Sit down. Or, if you've been sitting down all day, stand up. Use this next minute to take a deep breath, in and out, and feel yourself in your body. Have you been getting enough sleep? Water? Food? Exercise? Personal enjoyment? Or have you been at it for the past days, hours on end, trying to make something work? No shame, just notice.
In its simplest terms, self-care is taking care of yourself. It's focusing on yourself to reduce stress, maintain well-being, and making sure all of your needs are being met. When you are well, you can help others. When you aren't well and you help others, you might experience burnout, which is detrimental to both you and the people who depend on you.
Below, I've created a guide for you to start, continue, or restart taking care of yourself so that you can come out of this current environment a whole person and a successful academic/student/employee/insert label here. Feel free to jump around, read everything or read one or two things. Try new things out and consider new ideas. Pick up what works for you and discard what doesn't. Here is a guide post for what you should expect.
- Understanding what self-care is, and what it isn't
- How do I get started?
- Why is self-care important?
- What are things I can do?
Understanding what self-care is, and what it isn't
This Is What 'Self-Care' REALLY Means, Because It's Not All Salt Baths and Chocolate Cake article by Brianna Wiest in Thought Catalog
What Self-Care Is — and What It Isn’t article by By Raphailia Michael on PsychCentral
Toward a Culture of Self-Care article by Carolyn Jeffries, Michael Spagna, and Shari Tarver Behring in Inside Higher Ed
The Politics of Self Care and Feminism article by Sharanya Sekaram on GenderIT.org
Self Care: What It Really Is video featuring Susannah Winters from TEDxHiltonHeadWomen
How do I get started?
Our Self-Care Starter Kit and Developing Your Self-Care Plan, both from the University of Buffalo School of Social Work
Self Care Routines 2020- 5 Reasons to Never Neglect Self Care video by Dr. Frita
A Quintessential Guide to Self-Care for Student Activists article by Clarissa Brooks on Everyday Feminism and applicable to those not students or activists
A totally doable, not so intimidating self-care survival guide to 2018 article by Nicole Gallucci on Mashable and totally applicable for 2020
21 Gentle Self-Care Resolutions to Make in 2018 article by Haley Quinn on The Mighty and also absolutely applicable to 2020
2020: My New Rules for Self-Care article by Anne T. Donahue on 29Secrets
Why is self-care important?
Two-Thirds Of Workers Experienced Burnout This Year: How To Reverse The Trend In 2020 article by Bryan Robinson on Forbes
Worker burnout is real. Here’s how to spot it. article by Karla L. Miller in The Washington Post
Activist Burn-Out and Self-Care from Know Your IX
Digital Toolkit for Staff to Support Youth's Mental Health by Eric Stoller from Inside Higher Ed
Shame, Resilience, and Vulnerability video playlist from Dr. Brene Brown
One tool you can use to see where you are is the Skovholt Practitioner Professional Resiliency and Self-Care Inventory, which you can find in pdf form below (idk why I can't link a pdf in Spark, and it's kind of the last of my worries, so work with me here): (http://maplewoodpsychology.com/files/Skovholt Practioner Professional Resiliency.pdf)
Overcoming Compassion Fatigue: A Practical Resilience Workbook book by Martha Teater & John Ludgate
Google Books | Amazon | WorldCat
The Resilient Practitioner: Burnout Prevention and Self-Care Strategies for the Helping Professions book by Thomas M. Skovholt, Michelle Trotter-Mathison
Google Books | Amazon | WorldCat
What are things I can do?
A Self-Care Action Plan video featuring Hank Green from How to Adult
Self Care Routine Ideas by Ria from The Whole Happy Life
101 Self-Care Activities article by Sara Robinson on Mom Self-Care
13 Realistic Self-Care Tips That Will Keep You Calm in Stressful Times by Lindsay Holmes on HuffPost
25 Science-Backed Ways to Change Your Life by Taking Better Care of Yourself by Alexandra Duron on Greatist
134 Activities to Add to Your Self-Care Plan on Good Therapy
Self-Care Starter Kit by LivingUpp
Everyday Self-Love Course lead by Sandra Kim from Everyday Feminism
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