…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.

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.