A Conversation about Hair, Fitness and Self Love with Chelsea Jackson of Chelsea Loves Yoga
Selfies, hairstyling and yoga with Chelsea Loves Yoga. Photo by Shawn Dowdell Photography
Life can be a blur for successful singles, working moms or any woman with a life and a smart phone. Constantly running from place to place, caring for others or working both days and evenings after the kids are asleep is a crazy routine that sadly is not uncommon. As women we give to those around us often at the sacrifice of our own time and well-being. So just imagine how refreshing it was to talk to Chelsea Jackson of Chelsea Loves Yoga, a yogi and younger, wiser woman, that recommends we learn to love ourselves, so we can make the choices that support our lives. Sounds easy, right? Wong! It is so much easier to put aside personal needs or choices because of what others may think or want, when a little selfishness is what’s best for everyone.
You may be thinking…Yoga…hair…what’s the connection? The answer is fitness and health. So many women in our community sacrifice exercise and health to maintain hairstyles that we decided to feature a women that is fit, beautiful and maintaining her hair through it all.
For Chelsea there is a strong connection between yoga and her hair. She maintains that, “Yoga has really helped [her] form a healthy relationship with [her] hair”. The practice of Yoga has taught her to be patient, mindful and honest with herself about what she can reasonably do with it. Anyone working with natural curls and coils or even transitioning into those styles knows that a healthy dose of patience is required as part of your hair regimen. Not only naturals, but anyone trying to repair weakened or damaged hair or desiring longer lengths is going to have to patiently nourish and treat their hair to create optimal growth conditions. It’s not always easy, never quick, but certainly worth the time and effort.
As a socially adept yogi with a significant following on Instagram @chelsealovesyoga, Chelsea’s choice to try a sew-in as a protective style to give her hair a break was met with judgemental opinions from people who thought this decision was anything but an expression of self-love. Chelsea rejects this view as short-sighted. Much like anyone else, her hair journey has been an education garnered through, trial, error, You Tube, and professional support from a stylist. As she learned more about what it took to maintain hair length and moisture, she learned of her myriad of choices, which was in fact very empowering. “I am actually an advocate for a good protective style everyone once in a while because I have seen tremendous improvement in my hair since giving it a rest”, she says.
We had the chance to style Chelsea’s naturally curly extensions when she visited our offices. They not only protect her hair, but they also gives her fitness freedom. She can work out, sweat and easily maintain her style with this convenient option, but don’t think that yoga is the type of exercise that is easy on the hair. As a matter of fact, Chelsea cautions against this assumption, “If you’re looking for a workout where you can keep a press out in tact, I’ve tried it and it did not work”. You will engage muscles you didn’t know you had and quickly work up a sweat. Her regular hair repertoire includes buns, ponytails, braids, goddess braids and sew-ins.
There’s no question that how we look has a strong affect on how we feel about ourselves, but there is a necessary balance that must be struck. At the end of the day Chelsea knows that, “It’s important just to find a style that you can work out with because hair is important, but I just feel like my body and my health are a lot more important.”
As a working mom, I asked Chelsea what advice she had for those seeking to create calm and balance at home or in their lives in general, and she recommends creating calm and balance for yourself first. Take the time to carve out a sacred hour or more at least once a week to do yoga, get a massage or allow yourself the chance to care for yourself, because loving yourself allows you to have an even greater capacity to love everyone else.
Chelsea Loves Yoga gives busy DE Contributors Sholanda Armstrong and Marian Mendenhall a quick class. Photo by Shawn Dowdell Photography