Transcriber: Eleni Diamantopoulos Reviewer: Anna Sobota
Have you ever listened to an influencer or your teacher maybe,
or even your parents go on about how great self-care is for you,
or maybe an influencer told you about this life-changing juice,
some yoga classes and journaling and you thought to yourself,
what are they talking about? It’s nonsense.
Well, that used to be me until I found out what self-care truly is.
Hi, my name is Alice, and today I will be sharing with you
the importance of investing in yourself.
I would like to start off by establishing what the definition of self-care is.
It is the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health.
So this means that it is the act of taking care of your self.
I want to take the time to clarify an assumption
that some people have on self-care.
Some people believe that self-care is selfish
as you are only taking care of yourself.
However, the synonyms of self-care are self-aid, mental health care,
and the list goes on.
Words such as selfish or self-absorbed are not on that list,
they are not synonyms of self-care.
And I believe that we should all respect that.
Now, I would like to quote Michelle Obama
as she further explains that self-care is not selfish.
She said, “When I get up and work out,
I’m working out just as much for my girls as I am for me
because I want them to see a mother who loves them dearly,
but who also invests in them, who also invests in herself.
And it’s just as much about letting them know
as young woman that it is okay
to put yourself a little higher on the priority list.”
I find this quote interesting as she uses words such as love,
invests in them, invests in herself, it is okay.
All of these words have a positive connotation to them,
whether that might be for other people around her,
by her family and friends or just for herself, and that’s okay.
However, I didn't always know that that was okay.
In November of 2020, my dad tested positive for COVID-19.
He proceeded to spend one month in the hospital.
I was lost and I stopped caring:
I didn’t care about my relationships with people,
I didn’t care about school,
I didn’t care about studying, I didn’t care about my body,
I didn't care about my appearance.
In other words, I stopped caring about anything that had to do with myself.
One month later, I noticed bumps on my skin.
After numerous pharmacy runs, dermatologist appointments,
doctor’s appointments and allergy tests, they all came to the conclusion
that I had eczema.
Now, I know that that doesn’t sound that bad, right?
Yet, it’s not just eczema,
it’s everything that comes with it.
The stress of not knowing what is wrong with you
and feeling insecure was what hit me the hardest.
And that’s what Iearned - that it is okay to take care of yourself,
even in the worst situations.
In fact, that is the most important time to take care of yourself.
This was my wake-up call.
And I would think that after the global pandemic
that we just experienced, and are still experiencing,
many of us had that wake-up call.
Did you know that a survey in America observed that during the global pandemic,
seven in 10 people were more conscious of needing self-care?
Also, for 64 % of people in the survey self-care helps their confidence
and two-thirds feel happier and more productive
when practicing self-care.
Therefore, I think it is important to share with you
the different types of self-care.
These are physical, emotional, psychological, social,
spiritual and professional.
So now I would like to share with you ways that I fulfill my needs and my self-care.
First of all, I designate a day to myself.
This day for me is Sundays.
On Sundays, I spend the day resting, relaxing, reading a book,
taking a bath and taking care of myself.
On other days, I journal.
Now, I’m going to be completely honest, this doesn’t happen every day,
far from that, but when I successfully journal, I feel so much happier.
I journal about my day, the good and bad,
and what I appreciate and what I’m proud of that day.
Next, I try to balance my life well, whether that be from school,
studying, family time, hanging out with friends and taking care of myself -
these all need to be balanced if I want to feel happy and healthy.
And lastly, I go on walks.
I love listening to music and feeling empowered from these walks.
Now, I know that some of you might think,
but that never going to work for you, and I understand.
So I want to make it clear that what works for me might not work for you.
And that's okay.
Personally, self-care helps me feel grounded and at peace.
The days that I genuinely set time to myself
and concentrate on my well-being,
I’m able to observe and change in how I feel mentally and physically -
I feel content, I feel less stress, I feel pretty, I feel confident,
and I simply just feel happy.
So if you were to take one thing away from the speech,
it’s that it is important to invest in yourself.
Thank you.