I Couldn't Figure Out How to "Dry Brush"—Until I Discovered Wellness Tutorials

The first time I tried to "dry brush," I looked like someone had just told me there was a giant, poisonous tarantula on my back and I had 15 seconds to fling it off.

The second time wasn’t much better.

Finally, after my roommate walked in on the third or fourth (or fifth?) time—if I’m being totally honest, it’s all a blur of hopping around on one foot and tripping over my bathmat while trying to exfoliate with a bristly scrubber-thing—I decided it was time to turn to the professionals.

And I’m glad I did. In addition to shedding some much needed light on how exactly to use my new dry brush (the undersides of my feet have never seen so much love in 27 years), the tutorial video I found led me down whatever you’d call the highly productive version of an internet wormhole. Hours, then days passed, and finally, I reemerged, my skin clearer, my sleep sounder, my breaths more even, and my jade roller no longer in its little dust-covered box.

Am I Gwyneth yet? Too soon to say—full disclosure: I have a little bit of melted cheese on my face as I write this—but at the very least, I can now touch my toes with minimal struggle.

These are the wellness tutorial videos that I've been watching on repeat lately:

Dry brushing is the daily practice of using a hard-bristled brush to exfoliate the skin and increase circulation. After watching this tutorial, I can now successfully do it without giving myself a rash.

Discovering the practice of jaw massaging has simultaneously enabled me to achieve a state of facial relaxation I previously didn’t think possible, and caused my fellow subway passengers to question my boundaries. It’s worth it.

Are you sensing a facial-massage-theme here? (I’m not, because my face is too relaxed to sense anything.) My favorite jade rolling tip from this tutorial is that you can do it while wearing a sheet mask, which makes me look like if the murderer from Scream had settled comfortably into sorority life.

This DIY face mask comes together in the time it takes you to make breakfast—oh, and you can also eat it for breakfast. When it comes to your skin, banana helps with hydration, yogurt exfoliates, honey moisturizes, and oats reduce inflammation. When it comes to your breakfast, all four are delicious.

This five-minute morning yoga lesson is the answer to my main issue with morning exercise: My emotional inability to change out of PJs before 8 a.m.

This tutorial answered my lifelong question of whether it was physically possible to fall asleep in under a minute.

What are your favorite wellness tutorial videos? Let us know in the comments!

This article was originally published in August 2018, but we're sharing it again for all your self-care needs.