This year started out a bit rocky for me. I'm not quite sure why, but something about getting back into the groove after a long holiday break didn't exactly feel like a seamless transition. After a mediocre January, I finally pulled myself out of the funk by dedicating a ton of energy to self-care. I started cooking more food at home, doing lots of yoga, and spending quality time with friends and family. I stopped worrying about why I was feeling so off and instead did the things that might help me feel like myself again.

In Try Living with Lucie, my 5-day challenge series on Refinery29, I frequently explore topics that I know little to nothing about. This week, however, I wanted to explore a topic that I've become quite familiar with: self-care.

To do this, I made a post on Instagram asking my followers to let me know how they practice self-care, and the wide range of responses I got was eye-opening. Clearly, every mind and body requires a different style and level of personal care. In this episode, I tried to explore it all — well, as much as I could fit into five days.

From a massage and signature nail art experience at Chillhouse, to an herbal consultation and guided sound bath meditation at Naturopathica, I explored many of NYC's finest self-care opportunities mixed with some DIY, at-home experiments. (Did you know that a sound bath at home — in your bathtub — can be quite relaxing? I do now.)

Check out my video to see how practicing self-care for five days in a row changed my life.