May God help us all…
Sweating is my natural state…
Well, not really… but between my normal anxiety, my health anxiety and my social anxiety— plus being an athlete who tends to run hot anyway—I sweat.
Unfortunately, I always saw it as a shameful thing. I’d keep my arms so close to my body, which obvs would only make it worse, I looked perpetually nervous and/or guilty…
Think:
I remember, before being diagnosed with social and general anxiety, being in high school asking my mom for the Dove extra strength antiperspirant, carrying an extra t-shirt in case I “felt like changing” and all-in-all avoiding any activity that required me to lift my hands above my head.
A lot of these habits carried over into adulthood. I don’t like clothing where sweat stains are super-mega visible, so I stick to darker colors. Your girl is not wearing a heather gray cardigan in any season.. I like looser-round-the-pits clothes instead of the up-close-and-personal ones that are on the sweaty frontlines… You get the idea.
Why now?
I’ve been slowly and steadily unlearning a lot of things I took for fact over the years.
For example:
- Breasts are NOT inherently sexual. They have a very real biological function. They’re also completely not up to you when it comes to size, shape, weight, appearance etc. If my DDs sans bra make you feel some type of way, that’s on you. Not me. I don’t need to sit with wires on my ribs to prevent a grown man’s unwanted excuse of an erection or freaky-naughty thoughts about a stranger buying tomatoes on a Tuesday afternoon.
- Sweat is normal. Again, it has a very real, very necessary biological function. It’s our bodies’ natural, built-in waste elimination and cooling system.
Our bodies are magical works of art… pure MASTERPIECES… and when we start meddling, poking, prodding, things fall out of alignment. I don’t want to plug my pores with aluminum. I don’t want to punish my body for doing the right thing. I certainly don’t want to risk my health to make others feel more comfortable about water coming from my armpits.
- I have health anxiety. There’s a ridiculously long history of cancer in my family, including breast. Although I rebuke all generational curses (AMEN!), if I can do my part in a small way, why wouldn’t I?
- I just finished my last can of Nivea antiperspirant… so, leggo!
This isn’t my first attempt at transitioning…
I tried about 2-3 years ago, and I worked in a small, glass square of an office with two middle-aged, slightly ornery people, and a man known for being easily offended by smells.
I wasn’t even two weeks into the detox when my boss—who I didn’t have a good relationship with at all—pulled me aside “mujer a mujer” to suggest a stronger deodorant.
I was MORTIFIED! I felt super self-conscious because I know for it to get to that point my other colleagues must’ve complained.
Now that I’m working from home, and my only colleagues are my husband and my puppy, I’d like to try this again. They have to love me regardless… plus my shower is within walking distance, so now is as good a time as any.
Things to keep in mind during the transition:
You will stink. It’s not you so much as it is your body purging all the guck that the aluminum has blocked from being fully released.
The detox takes between 2 to 4 weeks, but varies from person to person. I feel like I was a heavy deodorant user… if that’s a thing… reapplying throughout the day. Not sure how long it’ll take for me, but I’m committed.
Sweating is normal. You’re supposed to sweat. When in doubt repeat this to yourself.
To be honest, I didn’t know there were alternatives. I feel like parents get so damn overwhelmed by puberty stank that their first instinct is to shove the closest bottle of Dove our way. I wish I’d known there were alternatives, or maybe I wouldn’t be trying this at my big age…
We need to have more conversations about normalizing things that are normal (body hair, stretch marks, cellulite, gas, pooping, urine, crooked teeth, periods, ass sweat when you’ve just sat for 4 hours on a plastic picnic chair, wearing sunscreen even if it’s not sunny, and yes, especially if you’re Black or Brown…)
No one wants to stink, but apparently, once you get to the other side it’s better. It’s the bacteria on sweat that stinks, not you.
How to mitigate the smellZ…
- More frequent showers
- Wear cotton, breathable and loose fabrics
- Let your pits breathe!
- Incorporate Chlorophyll into your diet (it’s natural deodorant)
- Laugh. Shit’s funny… wha??
- Armpit masks. The US has an answer for every.single.thing. In Spain however, I’ll make do by using clay and charcoal masks as there isn’t a product I’ve seen specifically for this purpose.
- Chlorella is a supplement which detoxes heavy metals from the body. Also good to keep on-hand…
Photo by bruce mars
3 Weeks Later….
I’m still committed!
We’re now in the heart of Spanish summer which means temps over 90 degrees regularly and blazing sun. Here’s what I’ve noticed:
I sweat, but not as much as I thought I would.
Sweat in my case is almost equally mental as it is physical. When I feel in control of my anxiety, calm overall, I sweat less, clench my pits to my sides less, and allow them to simply be.
I smell better after a shower + without deodorant than ever before. It’s good to let my skin breathe.
Lessons Learned
Unless we’re talking about heat, or exercise, sweat is a symptom of anxiety, being uncomfortable or nerves. The further along in my detox I got, the more confident I became. The less worried I became, and the less I thought about sweating.
I tested myself in different situations to make sure it wasn’t a fluke, for example a walk in the rain to the vet wearing a polyester shirt with long sleeves… was it moist? A bit. Was it smelly? Not at all!
I believe that a mindset change is what made this detox experiment more successful. It’s sorta a self-fulfilling process if you think about it… don’t sweat—thinks about sweating—starts sweating—worries about sweating…
Upkeep:
- When possible in summer, I ditch the sleeves, tight fabrics and non-breathable material
- I take chlorella when I remember to
- I’ve chilled out with the masks, although I did them consistently for the first two weeks
- I stocked up on Sanex deodorant so I wouldn’t have an excuse to go back to anti
- I shower when I feel hot, or think I need it, and ya está!
