Self Essentials - A focus on Self Care
Self Care
Take a moment for you!
Its apt to assume that many of us have been impacted by the ongoing situation with the COVID-19 pandemic. Although here in Australia we are approaching some sort of relative ‘normality’ - the after effects and the ongoing threat of the pandemic are still niggling away at our consciousness, chipping away our ability to fully function in this new normal.
Many people have or are continuing to experience anxiety, stress and feeling fatigued – the physical and mental health toll is real.
If you have family overseas - it has been a year and more since you have physically connected with them and with no end in sight to the international border closures, any planning for travel and re-connection is on hold with no definite time frames for this to change.
Grief and loss experience is heightened with unprecedented casualty numbers in countries experiencing the incredible surge of Covid-19 – families, friends and colleagues overseas have in some cases been heavily impacted.
Therefore the return to normal for us here for many, feels like a big mountain to climb. This is impacting our ability to fully apply ourselves at our workplaces, education/study, volunteer activities or even an ability to be social again.
As for my experience, I am constantly worrying about my family, friends overseas and have already experienced a number of deaths due to COVID-19. This has impacted my day to day living.
I have found myself struggling to re-engage with some of the activities that I loved pre-Covid-19.
I’ve also experienced difficulties in concentration, bouts of forgetfulness and the feeling that my creativity has somehow been impacted.
Recognizing what is happening in my experience has been instrumental to begin to address it. It is important for us to be self-aware of our mental health experience and how it changes depending on what is happening around us and to us - as life unfolds.
The last few months my goal has been to improve my daily functioning by purposefully engaging in self-care. I used the Mental Health First Aid Self Care workbook to identify my barriers to engaging in self-care, identified enablers to self care and developed my own personal Self Care Plan.
I also undertook an 8 weeks course on Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Programme (MBSR) to build up skills.
Maintaining our mental health and wellness through these challenging times requires a PLAN and ACTION .
We must be purposeful and creative in engaging with things we love, things that facilitate for us to experience wonderment and connects us to each other. Research shows if we do this - we build protective factors to mental ill health!
So why not engage in a bit self-care?
What is Self - Care?
Self-care is a deliberate activity to maintain or improve our physical, emotional or mental health. It includes acts that revitalise us and give us a sense of pleasure and well-being. It is not those tasks or activities that we dislike but force ourselves to do; it is something that restores us. It is not selfish. It is looking after ourselves, so we are better able to look after others as need arises.
Engaging in Self Care at Work
Balance challenging and difficult work with simpler, more enjoyable tasks
Take all breaks – resist working lunches or eating at your desk
Try to eat healthy, balanced meals
Identify and connect with support networks, especially colleagues who re-energise us
Take sick leave when you notice increased signs of stress and fatigue
Check personal boundaries
Self-Care at Home
Engage in regular, moderate exercise
Spend time on non-work hobbies
Spend time relaxing; try meditation, mindfulness, progressive muscle relaxation, yoga, and just getting some rest
Take the time to connect socially with family and friends
Reduce or disable work access – set limits on your availability on the phone, and don’t check email after a specific time
Spend time away from screens of all kinds for at least an hour before bed
Try to have a regular bedtime and maintain good sleep hygiene
From July 2021 we will launching our Sisterhood Circle focusing on Self-Care to explore the Self- Essentials – Ingredients for Self -Care . This will be a six month sisterhood circle journey created to reconnect, restore and re-frame (3 Rs) through monthly zoom sessions and two face to face sessions. Please note this is not a therapy group – but an educational and self-empowerment group focusing on ingredients for self-care to build protective factors for mental health. We will walk this journey together using culturally focused practices of self-care utilising knowledge from ancient cultures as well as innovative practices that have evolved over the years.
If you are interested to learn more about our Self-Care and Sistahood Circle please email us at sharon@psychedsolutions.com.au
