6 Simple Self-Care Tips You Can Implement Today
In honor of the constant cold and darkness that define winter, this week I have compiled some helpful self care tips so we can all get through this together! Keep in mind, self care looks different for everyone, and it’s not always face masks and slime-making, but hopefully some these tips will be helpful for everyone!
- Make sure you’re getting enough sleep. It can sometimes be difficult to keep track of time, especially when it’s dark from 5 PM to 6 AM leading to us unintentionally stay awake much longer than we mean to! Setting alarms to wake up and go to bed for the same time every morning and night can help keep us on track and make sure we’re sleeping enough, consistently.
- Get some exercise. On especially cold, windy days it’s hard to motivate enough to go to the gym (especially when, like me, you’d be walking all the way across campus and usually late at night). That doesn’t mean we can’t do things to get the blood flowing! YouTube has lots of great instructional videos for yoga and other at home workouts for all experience levels.
- Make sure you’re eating enough. It’s easy to get caught up in your work and miss out on the dining hall being open (I’m a frequent culprit of this). When you are able to get some food, try to eat a healthy balance of different foods, including fruits, veggies, proteins, and carbs. And make sure to stock up on healthy snacks that you can make/eat at home and when on the go!
- Embrace your community. It’s easy to feel isolated at this time of year, when we’re all stressed with classes and maybe a bit homesick. However, the Rainbow Resource Center is open from 8:30 to 4:30 every weekday and there’s almost always someone there to talk to, as well as having fun programs every week such as support group, where members from our community come by to share their struggles with other folx who can understand, and LGBTea Parties where we talk about issues that are relevant to the community. Wilde Stein, UMaine’s queer-straight alliance, meets every Monday from 7-8 PM, and is always welcoming of new members!
- Check in with yourself. Make sure you’re not overextending yourself with your classes, work, and extracurriculars. It’s okay to realize you don’t have the energy to do all the things you’re currently doing, and cut back on them! You can still withdraw from a class and receive a “W” grade, which won’t bring your GPA down like an F, up until April 10th. And if that feels like too much, you can ask your professors for extensions and other accommodations, which seems scary, but usually they’re very understanding!
- Appreciate your accomplishments. If you find yourself having an ever-growing list of things that you still haven’t completed, take a step back at the end of the day and think about all the things you did finish. It’s important to be proud of yourself and your accomplishments! Even if the only things on your list for one day are that you got out of bed and had something to eat, that’s still really good!
-Hawthorne, he/him/his