Trauma Support Check-In: October 27th, 2019
Good moring my beautiful community! I hope everyone is having a happy Sunday. Today I'd like to talk a little bit about self-care and why it is important for mental health.
So what is self-care? Self-care is an activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emtional, and phsycial health. Self-care is important to maintain a healthy relationship with ourselves, which is also referred to as self-love. It produces positive feelings, which improves confidence and self-esteem. Self-care is necessary to remind ourselves and others that you and your needs are important too. It ensures that you stay sharp, motivated, and healthy. Good self-care is key to imroving your mood and reducicng anxiety and depression.
Examples of self-care include: Getting a good night's sleep, exercising daily, eating a balanced diet, saying "no" to others and saying "yes" to your self-care, taking a trip, having a skin care routine, talking to someone when frustrations arise, or listening to Classical/Jazz music!
I would LOVE to know the following:
1. What do you like to do for self-care? Is there anything new you would like to try regarding self-care?
2. It's Sunday! What do you do to prepare yourself for Monday and the week ahead?
3. Is there anything specific you would like to tell me?
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@baylinAnderson123 hello baylin! love the check-in and theme. thank you for uploading!
1. What do you like to do for self-care? Is there anything new you would like to try regarding self-care?
i really enjoy listening to music and working out to clear my thoughts! But i also enjoy just sometimes taking a bath or relaxing in my bed and watching some TV-shows after a really hectic day. I would like to try to read more in my free time, and i am currently starting to journal!
2. It's Sunday! What do you do to prepare yourself for Monday and the week ahead?
I am preparing myself for school tomorrow by reading all my latest notes and preparing my english presentation! I also am planning to pack my bag tonight so i wont be that stressed tomorrow morning.
3. Is there anything specific you would like to tell me?
Not much! Today I am just relaxing a bit and I am going to call my best friend soon. We live in different cities since i moved away in April, and i am glad to stay in touch with her. Tomorrow is the first day of school after holidays and i am pretty nervous since its exam time soon!
i hope you are having a lovely day ahead.
@AveryLove Good morning Avery! I LOVE your ideas on self-care! I take exercise as a seriuos part of my self-care plan too. I want to wish you the best of luck on starting school tomorrow (also I think it is a wonderful idea that you pack your bag ahead of time) and I know you are nervous about exams but you got this! You will blow everyone out of the water with how smart you are! Have a beautiful day and thank you for checking in!
@baylinAnderson123
1. What do you like to do for self-care? Is there anything new you would like to try regarding self-care?
i like to sing a lot, it often helps me to feel relieved if i experience many emotions. and also reading a book 
i would like to try going out for a walk for my physical and emotional health.
2. It's Sunday! What do you do to prepare yourself for Monday and the week ahead?
tomorrow is school so i am just preparing myself and am going to spend some time with my family
3. Is there anything specific you would like to tell me?
thanks for this check in
@dynamicHemlock1736 You sing?! That is so great! What a wonderful way to put a smile on your face! Reading is awesome too... I do that at night before bed and I found that it helps me sleep better! Good luck with school tomorrow and thank you for checking in!
self care immediate, wanna try long-term
sunday to monday I practice kindness and patience with myself
1. I just had a self-care day yesterday, how serendipitous to this post! Yesterday I woke up and I did my 7cups (VERY important for self-care!) followed by my agenda for the day. I keep to-do lists so that I stay focused on things I want to get done! Then I took a very luxurious bubble bath with candles and a bath bomb from Lush (a treat!) and I put on some video ambiences because I LOVE those. My favorite are rainy days or crackling fires, stuff like that. I groomed (actually, psychologists state that human beings are more content and productive if they groom well before they need to do activities!) and then I got some breakfast and off I went to start my productive day! My biggest form of self-care is in productivity, because when I'm feeling down, I tend to neglect all of my responsibilities (including grooming, or eating) so my self-care is to counteract how I feel and what I do when I have a bad day. I booked some Christmastime travel, cleaned my bathroom, cleaned my room, and watched hockey and played videogames with my boyfriend. :) It was wonderful, and I am feeling recharged already!
My self-care is a lot of immediate stuff, I've noticed. I'm really challenged with long-term self-care, like exercising daily and stuff like that. I'd love to try and keep up with a health routine-- it's actually my 7cups goal at the top of my home page!
2. My job is VERY stressful right now. The job itself isn't too difiicult (though I do make frequent mistakes because of some learning disabilities I have, I really am trying my hardest... I am taking SO many notes, oh my gosh), it's just that my boss is really mean and unhelpful. She's actually my sister-in-law, and she's an awesome sister-in-law. She's just a terrible leader (which was very disheartening to find out). She's condescending when I don't know things (especially things that I have no way of knowing... this is my first job in this field and she expects me to know everything somehow?), and she refuses to acknowledge that my learning disabilities are the reason why we have communication issues. "Your defecits have nothing to do with paying attention to detail"-- first of all, how do you know that? Have you talked to my disabilities services counselor? Second of all, that's specifically one of my main problems! She's incredibly insensetive and downright mean. It's such a shock, because she was so wonderful and fun and nice when I knew her as just a sister-in-law, but it makes sense that she'd be different outside a professional setting. Now, though, it makes my job incredibly difficult and adds on to what would already be challenging. So my self-care in preparation for Mondays is vital while I work on things at my job. Typically, I am very gentle with myself. If I have negative thoughts, I counteract them with positive ones, and I do a lot of affirmations like "You are smart, you are capable, you are enthusiastic & you got this!". It really helps me pump up and feel prepared to take on whatever I face at work!
3. Thanks for letting me vent in the first two questions... Haha. I really appreciate it, I've been struggling quite a bit lately. <3
@betterchoices Hello friend! Thank you so much for your beautiful reply! I really enjoyed reading it! I am so very proud of you for the self-care routine that you have delveloped for yourself. And I am going to definitely agree with you... The 7 Cups progress path is very important to follow! I do mine everyday as well! I am really glad to hear that you had a great day yesterday and you got to spend some time with your boyfriend! I wish you the best of luck on your goal to incorporate daily fitness into your life! You are doing a great thing and your body will thank you!
I am sorry to hear about how stressful your job is! That seems to be all too common and it just makes your job and mental health even more difficult to deal with! And my heart goes out to you for having the kind of boss you have and it makes it even harder because she is also your sisiter in law! I wish she could be more understanding to your difficulties but unfortunately some people lack compassion. I am sure you are a great worker and you are trying your hardest! Keep it up and I'm glad you could vent to me! Have a beautiful day!
@baylinAnderson123 Thank you so much, I really needed this today!
@betterchoices You are so very welcome!
1. What do you like to do for self-care? Is there anything new you would like to try regarding self-care?
Currently there isn't really anything I really enjoy doing in general, but draw, cycle and hike.
Since I can't seem to enjoy anything, it's hard to think of new ways to self care .Lately I've started paying attention to my breathing whenever it pops in my mind, not aiming to do anything, just observe and be more aware. I also kinda like observing animals I see on hikes and bike rides, but I don't have the patience to just stop and keep observing a bit longer. Besides lacking patience, standing still in public gives me a really heavy feeling of being in the way, and my mind basically starts screaming to keep moving, as if my life depends on it.
2. It's Sunday! What do you do to prepare yourself for Monday and the week ahead?
Not really anything, weeks and weekends kinda just flow from one into the other right now, I just kinda let it wash over me.
3. Is there anything specific you would like to tell me?
I hope you're doing better than me, I hope everyone is 😞
@Madaraismyspiritanimal Hello there my friend! First off I wanted to say I am sorry for how you have been feeling lately. I know those feelings all too well. I think it is wonderful that you really enjoy drawing, cycling, and hiking! Those are positive ways to cope with our negative feelings so great job! I really like that you like to observe animals and nature, I do as well! What you are doing is being mindful and that's a good way to get us out of our heads. I always get stuck in my mind and mindfulness helps pull me out everytime! I also love to meditate! I use an app called, Calm and I do guided meditations with a woman named Tamara Levitt. She is incredible! It's just ten minutes each day but it can really change your outlook on everything!
I want you to know that our community is also here to support you and offer friendship and kindness. If you ever need to talk, please PM me (my listener username is @lavenderpeach1107). I reply to my messages daily and I would love to listen to you!
@baylinAnderson123
I got out and took a long walk and hugged some trees today
I don't work so everyday seems the same for me.
@emotionalMaple9419 I think that is so great that you got out and took a long walk! Hugging trees is such a beautiful thing to do! For some reason, touching or being close to plants and trees helps improve our mood! Thank you for checking in!
@baylinAnderson123
Hi. I don't do much for self care. I used to walk about 3 miles every other day, I would like to start again. I enjoyed being out in nature.
I started a new job recently so getting prepared for the week is different now. I hated my job before but I worked by myself. This job isn't so bad but I work with people. I don't have much in common with them so that part is hard.
I've been having a tough time lately but doing my best to get past it.
@RedHawk6547 Hello there friend! That is really really great that you used to walk every other day and I think it would be a wonderful idea if you started doing it again! I love taking my walks and being among nature just like you do! Isn't it beautiful out there? Congratulations on starting your new job and I like your attitude about it! It may not be your perfect job but you still have a good outlook about it. I'm sorry you been having a tough time lately. We are all here to support you through it! Thank you for checking in with me!
