Get a 4.0 GPA, attend all classes, maintain a full time job or two, have an active social life, get heavily involved on campus, eat healthy, work out, drink water, call home. For most college students, these are just a few of the many priorities that they struggle to keep up with every semester. There is a key priority missing from that list and from many students minds, however, and that priority is Self-Care.
As implied from the word, self-care is the act of taking care of oneself. Self-care is important because without it, students will experience stress and mental burnout, which can can be dangerous to the health of a student overtime. There are many ways to practice self-care, such as taking a walk or taking a bath. The issue with self-care for most people is that they do not know how to do it although it seems rather self explanatory. Often times, being the "perfect student" who seemingly balances multiple things at once and supposedly never sleeps is glorified, while being the well balanced student who takes care of them selves and still maintains a balanced life is hardly ever heard of. So for those students who have never even heard of self-care or would not even know how to begin practicing it, here are five self-care practices told kindergarten style:
Building Blocks: Remember playing with blocks as a child? Remember how hitting one simple block would cause the whole creation to come tumbling down? Think of your body in this manner. A few of your most basic blocks are sleep, food, water, and hygiene. If one of these blocks are disregarded, your entire brain and body may come crashing down and you will not be able to function as normal. When thinking of self-care, remember this important fact and be sure to take care of your building blocks first.
Coloring and drawing: Everyone remembers how fun coloring was as children! We would spend so much time deciding what picture to color or what we wanted to draw and the colors we wanted to use. After deciding all of this, we would spend hours making sure that we colored inside of the lines and that everything was perfect. Remember what the best part of doing all of this was? It allowed us to escape from the world around us and briefly enter an entirely different world. That escape was necessary when we were children and it is necessary now. Sometimes, we just need to take a break from the world around us in order to maintain interest in and be completely engaged with our responsibilities. One good way to do this is by coloring, scribbling or drawing. Not only will this be a break from responsibilities, it will also help with stress because all of your stress will be relieved on paper! But if you feel that coloring or drawing is a little silly given your age, that is understandable. Just find a way to take a break from the world every now and again and be sure to constantly do it!
Recess: I know everyone remembers recess. This was one of our favorite parts of the day as children! We loved to run around, play on swings and slides and to sweat. Have you ever wondered why we loved these things? It is because it allowed our bodies to release stress and tension, leaving us feeling refreshed and ready to learn again. Although we are not kids anymore, our bodies still need to relieve stress and tension, especially when we go long periods of time under stress. Move around! This can be as rigorous as spending five hours in the gym or as simple as taking a break from studying to walk wound the library for five minutes. However you choose to do it, just be sure to do it so that your mind can be as refreshed and focused as possible!
Snack time: Next to recess, snack time was our favorite part of the day as children! Not only were snacks delicious, but they would also allow us to regain our energy so that we could focus better. This rhetoric still applies now, despite us being older. It is important to eat actual meals and snacks (NOT just coffee) so that we can have the energy to complete our daily tasks. While healthy snacks are great of course, while under stress, unhealthy snacks will bring you joy and help you get through your stress. Be sure to eat during the day and make sure you treat yourself to something unhealthy every once in a while.
Nap time: Nap time is the one part of kindergarten that we all hated as children but wish that we could get back now. As kids, we did not like sleep because we found it boring and unnecessary. Now, most of us long for sleep but life often gets in the way and prevents it from happening. Sleep is important because it allows us to retain information, regain our energy and most importantly, to live. In addition to all of the health benefits, its also nice and necessary to take a break from all of the commotion and stress of life and sleep it all away. Remember to make sleep a priority! Even if you can't work out a perfect, consistent sleep schedule, find a way to at least get a little bit of sleep every night or during the day if possible. A simple 20 minute nap may possibly give you the energy to power through that essay or ace that exam!
Although it is never glorified and hardly ever talked about, self-care is necessary and important. Self-care allows us to maintain our health and stay on top of our responsibilities and goals. Although it may seem complicated, self-care can be done very easily and effectively. It is important to remember that you can't fill someone else's cup up if your cup is empty, so keep your cup full with simple and consistent self-care practices!
