If there’s any topic that’s been trending lately, it’s self-care.
Whether it be on TikTok, YouTube, or even at work or at school, everyone seems to be
talking about how important it is to practice self-care.
And I agree.
When so much is happening around us and so much about world is changing, it’s really
important to take the time to check in on ourselves and make sure we’re doing okay.
good morninggg, it's 5 am
And that can be hard.
Sometimes we feel like we just have too much to do, so there’s just no time to take our
focus off our work and think about how we’re doing, how much sleep we’re getting, and
how happy we are.
Other times we just don’t know what’s wrong.
I know that this happens to me all the time – I feel sad, or upset, or frustrated, but
I don’t really know why.
And because I don’t know why, I don’t really know what to do about it.
So I try to forget that there’s anything wrong, ignore the negative feelings and distract
myself with activities throughout the day.
Except... that never really helps and usually only makes me feel worse.
And sometimes, I just feel like I don’t deserve it.
Maybe I wasn't as productive as I wanted to be that day, and I think, Rebecca, until you
finish all your tasks and more, you don’t deserve a break – you have to earn it.
I think that this last mindset the most toxic one, and really shows why we need to think
more about self-care.
Too often, self-care is talked about as something that we have to earn, or something we can
use to reward ourselves.
But I think that self-care is something that we all deserve because it’s something that
we all need.
this is what you need to know about self-care.
We’ve all heard about self-care, right?
But how often do we actually think about what it means?
Obviously, self-care isn’t just about spa days and cucumber facials.
So what else is it?
The National Institute of Mental Health says that self-care “means taking the time to
do things that help you live well and improve both your physical health and mental health”.
Basically, this means that self-care is about taking responsibility for your own happiness.
It means realizing that you can’t rely on anyone but yourself to take good care of your
health and well-being.
And it means being your own best friend and learning to love yourself and be accepting
of who you are, no matter what’s going on in your life.
That’s the most important part.
research shows that without self-compassion, we really
struggle to adapt to all of the obstacles we face in day-to-day life.
But when we learn to be unconditionally kind to ourselves and make self-care a regular
part of our daily lives, we become unstoppable – because no matter what life throws our
way we face, we’ll react in ways that are kind and uplifting towards ourselves.
Remember that self-care isn’t all about productivity, or painting nails, or facemasks.
Sometimes, all that matters is that you feel relaxed and free of stress, not that you do
as much work as possible.
It’s not just about feeling happy with our work – it’s also about feeling happy while
we’re working.
And this means that self-care will be different for everyone: we all have different needs
and sources of anxieties.
So, ask yourself, what are the kinds of things that matter to me?
What makes me feel good about myself?
What causes me stress?
Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll be well-on your way towards practicing the
kind of self-care that works for you.
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No matter who you are, self-care is essential for your mental health.
It’s not a reward, or something you should only do when you feel like you deserve it.
We all deserve to be happy and feel good about ourselves.
So don’t look at it like a luxury – look at it like something we all have to do to
meet our physical and psychological needs as people.
so im gonna get to work and do a little bit of school work, a little bit of editing
on instagram I asked u guys if I should cut my hair by myself
and 51% of you said yes and 49% of you said no. sooo I'm gonna go with...
also a reminder to drink some water right now
So now that we know what self-care is, let’s look at when it’s most important to practice it.
No matter what’s going on in your life, you should always be practicing some form
of self-care.
Here’s what I mean: whether you’re thinking about your classes, your relationships, or
your extracurriculars, always ask yourself how your different choices are impacting your
well-being.
I remember in grade 11 when I was doing the International Baccalaureate program, I had
to decide whether or not I was going to finish it.
And this wasn’t an easy decision: the whole reason I had moved to this school in the first place was to do
this program, and I felt like I would be letting myself, my parents, and even some of my friends down if
I dropped out.
So, for a while, I told myself I would tough it out and deal with the struggle for one,
more, year.
But then I realized I was wrong: I thought more about how it was impacting my life, I
realized that I wasn’t doing a good job of respecting my needs and my own mental health.
this program was really taking a toll on my mental health: I wasn’t ever getting enough sleep, I was
way too stressed, and I was putting so much pressure on myself to perform that I would
have mental breakdowns every single week.
So I decided to put myself first and do what I felt was best for me, and I dropped the program
in the 12th grade
It turns out that that this was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
My senior year of high school was one of the best years of my life – for the first time
in so long, I had time to play sports, see my friends, and do things that I enjoyed without
having to pull an all-nighter every week to get my work done.
I was able to let go of the feeling that I had to be using every second of spare time
to study, which meant that everything else I did was so much more enjoyable.
And the best part is, I still got into my first and second-choice university later that
year, which taught me that putting my mental health
first was the right call.
That’s not to say that you should run from adversity or be reluctant to work hard.
Learning to do things we know are good for us even when we don’t want to is one of the most useful skills we can develop
because there will always be aspects of our daily life that are both unappealing and necessary
Even your favourite class will assign work that you do not want to do
Even your dream job will ask you to do things that you find really difficult
And even the best relationship will require that you have deeply uncomfortable conversations with your partner.
raining your mind to stay focused and hard working, even when you’d love nothing more than to crawl into your bed and sleep
is the only way to start making your dreams a reality — whatever they happen to be.
That’s just one example that shows the importance of regularly practicing self-care and making
it a habit.
Here are some other times where it’s especially important to do so too.
Imagine you go a whole week without doing any work.
You’re probably stressed and frustrated
So, what should you do?
In my opinion, this is when practicing self-care is most essential – when things aren’t
going the way you’d like them too.
Because if you drown yourself in negative self-talk and shame, you’re only going to
prolong your suffering.
But if you remind yourself that periods are unproductivity are completely normal and unavoidable
and learn to speak kindly to yourself the way you would speak to your own friend, you’ll
recover from slumps so much more quickly.
Self-care is also really important when you you’re under pressure or feeling overwhelmed.
I know that when I have a ton of work to do, it can be really hard to consistently get
my runs in, eat healthy meals, and sleep properly.
But I know that when I do maintain all of those things, I feel much less burnt-out,
and I do a much better job of staying on top of everything.
So now, when I think about self-care, I always look for the stressful periods in my life
and ask myself: what can I do to make these more manageable?
And most of the time, I find that it only takes a little bit of effort to make a really
big difference.
So, we all know what usually comes to mind when someone talks about self-care: chocolate,
long baths, spa dates, and detoxes – you know, that sort of thing.
And these can definitely be really nice!
But since we all already know how they work, let’s talk about some other forms of self-care
that can actually address the underlying causes of our unhappiness.I’ll start with my favourite
one: being honest with others about how I’m doing.
I know it doesn’t sound like much, but think about how often you tell people you’re doing
well when, really, you’re feeling pretty sad.
I know I used to do this all the time, but here’s the problem: when we’re not honest
with others about how we feel, we’re telling ourselves that there’s something wrong with
being unhappy.
Of course, that’s not true, and it’s totally normal to sometimes feel upset or insecure
about things.
I found that opening up to others really helped me realize that it’s always okay not to
be okay, and that there’s no reason to ever feel ashamed about it.
And once I let go of the shame, I started to deal with negative emotions in a much healthier
way.
Here's another important one: dealing with negative self-talk.
Research shows that negative self-talk decreases our motivation and leads to feelings of helplessness,
depression, and perfectionism.
Here’s how you can address it: first, just notice that inner voice speaking
saying things like “I’m just not good enough”, or “I’m such an idiot”, or
“everyone hates me”, "or I'll never be able to do this". "I'm not a morning person", "I'm not an athlete"
Then, ask yourself if you would talk like this to your best friend. "You're not good enough"
"you're such an idiot", "everyone hates you", "you're never gonna be a morning person", "you're never gonna be an athlete"
You wouldn’t, right?
You would want to be kinder and more empathetic – so why not treat yourself with the same
respect and care that you would treat someone who matters to you.