Steps to Self-Care Success
by Kathaleen Kelly | Friday, Feb 25, 2022
At the FAU Honors College, stress can be seen on most students' faces. It can be difficult to find moments of peace when struggling to balance a rigorous academic schedule with a social schedule. One way to help alleviate some stress is through the practice of self-care. Self-Care is the practice of taking actions to better your own mental and physical health. However, what we students are more familiar with is the consequences of a lack of self-care. This is a situation I am intimately acquainted with. These past few months I've been determined to find self-care techniques that boost my academic productivity and mental health. Here are some of my tried and true ways to practice self-care throughout the school year.
One way to practice mental health self-care is to set a reminder in the morning to spend fifteen minutes focusing on fixing an easily attainable goal that will help to clear your mind. I tend to do two things. The first is to make my bed. A made bed and tidy room helps me to focus when it comes time to work on my classwork and homework later on in the day. The second goal I strive to achieve is writing down a “mind blurb” of the anxiety-inducing thoughts on my mind. Writing the issues on paper, helps me come up with solutions to the issues I am currently facing whether it be situations between friends or being overwhelmed by the upcoming day's schedule. Taking those fifteen minutes is definitely a beneficial way that ensures that you will have a mindful, positive, and productive start to your day.
I have also noticed that when I limit my time on my social media accounts, whether that be Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, or even Facebook, my mental mindset seems to be more stable. It’s easy to think that mindlessly scrolling through someone’s feed might be a way to relax, however, that’s not always the case. If you are someone like me, you can tend to compare your life to others. That’s not necessarily a helpful mindset to be in as you are interacting with others throughout the day. During my first week at the Honors College, I struggled in my discussion-based classes as I was constantly wondering if my answer was as good as someone else's. This unhealthy mindset was one that was unknowingly perpetuated by the excessive time I was spending on social media. To change this I've started limiting my time on my phone and I've had a much better outlook for the day. I can confidently say that these days, the “Focus” button on my phone has become my best friend.
Self-care doesn't have to end at mental health. There are also ways to have a physical presence of self-care. One of my favorite pastimes with my friends is to schedule a two-hour time block sometime throughout our schedules to go to Juno Beach to either watch the sunrise or the sunset. We typically will stop for donuts and coffee at the wonderful “Jupiter Donuts” if we get up early enough. Sitting in the sun’s rays with the cool ocean breeze in my face can make me forget about all of my troubles and let me enjoy the present moment. Another method of physical self-care is participating in some kind of physical activity. One such activity that helps me focus on a positive self-image and also develop my stretching is yoga. I’ve noticed that spending twenty to thirty minutes practicing yoga helps to relieve the burdens of anxiety and stress that I’ve collected throughout the week not only on my mind but also on my body and its joints. Yoga ends up leaving my body relaxed and ready to tackle the day.
Finally, the last self-care practice but perhaps the hardest to achieve that I’ve found is therapy. The chief reason for the underutilization of therapy is the stigma around students that go to therapy, however, getting past that truly allowed me to discover all the benefits. I participate in active listening therapy which is essentially client-centered therapy that involves empathetic listening and problem-solving. On our campus, we have a great resource through CAPS that more students should use for therapy.
It is important to highlight the importance of students' having some method of self-care that helps propel them towards their goals and this starts with exposure to the different types of self-care. It is not easy to find those “pockets of peace” throughout the day, however, it takes time to find what works for you. As I mentioned before, I’m currently struggling with enacting my own self-care practices but I know that once I make it a priority again, I’ll be able to tackle any academic, mental, and physical issues that come my way and I know that you can too.
One way to practice mental health self-care is to set a reminder in the morning to spend fifteen minutes focusing on fixing an easily attainable goal that will help to clear your mind. I tend to do two things. The first is to make my bed. A made bed and tidy room helps me to focus when it comes time to work on my classwork and homework later on in the day. The second goal I strive to achieve is writing down a “mind blurb” of the anxiety-inducing thoughts on my mind. Writing the issues on paper, helps me come up with solutions to the issues I am currently facing whether it be situations between friends or being overwhelmed by the upcoming day's schedule. Taking those fifteen minutes is definitely a beneficial way that ensures that you will have a mindful, positive, and productive start to your day.
I have also noticed that when I limit my time on my social media accounts, whether that be Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, or even Facebook, my mental mindset seems to be more stable. It’s easy to think that mindlessly scrolling through someone’s feed might be a way to relax, however, that’s not always the case. If you are someone like me, you can tend to compare your life to others. That’s not necessarily a helpful mindset to be in as you are interacting with others throughout the day. During my first week at the Honors College, I struggled in my discussion-based classes as I was constantly wondering if my answer was as good as someone else's. This unhealthy mindset was one that was unknowingly perpetuated by the excessive time I was spending on social media. To change this I've started limiting my time on my phone and I've had a much better outlook for the day. I can confidently say that these days, the “Focus” button on my phone has become my best friend.
Self-care doesn't have to end at mental health. There are also ways to have a physical presence of self-care. One of my favorite pastimes with my friends is to schedule a two-hour time block sometime throughout our schedules to go to Juno Beach to either watch the sunrise or the sunset. We typically will stop for donuts and coffee at the wonderful “Jupiter Donuts” if we get up early enough. Sitting in the sun’s rays with the cool ocean breeze in my face can make me forget about all of my troubles and let me enjoy the present moment. Another method of physical self-care is participating in some kind of physical activity. One such activity that helps me focus on a positive self-image and also develop my stretching is yoga. I’ve noticed that spending twenty to thirty minutes practicing yoga helps to relieve the burdens of anxiety and stress that I’ve collected throughout the week not only on my mind but also on my body and its joints. Yoga ends up leaving my body relaxed and ready to tackle the day.
Finally, the last self-care practice but perhaps the hardest to achieve that I’ve found is therapy. The chief reason for the underutilization of therapy is the stigma around students that go to therapy, however, getting past that truly allowed me to discover all the benefits. I participate in active listening therapy which is essentially client-centered therapy that involves empathetic listening and problem-solving. On our campus, we have a great resource through CAPS that more students should use for therapy.
It is important to highlight the importance of students' having some method of self-care that helps propel them towards their goals and this starts with exposure to the different types of self-care. It is not easy to find those “pockets of peace” throughout the day, however, it takes time to find what works for you. As I mentioned before, I’m currently struggling with enacting my own self-care practices but I know that once I make it a priority again, I’ll be able to tackle any academic, mental, and physical issues that come my way and I know that you can too.