Developing Your Self-Care Practice

…and where floating fits in.

The concept of “self-care” has been trending for a long time now and for the most part, I’m all about it. After so many years working in the fitness industry, I’ve learned that there is a disconnect between what we WANT self-care to be and what it ACTUALLY entails. Many of my clients would be in the gym day-in, day-out, working out as hard as they could, continually pushing themselves beyond their limits, never slowing down. They’d get so much praise for being hardcore, and they’d get that exercise-induced endorphin rush. So many rewards. Until they couldn’t anymore.

We see this in all areas of life - entrepreneurs who cannot stop thinking about their business, parents who are on-call for their children 24/7, healthcare workers giving their everything to help others during this pandemic. We put everyone else first, and get so caught up in doing that we don’t make time to just… be.

I’ve always harkened back to the airplane rule: you put your own oxygen mask on first. If you fall apart, you can’t be there for those around you. So when we feel most overwhelmed by the demands of others, we have to accept that NOW is the time we need to put ourselves first.

I’m a giver by nature. This was not an easy pill for me to swallow. My need to take care of everyone else before myself led to burnout over and over again. I always took pride in being a “hard worker,” putting in more hours and taking on more responsibility than everyone around me. But at some point, the constant striving caught up to me. Every day was a chore. I was getting sick more often, and felt like my willpower had evaporated. I spent a large part of 2020 feeling like I was incapable fo working hard ever again.

I know I’m not alone when I say that the pandemic affected my self-care practice deeply. I could no longer run out for a coffee with a friend, and Zoom calls didn’t seem to fill that need in the same way. The delineation between work and life narrowed down to nothing - I increased my online client load and drew exactly zero boundaries for myself about my availability. I wanted to be the most helpful coach I could be, and I knew all of my clients were having a rough time too. I started drinking more, staying up later, sleeping in later. My workouts took a nosedive.

I never put on my own oxygen mask, so eventually I ran out of air to help others.

When we opened Victory Float Lounge in September, it was the catalyst I needed to start reevaluating my self-care and habits. Floating had previously been a huge stress reliever and physical recovery modality in my life, and I finally had access to it again. I used floating as a motivator to make other changes in my life. Doing something so good for myself made it easier to start incorporating other practices that I know are helpful for me.

I’ve found floating in particular to be a massively useful means of self-care. I never realize how much I crave the lack of stimulation until I get it. We get so used to the constant noise of modern life that we don’t realize how overwhelming it is until we’re faced with true silence. It often feels like my brain is taking a nap when I float. A much needed nap. 

Sometimes it is really difficult to make the choice to be alone in the tank with my thoughts, but it has been worth it every single time. When I float regularly, I’m a more patient and thoughtful person. It becomes much easier to pause before letting my emotions overrun my thought process. My ability to handle stressful situations goes up because my baseline level of stress has gone down. And it feels a whole lot easier to be present. And isn’t that something we all really need to work on?

We care a lot about helping others develop a self-care practice that serves them. That’s why we recently introduced the Victory 180 - an opportunity to float 3 times in just 30 days to build a floating habit. I hope you find it as useful as I have.