Newly elected lawmaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, is not talking about her future constituents right now.
She feels she needs to take care of herself first, after a bruising midterm election period.
In an Instagram video she posted on Monday, the 29-year-old, who calls herself a Democratic socialist, said she is taking week off for “self-care.”
She also noted that her recent political activity has altered her lifestyle.
“I am starting a week of self-care where I am taking the week off and taking care of me. I don’t know how to do that though, so I would appreciate any and all self-care tips,” she said in an Instagram video.
“For working people, immigrants, & the poor, self-care is political — not because we want it to be, but [because] of the inevitable shaming of someone doing a face mask while financially stressed,” she added on Twitter.
I’m taking a few days to take care of myself before what is sure to be an eventful term.
For working people, immigrants, & the poor, self-care is political – not because we want it to be, but bc of the inevitable shaming of someone doing a face mask while financially stressed./1 https://t.co/EWdWFmPwet
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) December 17, 2018
“So I’ve decided to take others along with me on IG [Instagram] as I learn what self-care even means and why it’s important,” she also wrote.
Earlier this year, Ocasio-Cortez beat the powerful New York Democrat Joe Crowley in an upset primary election victory that stunned many.
She was born in the Bronx to parents of Puerto Rican descent, but after the age of two was raised in Westchester County, New York, one of the most well-to-do and high-income areas of the country, as The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News has reported.
Related: Ocasio-Cortez Just Realized How Expensive It Is to Live in D.C.
Ocasio-Cortez spent most of her life as a young person in Yorktown Heights; she graduated from Yorktown High School in 2007.
In 2011 she graduated from Boston University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and international relations.
Her father passed away during her college years.
The self-described Democratic socialist has said her background was working class, and that she “relates many of her political positions to it,” as her Wikipedia page notes.
In her social media posting on Monday, she discussed how she’s had to give up a more relaxed lifestyle now that she’s been elected.
“Before the campaign, I used to practice yoga 3-4x/week, eat nutritiously, read and write for leisure,” Ocasio-Cortez noted on Instagram.
“I keep things raw and honest on here since I believe public servants do a disservice to our communities by pretending to be perfect,” she added.
“As soon as everything kicked up, that all went out the window. I went from doing yoga and making wild rice and salmon dinners to eating fast food for dinner and falling asleep in my jeans and makeup.”
“I keep things raw and honest on here since I believe public servants do a disservice to our communities by pretending to be perfect,” she added.
Related: Ocasio-Cortez on Medicare for All: ‘You Just Pay for It!’
“It makes things harder for others who aspire to run someday if they think they have to be superhuman before they even try.”
The young Democrat also said she’s spending a few days “in the middle of nowhere” in upstate New York.
And check out this video:
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