Traumatic Experiences Community Check-In Wednesday-Thursday 7-8 October 2020

Good morning everyone! The topic for today’s check-in is self care. Often ignored but totally necessary, self-care is any action or behavior that helps a person avoid health problems. Excessive stress may increase one’s risk for heart problems.

Self-care also helps us sharpen our mental and physical health through better self-esteem, stress management, and overall well-being.

These behaviors help provide balance in an increasingly overstimulating world. Self-care forms an essential part of a lifestyle that keeps us healthy, happy, and more in tune with our minds and bodies.

It’s often easy to confuse self-care with self-indulgent behavior. This mentality might make us feel guilty for thinking we need to take a break from our lives to do something that, simply put, makes us feel better.

We all have different requirements for self-care, but in general, the goals of self-care are to find a state of good mental and physical health, reduce stress, meet emotional needs, maintain one's relationships and find a balance between one's personal and academic or professional life. Individuals who do not take care of their own emotional and physical needs before attempting to resolve those of others may begin to experience a decline in their own emotional or physical state. Those individuals who care for others, either professionally or in personal life, may find themselves especially drained if they do not devote enough time to self-care. Once they have met their own needs, they may often find themselves better able to assist others in meeting their needs.

Taking care of the emotional self by managing anxiety, anger, and sadness is also an important aspect of self-care. This type of self-care can often be accomplished by setting boundaries with people, especially those people who are not positive or supportive and may have a negative effect on one's mental state.

Here are 5 ways to get started with your self-care.

1. Make sleep part of our self-care routine.

Sleep can have a huge effect on how we feel both emotionally and physically. Not getting enough can even cause major health issues. But stress and other distractions can wreak havoc on our sleep.

2. Take care of ourselves by taking care of our gut.

Our gut health can have a significant impact on our health, well-being, and feelings of vitality. The types of foods we eat crucially impact the bacteria that live in our stomach, resulting in a cascade of either positive or negative outcomes.

3. Exercise daily as part of our self-care routine.

We all know exercise is good for us, but do we really know how good it is? Daily exercise can help us both physically and mentally, boosting our mood while reducing stress and anxiety.

4. Say no to others, and say yes to our self-care.

Learning to say no is really hard; many of us feel obligated to say yes when someone asks for our time or energy. However, if we’re already stressed or overworked, saying yes to loved ones or coworkers can lead to burnout, anxiety, and irritability.

5. Take a self-care break by getting outside.

Spending time outside can help us reduce stress, lower our blood pressure, and be more mindful. Studies have even shown that getting outside can help reduce fatigue, making it a great way to overcome symptoms of depression or burnout. Getting outside can also help us sleep better at night, especially if we do some physical activity, like gardening, hiking, or walking while we are outside.

Before I end this check-in I will ask the three following optional questions.

1. How are you feeling today?

2. What self care activity do you have planned for today?

3. What topic would you like to see me cover in a future check-in?

As always have a greater today than yesterday in hope of a better and brighter tomorrow!!!

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