This is probably going to be one of those posts where I ramble on without much direction, but it’s something I’ve been dwelling on recently. The art of being in tune with your mind and body – listening to what your body needs, and actually taking the time to provide it for yourself. It’s hard in an era where we all get swept up in being busy and unavailable, but looking after number one is more important than any of us ever realise…
This year, I noticed how lethargic and unhealthy I’d started to feel – I was eating too much of the foods that I knew were bad for me (gluten basically), and not enough of the foods that made me feel my best self. This isn’t just me jumping on a healthy band wagon either – I’ve suffered with various intolerance symptoms for years, things like bad cramping and stomach swelling. Your stomach can really make you feel depressed if you don’t feed it the right things, and I genuinely believe that so much of the gut is connected to mental health and the way we feel about ourselves and our bodies…
Not only have I had food related issues for a while now, but my skin has also been acting crazy – I’ve been having these really sore break outs around my jawline area which are easily covered, but have definitely been knocking my confidence. They could be food related, stress related, or maybe from the heatwave? It’s really hard to tell sometimes, and often we just have to treat these curve balls that life throws at us via trial and error…
So what have I been doing about it all I hear you ask? Not much until the past week or so – I had an Italian holiday which didn’t help. All the pasta and pizza in the world was unavoidable (and often took up ninety percent of the restaurant menus), so I decided to wait until I was home to get my act together. I realised that I’d had all this information for a long time – I knew that I wasn’t moving enough, or eating enough of the right things, yet I was continuing to make zero changes. Almost like this vicious circle of self destruction that was starting to affect every aspect of my life. I was putting so much effort into my work and other people, but was forgetting that I needed some time of my own…
My body definitely doesn’t feel sixteen anymore, so I need to start being more in tune with it – we can’t just expect our bodies to know all the answers. Sometimes they don’t just bounce back, sometimes we have to lend them a helping hand…
I’ve been eating as healthy as I possibly can, and looking into gyms in the area we have now moved too. I’ve tried a couple in Manchester now, and neither of them really made me want to spend time there – I really want to get back into exercising again, then hopefully the brain fog will slowly lift, and I’ll have more energy to be the best version of myself. I love the outdoors, but really resent an kind of organised exercise that the gym has to offer – anybody else just feel like a hamster on a wheel? It’s times like this that I wish I lived closer the countryside and could go for long bike rides or hikes with rewarding views waiting at the end…
Being in tune with your body means making all kinds of lifestyle changes – whether that’s food, work, or people that are just generally draining the positive energy from you. I’ve also made a lot of decisions already in my personal life that I found really daunting to start with, but have ended up working out for the best. You’re not selfish for wanting the best for yourself, and you’re not selfish for wanting to protect yourself from toxic situations. So whether it’s as simple as cutting out some of those sweet treats from your weekly food shop, or as final as cutting off a relationship that’s no longer making you feel good – this is your little reminder that you’re entitled to be in tune with your own happiness. You’re allowed to make changes that serve you, and you’re allowed to take up space…
Photographs by Catherine Booty
Jumper – Isabel Marant
Skirt – Urban Outfitters
Shoes – Bershka (available here too)
Bag – Zara
SHOP THE LOOK
Hi Alice! Thank you for this little reminder! This is so important and we still keep forgetting it in our everyday life. Recently I’ve been really overwhelmed by every aspect of my life (relationships, uni, future..) and started to feel more and more anxious. And I slowly realised how messed up our society can be when it comes to this questions: how low tolerance there is for doctors appointments at work or at uni, how everyone thinks you have to be busy all the time and if you aren’t doing a billion things at once you are failing and never will be successful…
I’m trying to take things slower and not be is constant stress about everything but it feels really hard sometimes. But thank you for speaking about this, I always feel so much better when I know that I am not the only one who feels this way. 🙂 I feel so lucky when you post something exactly at the time when I need to hear your thoughts and calming words about a certain topic! 😀 I wish you a beautiful last week of August! :))
Thank you for reading – so glad it made you feel better in some way. And I couldn’t agree more about the Doctors app etc, when I used to work in retail I was made to feel like I skiving off work every time I took a morning off for a Doctors app. It’s really bad, a lot of places just prioritise business over the people around them xx
Thank you for this post. All true things and tough to remember when we need it the most.
I couldn’t agree more here. I’ve been realizing kind of the same thing with my body lately. Even if we are still young and healthy, we definitely have to take care ouf our body, at least for “later”. But the simple fact of cooking something healthy can already makes us feel better and I find it pretty amazing. Anyway, thanks for those words, they always speak to me.
xx
Totally agree! Even when I order a healthy food shop for the week and get into cooking proper meals again, I already feel the mental shift. Thank you for reading, means a lot xx
Couldn’t agree more! Being in tune with your body, being familiar with it and eventually understanding what it is missing is so important to both your mental and physical wellbeing! As you say, we all need a reminder sometimes that taking care of ourselves is not being selfish.
Love this outfit too, the jumper, the jewellery! And I’ve always admired your makeup, love the lipstick shade you’re wearing here x
Summer
Definitely! Sometimes we just forget to stop and give ourselves that extra time to focus on improving ourselves. And thanks lovely – pretty sure this was just a MAC lip pencil in ‘barely bold’ but very worn off at the end of the day ha xx
I’ve been trying to eat better and work out more too – I’m feeling so much better for it! I think it’s important to feel ‘in tune’ with ourselves – I felt really lost for ages, but doing this has really helped! xxx
Hey Alice, thank your for this interesting post. I’ve had similar experiences to yours about my health and body. I also felt very uncomfortable going into a gym and thought that going for a jog would better suit me. But since I’m not a sports enthusiast I realized that there are too many excuse for me with jogging. “To close to a meal, too hungry, the weather etc…” So I downloaded the app Asana Rebel. It’s quite pricey but it provides you with 30Min. Yoga workouts (not just breathing!!!;)) which made me feel very good and accomplished and I could do them with zero effort at home anytime. Just a tip, if you want to check it out.
Great post,thanks for sharing your thoughts! It´s so important to take time for yourself otherwise you really get lost in your busy working routine..I enjoy focusing on my mental strenght and doing something just to feel good in my own skin 🙂
Love this jumper, you look amazing as always!
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