35 days to 36
Last year, before my 35th birthday I decided to
put myself through a 3 week challenge to break my self-sabotaging habits, and
basically jumpstart my self care routine, and it was a fabulous experience. I
was someone who slept in her makeup, and didn’t bother with facewash and
sunscreen on most days, and by the end of the 21 days I was able do a 5-step
skin care routine both morning and night; habits that I continued through the
year. Also, I started having my supplements of vit C and turmeric, in those 21
days, over the course of the year, I had added astaxanthin and vit D to the
routine as well.
So, this year, I decided to step it up, and added a LOT more
things to the challenge, and challenged myself to a 5 week challenge which I like to call 35 days to 36. This time I was concentrating on not just myself, but
my interpersonal relationships, my long term goals.
I posted the entire list of my BEGIN AGAIN list as an
Instagram post on 14 August, and here is the report card for the exhaustive 35
days/5 weeks self challenge.
HEALTH CHALLENGES
1.
Walk 10K steps everyday. This was one of the
habits I really looked forward to everyday. I would walk 5 k steps or so in the
morning, and another 5 K in the evening, and during that time I heard my
podcasts, or TED talks, or dance music. They were entertaining and educational
walks in nature, and I really enjoyed my own company. Yes, I didn’t make 10 K
on most days, but I did much better than I expected. 8/10
2.
Drink 2 litres of water every day- Now this one
I was mindful of, because I had failed miserably at this the year before, but
this time I had interesting water infusions through the day, tea in the
morning, ginger lemon tea mid morning, turmeric infusion tea in the evening,
triphala (an ayurvedic concoction to balance the doshas) in the night. So just
drinking these various teas and infusions through the day helped me stay
motivated and also looking forward, it was monsoons, and I wasn’t very thirsty,
but the warm infusions were nice in the nippy weather. 8/10
3.
Reduce carbs at night: Hmm I really don’t know
how to grade myself here, because on some days, I did exceedingly well, but on
others I binged so much at dinner, that I out weighed any caloric deficit I
might have accumulated. I would binge on nuts and snacks, and have a bit of
chocolate on most nights. 6/10
Skincare routine
1.
I was supposed to just keep up my basic morning
and night skin care routine: These included a vit C and hyaluronic acid serum
in the morning, and a retinol cream at night. I managed to do these. But
previously I used to do an extensive face massage using a porcelain soup spoon
as a Gua sha and korean 7 skin method techniques, which I just could not
continue. But, in these 5 weeks, I did 2 at-home facial during my son’s online
school class. At-home facial kits require almost an hour of putting different
gels, and creams, and massaging the face. The self face massage technique I
have posted on my Instagram page IGTV. And by gosh, the glow up was fabulous.
So have decided to do this intensive face massage/facial routine once a month
hence forth. 8/10
2.
Hair oil twice a week: This was again one of my
favourite routines, especially since my housekeeper does such a good job of
oiling the hair. Overnight oiling with basic coconut oil on most days, and a
special antidandruff shampoo on some days. This is another habit I plan on
continuing. 9/10
Writing habit
1.
Writing one complete short story, essay , poem
everyday: This was a fascinating habit, and my first week I was so focussed on
this habit, that all other habits took a back seat. My laptop stopped working,
and yet, I continued writing long hand, pen to paper. I then bought a really
expensive laptop. But then, as it happens, my inspiration started to dwindle,
and I felt that I wanted to give writing a break. And so, after a 10 day break,
I am back to writing. 8/10
Finance
1.
Listen to finance podcasts : This was easy, I
heard alux.com , book summaries on business and finance, like rich dad poor
dad, Unshakeable, and then heard interviews of the authors of these business
books. Very inspiring.
2.
Invest in local , small business: Didn’t get
around to doing that, but I hope to invest in something agriculture or food
related, or something in tourism, once Goa opens post pandemic.
3.
Build other sources of income: work in progress,
but, should happen soon.
Interpersonal
These were the crux of this years habit building, and it was
the most challenging. Because here, I was no more a bubble, working within myself;
I was reaching out , and that always requires a different mindset, atleast for
me, where I am most happy within myself.
1.
Call one person from my phone list everyday.
Reach out to old friends : This was tougher than I expected, and I had already
expected it to be tough. I began by the letter A on my phone list, but with
time, I organically called anyone I thought of. Many of the people I called had
been very important to me at some points in my life, and I would like to
believe I had been important to them as well. But, many of the calls that I
made, or even whatsapp messages that I sent out to these old friends was met
with polite conversations, and nothing more. Many said they were busy and would
call back, but did not. Nevertheless, I made sure I continued doing my bit, to
leave a simple ‘remembered you’ message. And I spent a few moments each day
giving gratitude for the memories that I had with those friends. I realised
that there was a reason we had drifted apart, life was too full and busy, and living
in the present is more important than looking back at the past. The last 10
years, has been an upheaval in all our lives, with changing families(marrying),
changing cities, and making the transition from student to professional. All
the calls I made were happy that I had reached out, but only a few led me back
to rekindling old friendships. Many I had to accept, were now just a page in a
previous chapter of my life. 7/10
2.
Send out 5 gifts to 5 friends who matter: This
was the BEST decision. I enjoyed choosing thoughtful, small things my close
people would enjoy. And it ranged from books, to cast iron skillets, to
journals, makeup, and a photoshoot. I gave much more than the 5 people. I gave
little gifts for my friends children, I gave little things to my favourite
patients, and the act of giving mindfully, and really thinking what would make
the other person happy, was a very satisfying feeling. I have been doing chakra
meditation for a while, and all my chakras were brilliant and aligned, other
than my heart chakra, I just could not fill my heart with love and compassion.
And it was after the above two exercises of being grateful to all my past
friendships, and celebrating the good people in my present life, that I saw my
heart chakra unblock finally. I think I will continue this habit of giving more
of myself. 9/10
3.
Talk to my husband for 10 minutes uninterrupted,
without distraction or irritation: I know a lot of you are keen on knowing how
this went. Well here goes. So, first. We set a time. It was the time when he
had his dinner, since we eat at different times. Next was what would we talk
about, I found the New York times 36 questions that lead to love here is the
link 36 question , a good place to start. By having a set of questions which has nothing to
do with our daily grocery list, or son’s school work, or other every day
mundanestuff, but a questionnaire, which was internationally known to bring
couples closer, is what I feel reduced the chances of arguments, and yet, lets
be honest, we did argue. Yes, it was met with resistance. Yes, I added a little
gift for him everyday post our talk session as a positive reinforcement, it was
generally the writing I had done that day, because he does enjoy my writing. I
think he didn’t like the structured sessions, and we soon moved to a little
less structured conversations. 8/10
4.
Dedicated play hour with Shreysht: I think this
was very good for both of us, everyday at 4 pm, he himself came to take me to
play. I taught him a lot of board games, like sequence, monopoly, UNO was our
favourite. We would paint some days, and play shadow play, or hide and seek. I
even started a new Instagram pages – shraseswithshreysht inspired by our time
spent together. We now play chess after dinner, and I feel it really let me
enjoy his childhood more, once I had a dedicated hour where both of us did not
use ant screen. My phone was out of bounds during this time too.9/10
5.
BONUS : I started having dedicated times in the
week for others who mattered to me, and I realised if people are important, we
have to actually carve out a dedicated time for them in our lives. Affection in
your heart is not the only thing, people require the attention that shows that
affection as well. 10/10
Mental health and self care
Fabulous .I started to do moving meditation in the form of
qi gong every morning, and realised that moving meditation and breathwork,
helped me more than sitting meditation. My Sunday chakra meditations, were when
I got many of my brilliant insights, and I gifted myself a chakra crystal set,
and am teaching Shreysht the power of crystals, and the importance of our
chakras. I had said I would gift myself a divine feminine workshop if all
things worked out, and a free divine feminine workshop is happening all of
September on Instagram, which I am part of. And I had said I would gift myself
a spa a month if I did well with my meditations, and I already gifted myself
two of those in the past 5 weeks. 10/10
This brings me to the end of the 35 days to 36.
I feel stronger, more grounded, more able to overcome my
hurdle of reaching out to people, and am able to embrace others in my life. I
felt this challenge was very holistic, it was based on mental, physical,
financial, spiritual, interpersonal growth. With age I am realising that if we
want a more fulfilling life, we must try and bring more balance. Last year, I
had great hair and skin at the end of the challenge, this year I have enriched
relationships, and the glow up is from within and without.
I hope this inspires others to set themselves up for a
bootcamp for the soul, and challenge to begin again.
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