Little Rituals
Mar. 19th, 2013 03:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bravocharliesierra*How I am using #BPAL to improve my health:*
I have bipolar disorder and a lot of anxiety issues. I also have mild
tendencies of OCD when I am manic, and issues with maintaining attention to
tasks. This shapes up to a lot of complication and extra stress.
Lately I have been buying and swapping perfume oils from _Black Phoenix
Alchemy Lab_ and some other smaller companies. BPAL is one of the only
places I can reliably buy perfume, and the other smaller companies only
have a few that I can try without headaches or allergic reactions.
Why does this matter?
First, I rarely put perfume on first thing in the morning because of John's
sensitivities to perfume. So at work, I put on my perfume and take my daily
morning medicines for my bipolar, and any pain medicine I need to take.
It's a good way to remember, because I remember to put on perfume more
easily than to take my medicine (no idea how that works!).
Second, getting the packages in the mail are a huge highlight for me,
especially when they are surprise gifts from the people in my BPAL circles.
I don't get a lot of personal mail, and they always come with tea or a card
or note, and it's just very sweet. It also gives me the opportunity to send
gifts out! Sometimes scents don't work for me, but they work for others, so
I bundle them up and mail them. This is really nice.
Last, the organization is fun. It's fun to go through the bottles and imps
and sort them by type or by preference, smell ones that I can't remember if
I like, all that stuff. It gives me one small space that I can have total
control over and organize however I want. That's actually really meaningful
to me. It gives my brain some space.
Do you have little rituals or habits that keep you healthy and sane?
-BCS
I have bipolar disorder and a lot of anxiety issues. I also have mild
tendencies of OCD when I am manic, and issues with maintaining attention to
tasks. This shapes up to a lot of complication and extra stress.
Lately I have been buying and swapping perfume oils from _Black Phoenix
Alchemy Lab_ and some other smaller companies. BPAL is one of the only
places I can reliably buy perfume, and the other smaller companies only
have a few that I can try without headaches or allergic reactions.
Why does this matter?
First, I rarely put perfume on first thing in the morning because of John's
sensitivities to perfume. So at work, I put on my perfume and take my daily
morning medicines for my bipolar, and any pain medicine I need to take.
It's a good way to remember, because I remember to put on perfume more
easily than to take my medicine (no idea how that works!).
Second, getting the packages in the mail are a huge highlight for me,
especially when they are surprise gifts from the people in my BPAL circles.
I don't get a lot of personal mail, and they always come with tea or a card
or note, and it's just very sweet. It also gives me the opportunity to send
gifts out! Sometimes scents don't work for me, but they work for others, so
I bundle them up and mail them. This is really nice.
Last, the organization is fun. It's fun to go through the bottles and imps
and sort them by type or by preference, smell ones that I can't remember if
I like, all that stuff. It gives me one small space that I can have total
control over and organize however I want. That's actually really meaningful
to me. It gives my brain some space.
Do you have little rituals or habits that keep you healthy and sane?
-BCS
