Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” -Audre Lorde
As we enter a new year, we are flooded with all of the ways we should be doing self-care. In reality, ‘self-care’ is more than hot baths, pretty candles, and facemasks. While those are all fantastic and make us feel great in the moment, there are deeper and more direct ways we can use “self-care” in a radical way to aid us in times of political unrest. Over the course of the last year, we have had to fight back against waves of misogyny, racism, homophobia, and transphobia throughout the election cycle and the fight for freedom only continues.
In order for us to continue to be advocates for our communities, we should try to give the same amount of dedicated attention to ourselves. By creating a personal tool belt for yourself that provides quick and accessible methods of practicing self-care is something that can become a real part of our lives and heal us deeper over time. They become a muscle that we strengthen each time we use it and gradually become a reflex we do not have to even think about.
Here are a few self-care practices that can help us stay empowered and resilient in this current climate.
BOUNDARIES
The first tool is creating and setting personal boundaries. While this might seem unrelated to self-care, it is one of the most healing acts we can do for ourselves. Creating and setting firm boundaries, we are rising against the current oppressive system that feeds on exploitation and overworking individuals. Boundaries prioritize YOU and your well-being and safety, allowing us to have healthier relationships with those around us.
How: Ask yourself your personal wants and needs that are unapologetically for your own peace and happiness. That can be in a job, relationship, or within facets of your daily life. Once you establish what you need, you can begin to more easily communicate those boundaries to others. For example, begin to set personal limits on things that can become tiring and stressful. Practicing saying “no”! This is a challenging task for a lot of us who feel the need to ‘people please’ and never feel like we are letting others down, but saying NO to things that you do NOT want to do is an act of empowerment that helps build our esteem and self-value.
GRATITUDE & REFLECTIONS
Another tool of self-care we can incorporate into our daily practices is cultivating gratitude and reflection. Acknowledging the abundance of incredible things we have now can begin to help shift our perspective from a negative one to one that is not only positive but powerful.
How: Meditation is a way we can incorporate this tool into our daily lives. There are various forms of meditation that can cater to your preferences and lifestyle, such as mindfulness, mantras, guided meditation, and more.
SKILLS & HOBBIES
Our self-care tools can expand beyond our minds and bodies and be directed into something more tangible. Learning a new skill or developing a new hobby is a way to fuel our creativity but also release energy in a way that is rewarding and exciting. The joy of creation comes from the act itself and not always the end product.
How: There are ENDLESS skills one can learn or acquire and equally endless hobbies to pursue. Knitting, coloring, baking, language, puzzles, and painting are just a handful of the plethora of ideas to try. This can look like winding down your evening by coloring or painting while watching a show. It can also look like taking a dedicated hour to practice and fail and practice more! Or trying a new dinner recipe that you might have steered away from before thinking it was “too challenging.” By engaging our brains in mentally stimulating ways, such as learning, we increase our self-esteem and become more equipped to handle other challenging tasks that we face daily and simply have fun without the external pressures of capitalism.
RADICAL REST
Rest. This might sound counterproductive, but it is the complete opposite. We are living in a world that is a constant stream of content, noise, ideas, and technology; it can feel impossible to take a rest without the judgment that we are “lazy” or not “grinding” as hard as others. Rest is a powerful tool we can use to heal this year. Leisure is something our capitalistic society tries to diminish to keep us in a constant state of production. We can use rest as a defiance against these systems of exploitation and labor by taking time to not be productive and not allowing corporations to profit off of our exhaustion.
How: The first way we can incorporate rest is by simply prioritizing the sleep we get at night.By gradually increasing our sleep per night to 7-9 hours, we set ourselves up for a higher quality day. Another form of rest is spending time outside, disconnected from our phones. Even a 10 to 30-minute walk outside can greatly help our minds reboot and get a mental break.
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