How to integrate self-care into your life?

KEYWORD

  • Scheduling: blocking out specific times in your day/week to engage in specific activities.

In this section of the course, we will discuss how to add self-care into our lives. Each of us has our own individual stress triggers whether it be a big essay due or being to busy to go to our favourite spin class. No one’s self-care strategies will be the same, everyone has a unique combination of practices that allow them to be their best self. As we discussed in the first section of this resource, self-care is an ever-evolving process and requires constant changing to accomodate a constantly changing lifestyle.

MAKE A PLAN

There is no better way to start your self-care journey than to jump into it. A great way to incorporate self-care into your lifestyle is to add it into your schedule. Scheduling is a great way to keep on-top of all of your activities, but it also allows you to intentionally create space in your life to maintain your wellness. Below is an example of scheduling and how a girl named Clara incorporated self-care into her daily life:

Examples: Clara, she is a second year Biology student. In the past she had struggled to create space for her physical and emotional wellness between classes, working and labs. For her second year of university she scheduled her self-care activities into her weekly schedule to create more of a well-rounded use of her time. This is her schedule below:

As you can see, Clara added her self-care activities into her daily schedule. It is very easy to forget to incorporating these activities into your daily life, especially when life and school gets hectic. Clara’s schedule may look like this this week and look completely different next. Self-care strategies are not set in stone, they will change depending on peoples needs. For example, one week she may forgo her Wednesday morning spin-class to read a book or journal if her emotional wellness needs a bit more maintenance that week.

INCORPORATE SELF-CARE INTO YOUR SCHEDULE

As you begin to make your daily schedule for the upcoming semester we hope you think to add self-care into your schedule. 

READINGS AND VIDEOS

 How to Start a Self-Care Routine You’ll Follow (everydayhealth.com)

  • THIS WEBSITE INCLUDES A READING AND A VIDEO.

ASSIGNMENT

Now that we have completed this section of the interactive resource, please complete Assignment #4-Final Reflection. This is a reflective assignment on what you have learned in this resource about self-care. All of the details outlining the assignment can be found in the assessment section of the resource.