Usually, you think of self-care as a routine or activity you do when you're alone. Yet, so much of how you nurture your mental and emotional wellbeing can be attributed to the support you receive in community. Yes, self-care can mean diving into a new romance novel amidst a steamy, candlelit bubble bath with your journal, some snacks and a glass of wine. But for many of us, oftentimes self-care means having an outlet to vent about our stresses, explore our innermost thoughts or seek guidance from the people we trust and admire. Without that part, my self-care routine just wouldn't be complete. Thus, social self care has officially entered the group chat.

Self-care is inevitably occurring, albeit organic and unproduced, when I'm in the company of my best friend(s).

We even have a set of routine activities we do every time we get together. The way I leave our date nights feeling is similar to how one might feel after completing a good workout or breakthrough therapy session. 

Before having kids, my best friend and I would call each other often to meet up at our favorite local grocery store whenever one of us needed to talk. We were never ones to hang out on FaceTime or talk on the phone for long. Whatever it was, it had to wait until we were together, in person, with our full setup. 

We'd meet in the parking lot, and after taking a few puffs of a cannabis preroll, we'd go inside the market and purchase a complete spread of our favorite snacks, teas, and wine. Then we'd take everything back to the car, where we kept a stash of napkins, disposable cups, plates and flatware at all times for these exact moments. We'd begin our feast, diving right into the first agenda topic at hand.

Today, we both have toddler sons, and are therefore no longer afforded the luxury of such freedom. We've had to adjust our ritual accordingly. Instead of meeting up on a whim, we schedule our dates on our family calendars, and have to ensure proper arrangements are in place before we can leave our nests. We still prioritize rolling out our full spread, even if we substitute by taking ourselves out to a bougie brunch instead.

Since our kids are almost always with us, we've swapped the THC for CBD using Ladykind's Rise & Rest Tincture Set.

Thanks to this dynamic duo, we get to enjoy the relaxation and mind-clearing benefits of cannabis *without* the psychoactive effects. They help commute us from our fast-paced realities to our rejuvenate and recharge zone. We either ingest them by holding 1/4 dropper of the oil under our tongues for sixty seconds, or by mixing them into our tea. These broad spectrum CBD-infused tinctures help balance our extreme moods so we can unpack our experiences and unwind together.

Nowadays, we're not able to get together as often as we'd like to. But when we do, we still insist on going all out.

Most recently, we hosted a self-care tea party for ourselves, featuring of course none other than our favorite Ladykind products.

After taking our CBD, we set the kids up to play so we could dive into our spread uninterrupted. 

Paired our tinctures with a nice, crisp glass of Riesling. 

And ended our time together with a brisk walk and some photos to document our time together.

Thanks to Ladykind, we went home refreshed and content, instead of emotionally exhausted the way some social scenes leave us feeling. If you're in need of safe and effective stress management aids, we highly recommend the Rise & Rest Set! Check out the rest of our blog here on ladykind.com for more tips and wellness practices like social self-care!

Nani Dominguez

Nani is a writer, co-host of TFAW Project and Tsismis with Jen & Nani podcast shows, and communications consultant residing in Oakland, California. Visit notesbynani.com to learn more.