B as in (hot water) Bottle

The verb phrase “BYOB” made its first apparition back in the 50’s. Meaning = Bring Your Own Bottle/Booze/Beer. Or in our case, hot water Bottle – Bouillote en Français.

It’s the first bit of Self-care I came across. My dad was using it 15 years ago when Uncle Harry hooked him onto Transcendental Meditation (oooo big word! We’ll get back to it in a moment) and my friend Lisa finished me off. She’s the sweetest. When someone, anyone, would stay in her house, she’d make the bed and a hot-water bottle for you, rain or shine.

It’s also kind of the first aid kit for us girls, at that time of the month. Helps with the cramps and bring in an extra cozy factor to our “demises”.

That cozy factor is the stuff guys, it’s bringing me into my very own comfort zone during winter nights (or any coldish night) and actually helps me fall asleep. Cuz sleep is the actual stuff. It’s free and it repares your body and mind every.damn.day.

Funny thing is when I think about it, my very first symptom that was definitely out-of-the-ordinary felt like I had a hot water bottle strapped to certain parts of my body. I didn’t feel heat to the touch but I felt it (thanks neurones). Should have turned me off right? Nope. The minute I left hospital and got home with my dad, I made a hot water bottle to try and regain a feeling of that comfort zone. It followed me since, I even travel with it, even just for one night.

But what’s the use for yoga says you? Simple, I want to use it first as a sort of muscle relaxant and makeshift bolster. Most of us have back pains, mainly lower back pains and, with a few gentle stretches, it can help relaxing it. Second, I want to use it as a tool to bring awareness to the body, just like Uncle Harry did for my Da. So, this tool will help when it comes to the meditation part, when we are scanning our body for aches and pains and (un)comfortable zones. It’ll make sense, you’ll see.

This post was brought to you by popular demand! The B as in Bouillotte was making plenty of sense in my head but thanks to your feedbacks, I realised it needed to be explained. It’s not just a gimmick for a cool name!

See y’all next week and in the meantime, you take (self)care and enjoy your weekend, rain or shine. (It’s pissing cats and dogs in Lyon.)

Logo by the fantastic Gaëtan Billault!