Self-Care
Self-care is something that is often overlooked in our lives, and the lack of it is often the cause of excessive stress, worry and sometimes even burnout. Self-care is the mindful taking of time for yourself, paying attention to yourself and making sure that you are being cared for by you.
Self-care is a deliberate act, meaning that it is any activity that we consciously do in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Properly ‘self-caring’ is the key to having healthy relationships and can also reduce anxiety and improve your mood. Self-care IS NOT something that we force ourselves to do. It’s not something we don’t genuinely enjoy doing. Additionally, although self-care is at its core taking care of yourself, it is not a selfish act. Not only is it done for yourself, but it is also done knowing that if you care for yourself, you can better care for others around you.
GUIDE TO A SELF-CARING LIFESTYLE
Actively plan your self-care. It shouldn’t be a spontaneous or spur of the moment activity that ‘just happens’ but rather an active, conscious choice. Put your self-care activities in your calendar or tell them to your friends so they can hold you accountable.
Be conscious about your self-care. Note in your mind exactly what works for you as ‘self-care’ and what doesn’t. You want to create good habits and find your own routine and rhythm. Identify exactly what you like to do, like reading, painting or cooking, and make a serious effort to integrate those things into your day.
Know yourself and your limits. Recognize when you’re pushing or working yourself too much or too hard, and figure out how to slow down and lessen your load to be something you can handle. Learn your own temperament and sensitivity levels.
Decompress throughout the day, not just after a long day of school or work. Take self-care moments during school or work to rest your mind and body. Your brain needs pauses throughout the day, even if it's just walking around or stretching for a few minutes.
Create a “no list.” This is a list of things you don’t want to do or don’t like to do. This may include checking emails at night, picking up your phone the first thing in the morning, or attending gatherings you don’t like. After you make this list, stop doing these things in your daily routine.
Adopt a nutritious, healthy diet, get enough sleep, exercise, follow up with medical care, and spend time with your loved ones.
Use relaxation and/or meditation techniques. See below for more information and ideas!
Do at least one relaxing activity every day, and one pleasurable activity every day.
Sources:
Psych Central: https://psychcentral.com/blog/what-self-care-is-and-what-it-isnt-2/
Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/skinny-revisited/201805/self-care-101
Mindfulness
What is Mindfulness?
From Headspace: “Mindfulness is the quality of being present and fully engaged with whatever we’re doing at the moment — free from distraction or judgment, and aware of our thoughts and feelings without getting caught up in them.”
Practicing mindfulness changes our mindset and perspective through life and helps us with calm, thoughtful, and empathetic reactions to stress, challenges, and unpleasant emotions (it does not completely eliminate these negatives from our lives).
Benefits of Mindfulness:
Reports of increased happiness, patience, acceptance, and compassion & decreased stress, frustration, and sadness
Research shows that the amygdala, (part of the brain that regulates how we feel stress, fear, and anxiety), decreases in size with regular practice of mindful meditation
Gray matter and cortical thickness increase with regular practice of mindful meditation
gray matter = part of brain that is responsible for regulating emotion, planning, and problem solving
cortical thickness = part of brain responsible for learning and memory
Source: Headspace https://www.headspace.com/mindfulness
Mindful Aloha
Thao Le’s Mindful Aloha website is a great local resource to help yourself learn to be mindful while practicing Hawaiian values! The website link is here. Thao has also written a book called “Mindfulness with Aloha Breath.”
Thao has a lively Youtube video storytelling of this book here as well:
Finally, she has created an amazing app that may guide your presence to be mindful, self-reflect, and bring awareness to values that align with ALOHA.
Meditation
Meditation is the practice that helps with learning how to build a mindful everyday lifestyle. Learn how meditation is slightly different than mindfulness through this link and also see below for more!
Try These Self-Care Practices!
Box Breathing (also known as square breathing) is a breathing technique used to heighten performance, help you concentrate, and reduce stress. Use this video to follow along and learn to box breathe!
Source: Healthline.com
Research suggests that practicing meditation may reduce symptoms of anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Meditation may also physically change the brain and body and could potentially help to improve many health problems and promote healthy behaviors. Try this 5 minute meditation!
Source: National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health
Soulpancake
Replenish your brain with ART, CULTURE, SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY, SPIRITUALITY, and HUMOR! Soulpancake.com is designed to open your mind, challenge your friends and feel good! Their videos, conversations and activities will definitely tingle your mind and heart.
Featured App
Relax with Andrew Johnson Lite
The pace of life and change can be overwhelming. We all need to slow down sometimes, to relax, to unwind.
Click here for more info!
