In the last blog we talked about the impact supporting children who have experienced trauma can have. Today we are going to look at what we can do to mitigate this.
Self care refers to all the things we do to take care of ourselves. Or, as I like to say, it is the things we do to fill our buckets so we are able to fill other peoples' buckets.
Quite often self care becomes something that is reactive rather than proactive. For example, we might recognise that we are feeling stressed and tired and then do something to feel better . Whilst this reactive approach has its place, it is also important to be proactive in the steps we take towards self care.
Self Care Basics
Self care should be deliberate. We need to think about what we are doing every day, week and month to take care of ourselves.
Self care can look different for different people. It is important to think about what works for you.
It is important to have a range of self care options, rather than over relying on one thing.
Proactive self care can help prevent stress and anxiety.
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”
Anne Lamott
Dimensions of Self Care
There are lots of ways to consider self care. Self care activities can be broken into the following dimensions:
Physical: Eating, sleeping, exercise and medical.
Emotional/Psychological: Emotional expression, connections with feelings, seeking support.
Spiritual: Connection with something bigger than self including religion and nature.
Professional: Maintaining work life balance, meaningful work and positive relationships with co workers.
Social: Relationships and activities with family and friends.
It can be helpful to think about each of these dimensions and create a list of activities that you enjoy doing regularly.
It is important, however, to ensure that self care does not become just another thing that you have on the to do list. Therefore, finding activities that you 1) enjoy and 2) can fit into your schedule easily is the best approach.
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