made me happy this week.

+ These sweatpants

+ Smoothies, because all that was left in my house was frozen fruit

+ Plants (and this YouTube channel teaching me all I need to know about all kinds of plant)

+ Essential oil concoctions and a new diffuser

+ Another week, another watercolor

Why I Went Low-Tox

I could take this story in many different directions because I don’t think one persons journey is ever very straight. I fell into the ‘non-toxic’ and natural world a few years back, when I was attempting to regain consistency with my period after years of absent or irregular cycles. It was during that challenge that I learned a lot. I really had no idea how my hormones could be affected by my environment, but I was open to learning.

There are so many reasons for hormonal imbalance in women, which is part of the reason it can be so challenging to overcome. But I was determined to find answers and began experimenting on myself. The more I learned, the more I realized that what I was putting on my body mattered just as much as what I was putting in my body. I was shocked to learn that many of the products I used daily contained endocrine disruptors, some of the biggest culprits you may be familiar with — triclosan, parabens, BPA, fragrance and phthalates. Endocrine disruptors function in a way that can interfere with the body’s natural hormones, which can often lead to over or underproduction while also interfering with production, release and elimination of the body’s natural hormones. And when you are trying to regulate your own hormones, you really don’t want anything unnecessary messing with them — especially when it is 100% avoidable.

Many of these ingredients are added to products, not for therapeutic or personal benefits, but rather to contribute to some of the ‘consumer traits’ we typically look for. For example, SLS is added to soaps as a foaming agent. Phalates are added to products to improve their consistency. Petroleum is added as a moisturizer. I don’t know about you, but if I were making a moisturizer at home, I definitely wouldn’t feel inclined to head on down to the gas station to stock up on DIY ingredients. The moral of the story being, we need to take ownership of what we bring into our homes because the FDA does not require safety testing nor do they require approvals before products hit the shelves. What’s important to remember here is that our skin is absorptive — meaning, whatever we put on it will most likely get absorbed into our bloodstream, very quickly. And if I wanted to bring my body back to balance, an overwhelming amount of chemicals getting absorbed into my bloodstream would not be helpful.

So I needed to detox. I switched the things that were the easiest to change first. I re-evaluated my laundry detergent, my body wash, shampoo and conditioner, lotions, sunscreen. Pretty much anything that came into direct contact with my skin. I also thought about the things I was breathing in— so household cleaners, candles, air fresheners. This may sound overwhelming, but when you don’t feel good and you have a lot on the table (hormones are no joke), it really doesn’t seem like much of a sacrifice.

I find it nearly impossible to pinpoint my success in regulating my hormones to a specific change or a specific habit. It’s all cumulative. The more you begin to change, the quicker your body will begin to heal. I certainly cannot credit non-toxic living solely to balanced hormones, but it definitely played a role. And I’m still not perfect. But I don’t think that should be the goal. It’s unreasonable and it prevents you from making any changes at all if you believe it’s too much to tackle all at once. It’s baby steps, all the way, until you realize all of your baby steps led you miles and miles down the road.

And speaking from my current state of being, I’ve recently found another reason to re-evaluate my home and the products I use within it. In September, I landed myself in the hospital after having some rather severe asthma attacks. While the experience left me feeling incredibly grateful to be breathing, I couldn’t help but wonder what caused this reaction in the first place.

After getting allergy tested this year, I can be pretty sure that the asthma was triggered by ragweed, which I am allergic to. My second highest allergen was dust mites. And while both of these things are pretty hard to avoid, I at least feel inspired to figure out how to lower my allergic or asthmatic threshold. I have a lot to learn in this area, but I know that breathing in inflammatory chemicals should be the first things to go. So back to investigator status I go— trying to determine anything and everything in my home that could be causing inflammation in my lungs.

Here are a few quick facts related to asthma…

• Companies do not need to list their fragrance ingredients in the label

• 12,500 ingredients fall under the umbrella called “fragrance” on a label

• Fragrance are common triggers of asthma, migraines, allergies and sinus problems

• Fragrance can be found in our every day products such as perfume, cleaners, candles, body wash

These changes can happen as fast or as slow as you want them to. I am personally a slow learner, but I try to always make progress and move in a forward direction.

The good news is that time will be moving anyways, so we might as well make some good use out of it and just start.

I choose to see setbacks as an opportunity to learn. I’d much rather feel empowered to learn and make changes than to feel like I have no control over my situation. Maybe this speaks to my controlling tendencies (lol), but it’s the truth. I’d much rather experiment to see if it makes a difference than never know.

Disclaimer: it made a difference.

Social Distancing | Life on Lockdown

If I didn’t know that I was an introvert before, I am 100% sure of it now.

While I have been enjoying the solitude, the anxiety surrounding the situation has been building up. I find myself becoming more uneasy as the days pass, not knowing how bad things will get. I am also well-aware that too much consumption of news outlets can heavily contribute to these feelings, so I’m saying no to bad news and yes to some good news. When I need to know something, I am sure my mom will let me one (thanks mom <3)

It’s so intriguing to me how creative and funny people can be when they get ‘bored’. There have been so many belly-laughs in our house lately over TikToks and memes, and for that I am so grateful. This is just reiterating the fact that when our parents told us “it’s good to be bored”, they were kind of onto something.

Anyways, just like everyone else in the world, I have been looking for ways to spend my time indoors and I wanted to share some of the things that have been bringing joy to my life. To be honest, I typically forget what day it is and have lost all sense of routine and time, but my days most often include some good sleep, cooking and maybe some baking, painting, writing, exercise and a lot of Netflix and chill.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I fell head-over-heels in love with the Let’s Make Art kits I received in the mail. It’s a small company that sells kits, or monthly memberships, to learn to watercolor paint, hand letter or create art journals. The best thing about this is that the kit comes with everything you need (besides brushes, which were easy enough to tack onto the order) to get started right away, and there are even follow along tutorials on YouTube. I ordered three painting kits and was extremely pleased with my first go at watercolors.

A hobby that I’ve always enjoyed but seems to be much more prominent now that I am home and have ample time is baking. I’ve made countless banana breads and with the amount of ripe bananas on my countertop at the moment, I see many more in my future.

I think we can all agree that 2020 has been crazy and the fact that the world is on lockdown right now is actually mind-blowing. We are all doing what we can and staying home, so why not make the most of it?

Some new and old favorite things:

+ Tiny Canal Cottage - blog for everything minimalistic, decluttering and beautiful
+ All things essential oils
+ Chelsea Jean presets to edit all of the pictures you ‘never had time to do’
+ Unstoppable documentary - Bethany Hamilton is a beast!
+ Yoga sculpt, Barre 3 for home workouts

Stay well XO