8 Practical Self-Care Tips to Help you Feel Empowered

Monday 10 October is the United Nations International Mental Health Day which has the ‘overall objective of raising awareness of mental health issues around the world and mobilising efforts in support of mental health’.

Following on from our very popular Parent Information Sessions on Student Wellbeing during Distance Learning, Supriya Choudhary, one of TISB’s School Counsellors, has put together some information beneficial to all.

Taking care of yourself doesn't mean me first, it means me too 

- L R Knost

8 Practical Self-Care Tips to Help you Feel Empowered

1. FEEL

Experience what you are feeling without judgement or guilt and allow yourself to process what you are going through.  Use the Emotion Wheel.  This was created to enable people to identify their emotion.

The Emotion Wheel describes six primary emotions: anger, happiness, sadness, disgust, fear and surprise.

Using this wheel regularly over time will enable you to become self-aware and self-compassionate.  There is no right or wrong emotion.  If you can feel happiness, you can also feel hurt and irritation.  Emotions are the messengers of the body.  Witness them and get curious about what are they trying to communicate.

2. BOUNDARIES  

Create boundaries which will help you decide if you have the capacity and inclination to say yes, and when you do, to be able to stay without resentment.

Boundaries can sound like:

“Can I get back to you on this?”

“I need some time to think about it.”

“I value what we have, and I need time to decompress.”

“I would love to spend time with you, can we do it next weekend instead?”

“I am feeling very overwhelmed, could we text instead?”

“Mama needs some alone time, could you please come back in 15 mins?”

3. SAY NO

Sometimes a simple ‘no’ does suffice.  It doesn’t always have to be accompanied with an explanation.  And remember, a decision can always be revisited.

4. BREATHE

Take a few deep breaths to slow down.  

Close your eyes, breathe in, count to 4, breathe out, count to 8. Take time to do this 5 times.

This is a great way to access the body to calm yourself.

5. REMINDERS

Set reminders for important tasks so they don’t take space in your head.  Sometimes, reminders are needed even for the simplest tasks, like watering the plants, or even, painting your nails.  Once tasks are on paper, your mind is free to focus on your child or yourself.

6. CONNECT

Connect with friends and family.  Have fun calls.  Ensure you are feeling connected. During this prolonged pandemic, we are all in it together.

7. OFF LIMITS

Have pockets in the house that are off limits to screens.  Or, where it is understood a person needs some quite time.  Listen to your favorite music or sounds of nature during this time.  Or just enjoy the silence.

8. REACH OUT

Seek professional help when things become too overwhelming.  You may find the benefits outweigh the anxiety.

What is therapy?

Therapy is the art and science of a qualified and trained professional listening to you and enabling you find ways to deal with emotional issues for a certain amount of time, usually an hour.  The primary modality is talk, although alternate modalities such as creative arts (drawing/colouring/painting) and expressive arts (act/sing/dance/move) can be incorporated.  Which means this hour is dedicated to listening and understanding you!

Why therapy?

Why not?

Who doesn’t love a listening ear? Don’t we all want to be held, heard and understood?

As children we want to be heard by friends, teachers, and family.  The need continues well into adulthood.  We now want to be heard by our spouses, parents, friends, co-workers, the list goes on.

Sometimes, these listening spaces may not be giving you the experience that you could receive from a trained therapist.

The specific experiences for you, while the therapist is working to understand your inner world, include a non-judgmental space, an objective but compassionate viewpoint, and complete privacy, all leading to a joint journey to self-discovery.  This process is extremely beneficial for you, not just during crisis, but even during the ‘good’ days.

Therapy is like exercising, doing it regularly keeps the body healthy, so why not the mind?