Throughout her storied, pioneering career, La Reina del Reggaetón has delivered many a self-care sermon; we absorb these positive messages through music as well as through her directives in interviews and on socials. But there’s always more good to glean from Ivy Queen.
Remezcla recently chatted with La Caballota about self-care and coping in times of cuarentena. But because she’s always doling out advice—she is as much a supporter of her fans’ own betterment as she is a singular urbano icon—we’ve compiled five strong tips for another mental boost.
This time, La Diva sat down with Rapetón to offer her advice.
These are takeaways that are relevant now, but that you’ll also want to carry with you into post-coronavirus life. (See what we did there? Positive thinking — you can improve your present by constructively to your future.)
Don’t go to sleep ruminating on negative thoughts
On Rapetón’s Entre Las Babys, Ivy Queen emphasized the importance of kicking gloom and doom out of bed. Fears about the pandemic and how it could continue to affect our lives through 2022 is not what you want circling your mind as you try to rest: “This is not helping your energy to build,” she says. Sleep is a time of self-restoration—try to make mental space for it to be just that.
Keep going: If not for yourself, then for your loved ones
When you’re really down, remember that you’ve got people counting on you, be it hijxs, friends, parents. (Pets count too, Ivy Queen adds.) Don’t allow sadness to anchor in your heart, because “then you’re fucked. . .you’re not fighting it, you allow it to stay,” she warns. Above all else, “Don’t give up.”
Don’t be ashamed of your Spanglish
This is an observation rather than direct advice. In so many talks with the media, Ivy Queen toggles between Spanish and English — regardless of the language of her interviewers. Shaming folks for speaking Spanglish is lame, y’all. Let yourself — and everyone else — communicate how best they can, however they’re most comfortable, whatever the combination of languages may be.
Be a source of love, and help others
Call this perennial guideline a platitude if you like, but that doesn’t change its positive effects for both the giver and receiver. “It’s the time to breathe, to lend a hand to the person next to you,” Ivy Queen says. “It’s a time for spreading love.” Getting through this together sounds a lot better than going at it alone.
Love yourself
This one is admittedly a challenge for many, especially for women and femmes, because we’re socially conditioned to dislike ourselves, to constantly find faults in our person, to feel insignificant or insufficient.
In a recent Instagram post, Ivy Queen reminds us not to be afraid of our own minds. “I’ve opted to accept the woman in the mirror, without fear of adapting to what’s uncertain,” she writes. Ups and downs included, Ivy Queen gives thanks for her health and her steadfastness, and takes pride in her own evolution. This seems to steady her in readying for continued growth. “To you who’s reading this: love yourself,” she writes. “Even though it’s not always easy, it is always necessary.”