10 Ways to Try Self Care 🍋

For those who are paying attention, these times echo the stories we heard at our grandparents’ feet—stories of hushed silences, whispered plans, dry snitching, and atrocities. A lot of people are scared right now, and they’re not wrong to feel that way. Fear is a motivating emotion meant to consolidate our focus so we can make decisions that preserve life and limb. Channel your fear, understand it. What is it telling you?

This isn't nearly the first time we've been here, and it won't be the last. History dances in circles, retracing its steps. If you know the choreography, you're not surprised but ready when the moves get complicated. At times like these, one thing we can do is engage in self-care. Turning inward to ask yourself what you need and how you can get it in this moment can be more helpful than you'd think. So often, we turn outward to help others and say, "I'll take care of myself when they are ok." But the day you take care of yourself never comes because there is emergency after emergency. Take the time now. It is an act of resistance against a system that wants you depleted.

There are a few things that happen neurologically when we experience stress, leading to burnout. We see decreased activity in the frontal lobes. These regions are responsible for complex problem-solving and higher-level social interactions. Things like empathy. We also see increased activity in regions within the lymbic system, areas like the amygdala. This indicates that our brain is really trying hard to protect us by helping us focus on dangerous or otherwise bad things so we can remember them for the future. But it also makes it more difficult for us to see a way out because all we see is the problem.

When you're in this state, you are more susceptible to the words of others, especially when those words provide simple solutions. You're not as able to challenge things you may normally push back against. You just want to feel safe again. So, let me say it again: self-care is an act of resistance! You are less likely to go along with what someone says just because they say so if you are cared for.

So, how do you plan to take care of yourself today? Consider a bubble bath, a moment of quiet, a few pages of an interesting book, a conversation with a loved one, a piece of art, laughing, sitting in awe of something beautiful... Self-care is not selfish or an escape. It is the first step you take on the path toward liberation.