dental health is mental health
As the season of chaos reigns, are you taking care of you?
When I was younger, I took care of everyone else but me. I made lunches for my mother during my elementary school days, I made dinner for the family throughout high school, I made sure all of my boyfriends felt taken care of and comfortable. Meanwhile, I didn’t go to annual exams or even get my teeth cleaned. For years. It’s not that I didn’t want to, I simply didn’t think to. I was young! Did I really need to take care of myself in that manner?
Why did I lack treating myself with respect? We could probably delve into some Southern hostess daughter raising sociality or the product of a narcissistic mother who expected everything done for her but I’ll spare you. I think truthfully many of us find ourselves in the same predicament. Feelings of needing to be selfless win out over pragmatism.
Uncomfortable? Ready for me to get to the pointe? Yeah, it’s difficult to become comfy cozy with speaking about ourselves, or what ways we enjoy taking care of ourselves. Yet, it’s crucial. These bodies we live in deserve to be wrapped in the same warmth we hand out so freely to all of our peers, coworkers, friends, and family. It doesn’t just deserve it though. It craves it!
When it gets busy, carve out time to treat your skin with a face mask or build that solid skin care routine you’ve been yearning to try. Floss every night like your dentist is watching. Take that extra long walk around your fave park. Do that healthy thing you’ve always wanted but couldn’t quite find the time to accomplish. The afterglow just may be what your family needs to feel this holiday week.
I’ll leave you with my story of how eating butter gave me the best cholesterol numbers in the valley:
I grew up hearing butter and oils are bad for you. Non-fat everything was the healthy option. When I moved to Teton Valley, I began to cook with butter rather than olive oil. I can’t really remember the exact reason other than simply beginning to understand that restrictive diets aren’t helpful to our bodies. Anyway, I soon began to slather butter on everything errrr I mean add it more frequently to my meals. When February rolled around and I went to the doctor for my annual wellness visit, I was delighted at the exclamation by my doctor that I held the best cholesterol levels she’d ever seen.
Ok, ok, ok. It probably wasn’t due to adding butter to my diet. It was probably my focus on hibernating. No? Not that either? Hmmm. Alright, fine. It’s because I focused on brushing my teeth 3x/day and flossing every night then swishing with mouthwash. And getting outside every day even if it was a short walk around the block. And mitigating stress as much as possible. And taking vitamins, drinking water, and eating meals regularly (not something we dancers trend towards). Now, you get where I’m going. Dental health is mental health. It’s a phrase I use to remind myself that taking care of myself is not a chore but a necessity. Thank you, Mr. Earl Grey for that tidbit of wisdom!
Oh, how lucky we are to live in this day and age to have a plethora of tools at our fingertips. Information at our fingertips. Opportunity to take care of ourselves fully in any way we want. I hope you are able to grab that advantage by the bullhorns this week. I hope more than anything that you report back to me all the ways you indulged in taking care of yourself despite feeling the pull to take care of your family, friends, community first. I hope you find moments to truly be you.