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As a chronically ill person, my nightstand is neatly lined with medication bottles, medical tape, and topical painkillers. Particularly lacking are fluorescent green pickle-flavored multivitamins. “I think you have to try it at least once,” says Alex Morgan, a professional soccer player and self-proclaimed pickle enthusiast. “As an athlete, I sometimes crave salty foods, but pickles are all I need. They kind of tick all the boxes.” For pickle lovers who are making it a priority, we swear by the brand’s pickle-flavored multivitamin gummies.
Aside from daily vitamins, Morgan’s current health routine has a lot to do with her recovery, giving herself plenty of time to rest and giving herself permission to indulge once in a while. “It’s kind of a balance of making sure you’re doing the right things to recover, but also remembering to enjoy the little things.” Since becoming a mom, she’s found that balance. That might mean taking my 3-year-old daughter out for ice cream or going for a bike ride at the end of a long day. She also tracks her sleep, eats a high-carbohydrate, high-protein vegetarian diet, utilizes cryotherapy and an infrared sauna, and has begun returning to her meditation, especially on game days.
“I think we can all relate when we have something really important to do, like a big meeting or a PowerPoint. I feel like I start to get anxious and start thinking over and over in my head. Me too. I’m meditating [for] Five minutes of breathing exercises or guided meditation, that’s great. ”
As a passionate supporter of women’s sports (she recently Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Jersey and expressed support for her (For the women’s NCAA Final Four), Morgan discovered some sideline meditation during March Madness. Still, she prefers to do her own meditation on the bus, on the way to the game, or in her room before going to her stadium.
“A lot of people think of meditation as, ‘Oh, I have to sit still for 30 minutes,’ but it can be this, that, or even just a few minutes of breathing exercises. It may also be a box bracelet. [for] 4, 4 hold, 4 out, 4 hold. Things like this can actually help lower your heart rate. [and help you] Instead of thinking about a million things at once, think about one or two things. ”
After more than 13 years at the top, Morgan’s health routine – from pickle vitamins to meditation – is part of what allows her to be an active participant in another landmark year for women’s sport. And she doesn’t expect it to slow down anytime soon. She said: “It’s definitely an exciting time to be involved in women’s sport and to be this close to it for me…I’m just soaking it all in.”
Chandler Plante is an assistant editor at POPSUGAR Health & Fitness. Previously, he worked as an editorial assistant for People magazine and contributed to Ladygunn, Millie, and Bustle Digital Group. In his free time, he creates and shares content on the Internet about chronic illness, beauty, and disability.
