Self-care may be overused on Instagram, but it’s still one of our favorite things to talk about. Why? It means different things to different people, and is integral to the work we do here at Wildling.
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We caught up with our director of Product and Operations, Jill Munson, to learn how she balances her role at Wildling, herbalism practices and studies, and being the mother of two kids while making time for self-care. We could all learn a thing or two from her!
Q. What does self-care mean to you?
A. I think the term self-care, for me, means doing things that make you feel good emotionally, physically, and spiritually. It’s anything that builds your well-being and for me often means prioritizing myself.
Q. How do you put it into practice in your own life now?
A. Now that I’m a mom of two kids and running Wildling, I do try to include self-care throughout my schedule. Sometimes that means my gua sha routine happens while my husband and I watch TV for 30 minutes at the end of the day! For me, these days, it means making time for the things you feel are important. If you create space, it will happen. It’s just as important as everything else, but you have to be the one to prioritize it.
Self-care has to feel good and feel right! It sounds really nice every morning to wake up and meditate — but I already wake up at 5:30 a.m. Waking up early doesn’t feel caring to me, I’d just be tired all day. In that way, sleep is also self-care. If I can sleep through the night, I’m excited.
Q. How often do you need self-care?
A. Almost daily. It’s certainly not the same thing every day, nor is it the same time every day. It looks like trying to go for a run after I drop my kids off from school to be out in nature, taking time to do yoga, making the effort to go to acupuncture, and of course gua sha. All of these things connect me to myself and make me feel good.
Q. What do we get wrong about self-care?
A. People might think of self-care as just another thing they are supposed to do. Usually, they are looking at it too narrowly. Real self-care can be a lot of things, it doesn’t have to be a pretty or Instagrammable moment.
For many people, the biggest challenge is how they can fit it in to their days. That’s why we’ve come up with our 21-Day Gua Sha Challenge (stay tuned for this!) and why I love doing it to reset when I fall off track. As a mom, I just love having that time for myself — it’s five to 15 minutes a day for yourself, which makes a huge difference over 21 days.
Q. How can self-care become more accessible?
A. Self-care can mean a lot of different things. For Wildling, it’s the opportunity to connect with yourself, your face, and what’s going on there. It’s simple but can be so powerful when you take time to connect with that, to breathe, and feel what’s happening within the muscle, tissues, and skin. That’s what we’re trying to provide for people — that moment of self-connection.
I like to leave my gua sha stone and skin care products out on coffee table or area of the living room. When we’re lounging, we can pick it up and do a little massage. It can be a 5 minute basic gua sha massage, it doesn’t have to be a whole thing.
I try to fit this and any self-care into my life in a manageable way. Whether it’s my desk at work, on the plane, while watching TV, sitting in traffic — I take advantage of these pockets of time to do my gua sha.
Q. When do you find self-care to be difficult?
A. For me, meditation is a really hard one. I wish I did more meditation! I have so much going on and feel like I do a good job of incorporating self-care into a very busy schedule. Meditation — or the idea of “doing nothing” — is really hard for me. I usually get to a point where I’m sitting still and a list of what I should be doing and what I didn’t do yet runs through my head. I do find mediation through other things I do. I love dreamwork, for example.
Q. When you face resistance to self-care, how do you handle it?
A. I take a moment to notice how different I feel when I do take the time for self-care. If I get off track with the rituals that I’ve consistently been doing, I won’t feel as good and will need to reprioritize. I don’t feel as healthy or well.
I take a moment and prioritize it in my schedule, too, because I know I need to get back to it and it really is important. it impacts everything. That’s why we do what we do.
Wanna get your gua sha on? Make sure you're not making these 5 common gua sha mistakes!
I try to fit this and any self-care into my life in a manageable way.
