Every year, as my age increases, I get wiser and more confident, but my body also gets more aches and pain.
I have a self-love practice I do, usually in the mornings, in the bath, or after a yoga/Pilates class:
I thank my body. I thank it for all of the incredible functions it has—its ability to breathe, to keep my heart pumping, to keep me healthy. Its strength and flexibility. The fact that at my age, I can still go upside down, touch my toes—and even break into a right side split (a true party trick, indeed). I thank my shoulders for the burden they bear, my neck for keeping my head held high, and my stomach for its amazing digestion (and the four-pack it has afforded me).
Our bodies are true miracles and, as such, we should be treating them with daily gratitude (hello, above practice), exercise and movement, and wind down and repair.
That’s where today’s self-care ritual comes into play:
Infrared Heating Body Belt
Price: $189
Heat Healer
Heat Healer’s infrared body belt. It’s like a heating pad, a sauna, and a mugwort bath all had a baby—that’s the body belt. I started using this amazing, targeted treatment shortly before Christmas.
Let’s get the question everyone wants to know out of the way: Is this just a fancy heating pad? No. It’s a heating pad…plus SO MUCH MORE.
Instead of just giving my body warmth and heat a la a heating pad, this beauty offers (invisible to the eye) red light therapy, which we love over here at Poosh. It helps stimulate collagen and connective tissue growth, PEMF (pulsed electromagnetic field, which increases circulation, speeds up healing, reduces swelling, and minimizes inflammation), and then the coveted infrared heat that goes deep into the body to help alleviate pain, improve overall circulation, and reduce inflammation.
BTW, as a side note, inflammation is a leading cause of aging and disease. It’s literally poison for the body—and our inflammation markers increase when we are fighting infection, eating too many processed foods or sugars, or just simply stressed.
Ofc, I try to eat healthy-ish (but I’m also a huge believer in moderation. YOLO, let’s eat what makes us happy), I take vitamins, I walk a lot, have a decent Pilates practice, and I’ve recently returned to meditation. My proverbial toolbox to combat inflammation and stress runneth over, but life is still life, and with that come moments of utter tension that have a somatic effect—stomach, back, jaw, and fists clenching to the point of pain. That feeling when my shoulders are so tight it’s as though I’m carrying a bag of bricks. Or when my lower back starts to spasm and the pain reverberates down my leg. Don’t even get me started on how awful my period cramps have gotten since I turned 40(ish).
Yes, I’m aware—stress and pain are a part of life. We can work to improve them, but their mere presence is basically unavoidable.
This mobile healing belt can be used on just about any part of the body. I use it religiously on my shoulders, stomach, and lower back, and not only does it give me 20 to 50 minutes of warm, cozy relaxation, it’s also actually working on reducing swelling, inflammation, and pain from within. I’m able to use it while watching TV, which is the ultimate in self-care relaxation for me.
Ever since adding the Heat Healer belt into said toolbox, I’ve noticed so many stellar benefits. It has seriously changed the duration of my cramps and lessened my post-Pilates muscle aches and pains. Oddly, since starting my hybrid red light therapy/infrared heat/PEMF, I have yet to be sick. And this is major for me, as I seem to get sick every other month (likely due to poor sleep habits and an inability to handle stress well—hey, I’m only human).
I probably just jinxed myself, but here’s to hoping that alleviating stress, focusing on caring for this body that has done so damn much for me, and—of course—reducing inflammation will keep me healthy and young at heart even as my age box keeps ticking up.
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