Introducing Darcell And The Week’s Theme

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Welcome, welcome everyone. Welcome back. Welcome back to the sweet spot. It's self-care Saturday here on the Sweet Spot. I'm Dr. Derek Sweet. As you know, I'm a board, certified psychiatrist. I work with elite athletes and high performers, but more than that, I'm your fellow traveler. As you know, I've said this to you a thousand times. I'm your fellow traveler on this journey we call life. This week, sweet spotters, beautiful souls, we have had the privilege of sharing the entire week on the sweet spot, just learning and chopping it up with Darcel Dillard Sweet. Yes, you heard that correctly. Darcell Dillard Sweet is indeed my wife, the Queen, who has been nothing short of wonderful here this week. Darcell, welcome to Self-Care Saturday on The Sweet Spot.

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Oh, thank you for having me. It's been a wonderful week so far, so I can't wait to dive into the Saturday sweetness.

Why Self-Care Is Preventive Health

Darcell’s Movement Routine: Tennis

SPEAKER_01 1:07

Absolutely. So self-care is an important topic. We made Saturday about self-care because we run around all week. We run around just doing so many things that we rarely have the moment to even take a deep breath. Often on the sweet spot, I'll say something like, let's take a deep breath together. And I think for some people, I see you taking one right now. I think for some of us, it's the only time that we take a deep breath. And sometimes that's me. I'm the I have to remember that I'm talking to myself here. And I'm like, oh my goodness, this is the only time I'm taking a deep breath. And it just tells you how quickly we're moving in the world. So self-care is important. It's about slowing down. It's not just about the spa, it's not just about the aromatherapy candles. It's not just about feeling good. It's about protecting your health, preventing disease. It's about managing stress. It's about protecting your future. I always like to say this to ourselves: future you is really hoping and praying that current you and present you will take a few minutes to care for yourself because future you is depending on you to self-care. So I'm gonna ask you what is your self-care routine? First of all, A, do you have one? And B, what would you say your self-care routine is in this context?

Slowing Down And Brief Meditation

SPEAKER_00 2:45

That is so beautifully put together by you. And you're right, it's not always about the spa day or the massages. Those are sort of the soft things that we can do for ourselves. But let's underscore those are expensive things. In the day that we live in, a massage is not$20. Unless you go to the nail salon, but even they will do a dollar a minute, right? So if you really want a good rub down, it's$30 because it's 30 minutes, or it's$50, but you want 50 minutes. And then it goes up, right? So a real good one is gonna really kind of get you into a hundred dollar range. So monetarily speaking, while that is an option, my routine of self-care is one of action because remember, those who've gotten to know me this week, I'm a mover. So my first self-care is movement in tennis. I try to play at least two or three times a week. That euphoria, that adrenaline, all of that wonderful blood flow, that's a self-care moment. An hour and a half, I can play tennis. That's my stamina tester every week. And it's a lot of movement. But when I'm done, I felt like I cared for myself. So the first thing for me is a movement regimen. The second thing is a slowdown regimen. Now you know me, not a good sitter. You can't sit still for too long. When you try to get me to meditate with you, and I've tried, I open up my eyes and say, Are we done yet?

SPEAKER_01 4:23

I know, I know, I know.

Style And Daily Rituals As Care

SPEAKER_00 4:24

Because time just passes and that silence and that stillness is like, oh my God, are we done yet? So, but I do try to slow down. I've learned over the years you do need to sit still. So I've adopted a new habit of trying to sit a little longer with myself. And then last, I'm gonna say to people style, fashion, my routine of getting dressed every day. I plan what I'm going to wear the night before because it matters to me when I show up for you, show up for my business meetings, show up even on the tennis court, and I have some cute outfits. Y'all don't even want to know. That style, that fashion, that signature, that Coco Chanel, that Catherine Hepburn Darcell look, that's self-care.

Expanding Self-Care: Joy And Hobbies

SPEAKER_01 5:13

Interesting. I I've never I again you never cease to fascinate me because I honestly would never have thought to put fashion into the self-care thing. But it makes sense what you put on and what you choose to put. And and I know in you, I know you you care about the products you put on your skin. I'm now even using some of those products. Thank you. I I get that you care about the movement, and I love the fact that you're combining exercise, that you're combining your fashion choices, and that even finding stillness and even it you even embracing stillness and silence and meditation, which is something I'm very big on. We're such opposites that way, because I am definitely a still sit, I can meditate for like three hours in and not move. And I know that would be insanity to you. I don't even ask anymore. I if I get 10 minutes with you, I'm grateful for those 10 minutes. But you've expanded the definition of self-care, and I think that's the most important message today is that self-care is what makes you happy. Something that makes you happy. I've also noticed that you've been watching these movies and that there's certain movies in series that you love and that you seem, and I love seeing you power down because you're such a mover and shaker kind of person to see you look at a series or look at a movie, even though I can't always sit with you through an entire movie. It's very hard for me. As much as I like to sit still, it's really hard for me to sit through some of these series and stuff. We definitely have different tastes on the movies. I I do try, but an expanded definition of self-care includes what makes you happy, what gives you a diversion, what brings the temperature down a bit, what helps your blood pressure lower, what opens up your arteries, what allows you to flow, and that's important.

Personalization: Cold Vs Heat And Compromise

SPEAKER_00 7:20

It's good that you are able to see the breadth of it because I've only listed three things. I have so many. One of them is grocery shopping. You'll say to me, Maybe you can order, they can deliver to the door, you don't have to go out. But the joy I have in walking up and down, and I mean everybody listening, every single aisle. I know the layout of the grocery store, I know where the fruits are, the vegetables are, the buns and the breads. It's a joy, but where does it come from? Shopping with my mother. So there is a relationship with the shopping experience, which brings me joy, which brings me happiness, which is a self-care moment. I don't want to go online and click and let a bag show up. Now I do enough of that on Amazon. They get enough of my money.

SPEAKER_01 8:08

Yeah, I was about to say that might be a self-care thing too, ordering a lot from Amazon.

SPEAKER_00 8:12

Oh, that's what you call survival. Or it's too cold out to actually do it. But again, I even embrace the cold. You know that I love the cold. That's self-care for me. An incredible cold wind blowing on my face. I just did a wisdom on Wednesday on the cold. So it's a variety of things that we all have. They must bring you joy in the middle of the peace, is my point.

SPEAKER_01 8:36

Absolutely, Darcell. And I feel for our listeners and for those who are listening in, whatever brings you joy today, whatever allows you to take a deep breath, whatever makes you happy, never let somebody else define for you what self-care is. The word self is in there for a reason. It is self-care. And that's super important. For me, sitting and listening to Deepak Chopra for, I don't know, an hour, hour and a half, or maybe sitting in a dark room with stillness or just hearing the water running. Like one of the things that I love to hear ocean sounds at night. I love the crashing of waves and torrential rainstorms pouring in, that it just gets my prefrontal cortex to dampen down and it settles my amygdala down. And those of you who follow the sweet spot, you know those brain structures. But it drives Darso crazy at night for me to be trying to do my self-care with the room having the stereo sound rain coming down.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

So well, you remember what I tell you about the rain sounds, and I know somebody out there's gonna vibe with me. When you hear all that crackling and you think it sounds like rain, there's one that you listen to that sounds like static on a television, and then the other one sounds like fried chicken. That's someone's frying chicken. So that ocean wave, crashing waves, of like, are they frying chicken or what? That does not give me peace, but it works for you. So that's why we that's why we have headphones, honey.

Key Takeaway And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_01 10:12

Yeah, yeah. I have noise canceling headphones, and that that might be the move for to figure it out. And I feel like that those are the things that matter, right? Like finding your way, knowing that your self-care may be different than somebody else's. And for yourself, self-care could be going on. She loves you, love the the cold weather. You love, I'm from Trinidad, you're from Ohio, we're from different parts of the world, and I love warm weather. I like heat. You could put me out in the hot, hot, hot sun. I love it. But when it, these winter storms and these blizzards, you're ready to go out. You're uh bundled up like a snow bunny, and you're just ready to go out. And I'm like, oh my God, this is not my self-care routine. But what brings you joy is going out into the cold as much as I like going out into the heat. And finding middle grounds has been the joy of a marriage and relationship. So, everyone, I hope you enjoyed our interaction today as we're talking through self-care. The message is do what makes you happy, do what brings you joy. But the deeper message is find the time to do that. Definitely find the time and make the time to do that because your nervous system and future you need that for health, for wellness, and for success. This is Dr. Derek Sweet, and this is Darcell Dillard Sweet signing off of the sweet spot on self care Saturday.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Thank you. Thank you, everybody.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

Bye bye.