Stretch Your Legs, Feel Your Feels, Wash Your Hair
Oh hi,
How are you? I mean it, how are you? Words are hard these days. I have found my emotions to be wildly inconsistent, how about you? We're all practicing the art of feeling everything at the same time. The memes are funny! The news is dark. The moment is bigger and quieter than we ever could have anticipated. And so my simple message for today is that stuck is an okay thing to feel. There's nothing quite like the immense unknown ahead to shock you into being present.
Allow yourself to be tired, so know you may need more sleep. Allow yourself to sit and think, so know you may need to hide the screens from yourself for a bit. Allow yourself to feel sad, so know you can just start the facetime and find someone the other end who also wants to sit with you. Allow yourself to be frustrated at the open concept apartment you once loved, but is now driving you insane because of your also-at-home partner/spouse/roommate/children. So know headphones and a walk outside is still an option.
Nothing is a perfectly acceptable amount to get done right now.
You don't have to pick up a new hobby or work out when it doesn't feel right. You don't have to organize your closet, your life, or even your to-do list. This is stressful and exhausting, baby. This doesn't have to be a time to optimize. We are trying to process *a lot*. We're all trapped in a heightened emotional state like being on a plane — get ready to laugh at things that aren't all that funny and cry at the drop of a hat — except now the plane is life and you should def stretch your legs more. All of this feeling is normal, I promise.
Be chill with your brains. Be chill with your physical being. These things are connected.
Instead of living in our own worlds while being crammed into spaces side by side, we are figuring this time out collectively. That is everyone, really everyone. We need to reach into kindness and pull it out for each other because we are each experiencing this in our way and bringing all of our own shit to the table. I invite you to lay yours out alongside mine.
This is our shit now, we're dealing with it together.
And so, on we go into another day. I am thankful for you for being here in this little digital space with us. The Assembly team is incredibly grateful and blown away by the support already. We know this may be a long road ahead, but we are working away at strengthening our web.
Many of you have asked how you can participate — for now, join us for our daily streaming classes and events, which all live on our schedule page. The energy coming from our instructors will put a smile on your face. If you can buy a credit pack, thank you! These help us keep our team, practitioners, and instructors going.
There will be more to come – including a new series I've started (what? okay!) below.
Thank you. Talk to you soon,
Molly
Is This Working?
Welcome to Is This Working? with me, Molly, the same person who has been writing this whole email. For the past few years, I've had the honor of getting to meet some truly show-stopping women (and men, sure, but let's not for now). So, as we're all settling into some more time at home I thought I'd fire up the ol' Zoom and give these women a call — and bring you along with me. For the next few weeks (or maybe longer) I'm launching a series called Is This Working? where I'll host unvarnished conversations with artists, activists, creators, entrepreneurs, and people I admire. Thankfully (FOR ME...and all of us), they've got some time these days too, so come into their spaces and mine as we figure out, truly, what's working for us.
Episode 1: Aleksandra Zee: woodworker, fine artist, entrepreneur and lifelong cheerleader for everyone in her life. We had a wide-ranging conversation about the pressure of social media the benefits of listening to yourself when you just want to drink the margarita, and why it feels damn good to wash your hair. The whole thing is here. Some pull quotes to entice you — and her product recs for relaxation:
On listening to her intuition: "One of my favorite things that I’ve taken away over the years in therapy - I’m a big advocate for therapy; I go to my therapist once a week. If it’s not a “Hell Yeah” it’s a no. With big decisions, it needs to be a hundred percent. That decision or that opportunity can always make its way back to you but I think that when we come back home to our gut and sit and be centered, you know."
On slowing down in 2020: I feel like social media and the presence of constantly scrolling and having everyone cranking out new things all the time, that’s not the art process. You can be on that high sometimes, it’s an ebb and a flow of inspiration and creating, but it’s unrealistic that you’re going to live in that high forever...It was kind of catching myself being caught up in the pressures of needing to produce, needing to put out something new, needing to keep attention, but I’ve given myself a healthy distance with social media, which is really hard. I feel like I’m happier because of it. The truth is Instagram is a highlight reel of our lives and we can choose to put as much as we want out there.
On why washing her hair is really the answer right now: "Something that I’ve found that I do — it’s so ordinary — and I keep recommending to girlfriends of mine: wash your hair. Do a hair mask, wash your hair because, whatever kind of hair you have, it’s a process and you’re going to get in the shower, you’re going to take a moment to zen, scrub your head, condition it, dry it, whatever. It’s been this forced slow down. I’m not washing my hair five times a day but in those moments of feeling a little bit panicked, I’ve been getting in the shower."
Al's Self Care For Stressful Times:
Eucalyputus Steam Cleansing Shower Vapors. "Eucalyptus is incredibly grounding and clears the sinuses. In a really hot shower, it envelops your whole body."
Bathing Culture Dipsea Soak with CBD. "A bath time with some CBD bath salts is really really relaxing. That’s been my self care."
Aesop Hand Balm. With all the handwashing, they’re my go to hand lotion. It’s been about spending time in the bathroom and taking care of my skin and my body which is something I really don’t do."
Moon Juice Super You. "It’s got the whole adaptogens thing that everyone talks about. It’s a mood enhancer and I would say on days that I don’t take it, I notice."
Ritual Vitamins Essential for Women. "I was never one for vitamins but as you get older you really need them. They’re covered in mint which is really pleasant to take and if you take any other supplements that are gross and gaggy, take it with this."
DIY Relaxation Vibes: "I have an ice pack, like one for if you get hurt. [I've been] spraying it with lavender, putting a towel over it, and laying it over my forehead and eyes and then just lay there and breathe and that’s been feeling really good. And then allowing myself to sink into the present moment and be calm."
Follow Al for more information about her upcoming virtual workshops!