Taking care of your self-care

YOU! What have you done today to help yourself?

I try to ask this question to myself as a three-week-old university student, as I am aware of how mentally and emotionally challenging Higher Education can be. I started university with high hopes — being independent in a new city, making lots of friends, and having fun. However; don’t believe the hype…This was not entirely the case for me or many other students such as Bertie, who opened up during the Time To Change campaign for mental health.

Image Credit: https://www.time-to-change.org.uk

I have quickly discovered that university introduces you to people with drastically varying personalities, habits and opinions — some of which can easily make you feel overwhelmed and longing to be at home with the comfort of familiarity. In some situations, I have felt my typically friendly, talkative self being tested by meeting people who weren’t entirely ‘my cup of tea’ — but I then realised that this is okay. You may be wondering what I do to help with an anxious/agitated/worried state of mind…

The clue is in the name. ‘Self-care’.

Self-care is a simple yet effective concept which means to look after mental, physical and emotional state in order to achieve happiness and reduce stress. Happiness is a subjective feeling which varies from person to person — however, all levels of self-care are valid. A hot shower, fresh pyjamas, and a cup of green tea are my definition of self-care after a long day, whilst retail therapy and talking to friends might be somebody else’s idea of bliss.

Photo by Plush Design Studio on Unsplash

In order to encourage you to have a go at self-care, I have compiled a list of simple yet effective acts which are followed ritually around the world by many people. Why don’t you try one of them today?

• Going for a walk around your campus or green space.
• Making a nutritious, filling meal for yourself.
• Writing a letter of appreciation to a friend.
• Practising mindfulness (This is a growing trend of being ‘in the moment’ and feeling at ease in between our busy, fast-paced lives).
• Watching a movie alone with your favourite snack (mine has to be Skips! mmmm…)
• Weekly/fortnightly visits home.
• Making a habit of taking daily vitamins and any prescribed medication.
• Scheduling a day to properly clean and neaten your room (My wonderful mum always says that a tidy house is a tidy mind, which I 100% agree on).
• Wearing an item of clothing that makes you feel confident.
• Reading a book that you always wanted to read, but never had the time for.
• And lastly, I can’t stress this one enough; getting a good nights sleep of 7–9 hours. I have realised that lack of sleep can result in lack of motivation, sudden change of mood, fatigue and most importantly the dreaded Freshers Flu! (No, this is not a myth and trust me,it DOES exist!).

Whilst maintaining good attendance and good grades are important during your time at university, so is caring for yourself. You wouldn’t let your phone run out of battery, so why would you do the same to yourself?

Now that you have finished reading my article, try to reflect on something you can do later on today to care for yourself.

Go on, you won’t regret it.