Your Bag is Empty
In order to truly share our best gifts and talents with the world, we need to make sure that the cup that we pour from is consistently refilled. (You can't pour from an empty cup, right?) We need to give back to ourselves, especially after the holidays, and re-energize so that when the world does call on us, we are ready to give 2018 our very best.
There are plenty of wonderful ways to rebuild your energy and replenish your body. Some of our favorites include scheduling a massage, taking a yoga class, booking a quick weekend retreat, or even just spending 30 minutes on the phone with a close friend or family member. Outside of these more traditional self care rituals, there are some alternative therapies that can do a lot to help your body and brain recharge to full glow. These are the 5 replenishing therapies we can't get enough of.
1. Cryotherapy
For thousands of years, the common form of cryotherapy meant jumping in a freezing lake or rolling around in snow...we aren't quite that hardcore. More recently, a less painful and more effective form of cryotherapy has surfaced. Modern whole body cryotherapy (WBC) exposes the entire body to subzero temperatures for around three minutes. What makes this way more tolerable than an ice bath is that carbonite is not used in WBC so you don't emerge like an ice cube. It feels more like a dry chill, without the moisture. While the experience is still a little chilly, it's not nearly as terrible as it seems. This is coming from a girl born in Southern California that puts a sweatshirt on when it's below 70 degrees, so hopefully that gives you a little bit more comfort. Plus, with benefits like decreased inflammation, increased blood flow, and a boost in metabolism, it's worth a shot!
2. Reiki
Reiki is an energy healing technique from Japan that alleviates stress and promotes relaxation.The practice is facilitated by someone that has been attuned to Reiki energy and uses "hands-on" healing to help rebalance and clear blockages in your chakras. Sessions normally last about 60-90 minutes and are incredibly relaxing and rejuvenating. When you're being worked on, you may feel slight warmth coming from the practitioners hands as well as a calm, soothing energy wash over you. Reiki is highly individualized meaning everyone experiences it differently. It's been shown to help relieve chronic pain, ease stress, promote relaxation, release emotion, and increase overall confidence and happiness. If anything, it's an incredibly soothing session that will leave you feeling refreshed and ready to conquer whatever comes next in life.
3. Hypnotherapy
We aren't talking about the type of hypnosis where you start squawking like a bird or dancing wildly onstage. This is a much stronger tool that helps you have a conversation with your subconscious and initiate true change. When you visit a hypnotherapist, they are there to help you achieve a goal by facilitating a profound shift around the way that you view and approach the goal itself. Let's take someone struggling with weight loss. You know that to lose weight you should eat whole foods, exercise, and not eat emotionally, but intuitively. This thought process can only take some people so far before they feel like other emotions or blockages get in the way. This is where hypnotherapy comes in. We harbor emotions, feelings, and memories deep within our subconscious mind that many times, we don't even know exist, yet they affect us daily. A certified hypnotherapist can help you have a deeper conversation with your subconscious mind, confront those memories, and then reprocess them for good. If you're dealing with something major, it's a great way to get your footing back and make influential changes to help you move forward.
4. Float Therapy
Steph Curry claims that one of the reasons he's able to handle the pressure and stress of the NBA is as a result of his avid floating routine. Sign me up! Float therapy forces you to let go because it removes all distractions. To begin, you lay down in about 1ft of magnesium packed water that is heated to 93.6 degrees (just warm enough to not know where your body ends and the water begins). You are then completely enclosed in a dark, soundless chamber so there is absolutely nothing to distract you from your thoughts. Many people refer to floating as a shortcut to meditation. Floating reduces the activity in the cortex which then stimulates deep relaxation. As a result, floating has been attributed to an increase in creativity and productivity, a decrease in anxiety, and can even help expedite muscle recovery and improve circulation. Whether you're just looking for a 60 minute pick-me-up or for some creative stimulation, floating is a great way to reset and replenish.
5. Rebounding
The lymphatic system carries nutrients and waste between the body and tissues and blood. When your lymph nodes get blocked they can affect the way that your body eliminates toxins. There are plenty of ways to help stimulate the lymphatic system, one being exercise and another being lots and lots of water. Sometimes, these blockages can be rather hard to get rid of and manifest in the form of weight gain, achy joints, and even acne. One of the best (and most fun) ways to clear these blockages is by rebounding . . . and we don't mean with the hot guy or girl next door. Jumping on a rebounder, better known as a trampoline, is winning the hearts of fitness and wellness gurus like Tracy Anderson and Gwenyth Paltrow, and for good reason. Rebounding is an amazing workout but it's also fantastic for stimulating the lymphatic system and promoting detoxification. Plus, it's just plain fun to hop around and feel like a kid again!
Whether you decide to jump on a trampoline for 10 minutes, spend 60 minutes in solitude suspended in magnesium rich water, or just go for a walk with your bff, remember to prioritize your body and mind. Too often we let work, errands and all of the other tasks in life run us down until we no longer have the energy to put our best self out into the world. Take some time to regain your strength and replenish this week because the world needs you - in true form.