Self Care
Sometimes self care comes in the form of skipping class and getting homework that you need to do in order to have some piece of mind. Sometimes, self care is skipping class to sit outside and do absolutely nothing except sit in the presence of your friends and enjoy the weather. Sometimes, self care is taking a long drive with your music way up, and buying some food that isn’t Mac or Wow. This past week and a half I’ve needed lots of breaks, and have been getting overwhelmed very easily. Doing small acts of self care throughout the week have been crucial for me to get through these busy weeks.
One of my acts of self care was to skip my midday tap class, and sit outside and catch up on homework. The fresh air, an hour to work on homework undisrupted, and letting my body take a break from movement was very refreshing. I didn’t end up getting as much done as I wanted, because some friends came out to sit at the table with me. Even though I did less assignments as planned, seeing and connecting with friends is just as helpful to my mental health.
Another one of my acts of self care this week was to go get ice cream on the one day I got out of rehearsal early, with some friends that I don’t get to spend much time with. Sometimes the friends I don’t have rehearsal with start to feel far away, and I feel like I haven't seen them in ages, even though usually it’s just for a day or a few days. The night I went to get ice cream, we planned to go to the place closer to Lima as opposed to the ice cream shop closer to campus. We decided to make the drive, and it ended up being a bit farther than we thought. Once we got to the shop, they only had their drive through open and it was quite a long line. We ended up waiting in the line for a very long time, until we realized the line wasn’t moving at all. We were having a good time jamming out to some music, until my wifi started to go out and the music stopped. At this point, we gave up and decided to drive all the way back to campus to go to the ice cream shop there. By the time we got back, we all realized we were a bit hungry, so we’re ended up at McDonald’s and thankfully their ice cream machine was working. Even though it wasn’t the night we had planned, I had so much fun just going with the flow taking a break from the fast paced week.
I love the idea of self care. Personally I skipped my 8 AM class on Monday because I was so wiped from the recruitment rounds and bid day. I woke up and told myself that I deserved to sleep a little longer and it really helped. Sometimes self care is needed even at the cost of missing class. It is so important to take the time for yourself, especially when your'e stressed out. Life can get very overwhelming, taking the time to relax can ease that stress.
ReplyDeleteOlivia, I loved this blog because I am very serious about mental health especially with being a student-athlete. I can be very easy to get overwhelmed especially when classes pick up so I am glad you took some time to yourself and enjoyed it. Being outside with friends and family is the best thing in the world!
ReplyDeleteOlivia, I love that self care is a priority in your life! A lot of people skip over that fact like you just need a little break here and there and to not feel bad to do nothing sometimes! I love that you shared this blog because I think a lot of people need to just rest sometimes, especially when they are overwhelmed. I know my favorite thing to do to relax is walking outside with my friends talking and listening to music!
ReplyDeleteGoing out and driving is a great way to relax for me. Just cruising around with music playing and the wind blowing is fantastic. It’s also fun to drive around with friends. I used to spend a lot of time roaming around and exploring with one of my friends in high school, but now that we are both at different colleges and work over the summers it is a lot harder to find time to do that. Last year, we were both feeling burnt out with school, so we decided to take a day off to have a three-day weekend and go camping in Kentucky. We spent a lot of the weekend driving around on forest trails in the Daniel Boone National Forest. Lot of driving around and just hanging out – after that we were good to go!
ReplyDeleteHi Olivia! I am so glad that you have been taking care of your physical and mental health, especially when you're feeling busy and overwhelmed. I realize that I often forget about taking care of my mind and body and get caught up in my responsibilities. This was a great reminder that my first responsibility, no matter what, is to myself and my health. That spur-of-the-moment drive sounded like fun - we'll have to do something like that soon!
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