Yes, Your New Wellness Thing CAN Be a Shake
If you’re like a few of us at BV Central (aka home office/laundry room/pet closet) you may be beating yourself up over the Nots: moving enough, eating well, staying in touch with friends, parenting correctly, taking time for yourself. With all that’s going on in our world, the last thing we want to do is make you feel worse. So, we have an alternative. We call it putting a “it’s actually my wellness thing, so back off” spin on anything you do or consume. Simply reframe it, like this:
Watching reality tv: Hey, you’re gaining new cooking skills, learning about alternative lifestyles, exploring pottery! Not leaving the couch: Reinforcing emotional bonds by spending relaxing quality time with your pet/spouse/children/martini. Anxiously pacing in circles: Increasing your step count! Wearing the same outfit every day: you are an environmental warrior! You’re conserving water and keeping phosphates out of our rivers. Ordering daily take-out: you are a community hero, actually SAVING small businesses by supporting them!
Here’s one more hack for you that we call “the smoothie principal.” It goes like this:
A smoothie is considered a health beverage but let’s be real: it’s just a shake. Sure, there’s a ton of fruit or kale or crushed butterfly powder in there but be honest: you probably add some or all of these: fruit juice, coconut, flavored yogurt, frozen yogurt, cocoa powder or chips and nut butter. Given that it’s still considered a smoothie (presumably because it is in point of fact, smooth) any beverage you drink for your health can therefore be a shake. Take the inverse of that and a shake is a health drink. An ice cream smoothie, if you will.
Here’s a concrete example: we paired one of our favorite health beverages, Chai from local rock star company Tea Bar, with our beloved Coconut Bliss. Ta da: Chai Bliss shake. Next, we paired it with Alpenrose Dairy ice cream and again, our cup of healthful chai is a milk shake. Just look! So pretty! So green-ish!
Tea Bar, by the way, was founded to make high quality tea approachable. There are no powders, artificial flavors or dyes in their beverages, and they source from small family farms around the world. You can’t get healthier than that. Or more gorgeous, frankly. Take a look at their IG page for some visual inspiration. We asked Tea Bar founder Erica Swanson about her own wellness hacks. She listed walking and cuddling her dog Ponyo and her daily morning macha. Those actually are legit self-care activities. But then she did start the company when she was 23. Let that sink in.
Our point here is this: anything you choose to consume is now a part of your customized wellness plan. Let go of the guilt. Stay on the couch. Or not. And have a wellness shake or three. We recommend the Chai Bliss. You’ll reach Nirvana. So sit, sip and listen to our take on a Self-Care and Chill playlist.