Tag Archive for: Self-care

Kids Benefit When We Ring in the New Year with Self-Care

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By Camryn Cater, MSW, LSW – December 31, 2025 –

When traveling by plane, we always hear the flight attendants say, “In an emergency, put the oxygen mask on yourself before putting it on your child.” This is to ensure the adult’s safety so they can take care of the child accompanying them.

Parents tend to instinctively put their child’s well-being ahead of their own. But what happens when a parent does not take care of themselves first?

Stress is an emotional response to the demands of life, such as bills, school, work, caring for children, and all the additional curveballs life throws our way. Stress affects everyone differently, and it’s important to remember that not all stress is bad. However, long-term stress can negatively affect your health as well as the health of your children.

The number one stress-related mental health diagnosis is anxiety. Parental stress causes increased behavioral issues in children and can lead to poor performance in school. It can also result in children using less expressive language, exhibiting poor social skills, experiencing more mental health struggles, and having a more difficult time coping with change.

During my time as a Youth First Mental Health Professional, I have noticed that the behaviors of parents and guardians struggling with large amounts of stress are often mirrored by their children. For example, when parents are experiencing depression or undergoing tough times, their children may experience lack of motivation in school, poor grades, and often appear more tired. Some parents experiencing anxiety have children with anxious behaviors, such as lack of control over emotions, lack of sleep, and frequent stomach aches.

Understanding your stressors and prioritizing self-care can help create a better environment and a healthier lifestyle for you and your child. Practicing and teaching your child effective self-care is very important as they grow and mature. Children absorb and learn from your habits.

Parents and guardians can help their child overcome stress by modeling positive habits. Examples of self-care include exercising, taking a relaxing shower or bath, finding a new hobby, prioritizing sleep, replacing negative self-talk with positive self-talk, and reaching out for support when needed.

Help your child identify their emotions and let them know it’s okay to feel the way they do. This allows them to learn healthy ways to react to those emotions when they arise. Topics children find stressful may seem trivial when compared to our adult stressors, but acknowledging a child’s stress is important for the child to feel heard and understood.

In the happiest of our childhood memories, our parents were happy too! Putting yourself first as a parent is not as selfish as it sounds. Committing to habits of self-care can create better well-being for yourself and a positive future for your child.

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The Art of Being Still

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By Chasidy Lambert, MSW, LSW – June 26, 2024 –

Life is busy! We’re managing so much in our daily lives to stay on top of things: jobs, kids, school, sports, other extracurricular activities, community projects, relationships with family and friends, staying healthy, managing finances…the list goes on and on. Getting all of these boxes checked can feel like a second job in itself. 

Our lives are buzzing as we attempt to make everything happen at once. It’s no wonder we are seeing the rise of young families moving away from the “city life dream” their parents once had to a minimalistic world view – a quieter life with activities like growing their own garden, decluttering, canning food, and other ways to escape the “chaos” and be more self-sufficient. 

Though escapism is not always healthy, we can appreciate the lost art of living a less stressful life by resting in our current reality. One way we can experience this stillness is through practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness is a skill often used in meditation.

To practice mindfulness, you focus on the present without fear of the future or dwelling in the past. There are different ways to be mindful, but the gist of it is being completely in the moment without any distracting thoughts. Mindfulness is a great skill for all ages to learn.

Studies have shown that mindfulness helps children develop skills such as self-control and stress management. It helps adults reduce stress and learn to enjoy even the small moments. When families combine their individual practices of mindfulness, they are able to make more meaningful connections together. Though being still in the hustle and buzz is often hard, utilizing mindfulness can be a simple yet effective way to reset our minds and bodies.

One activity I would suggest is gratitude mapping. You begin by taking a breath, being mindful of all the things in your life you are thankful for, and then writing a list of those things. This activity shifts the focus to a more positive mindset, which results in fostering kindness in our interactions.

Another activity you can try as a family is mindful listening. There are so many ways to do this, but the easiest one is going outside and closing your eyes. What do you hear? Pay attention to the birds, wind, and other outside noises. You can take it a step further and notice the grass under your feet or the wind or sun on your face. You can also use calming music for this activity.

Breathing, movement, and growth are basic human functions needed to live a purposeful life. To achieve the art of being still, we can utilize our mindfulness skills to reset our bodies and remind ourselves that our “to-do” lists and events are not what define us. Rather, it is the interactions we have with those around us.

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The Power of Self-Care

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By Paige Byrd, MSW, LSW – April 18, 2024

Self-care is a vital part of our everyday lives. It promotes healthy living, reduces stress, increases relaxation, and improves our overall well-being. Self-care can help your mental and physical health by boosting your mood and increasing your activity rate.

The fun part about self-care is that you can incorporate it at any time of the day. Just five minutes of self-care can boost your mood and increase your dopamine levels! According to the National Institute of Mental Health, self-care means creating time to do things to help improve your life and increase your well-being. Your mental health is important, so taking the extra step to improve it can have a huge impact on your daily living.

Self-care helps you manage stress, lower your risk of illness, and increase your energy. Some great self-care tips include incorporating at least 30 minutes of exercise into your daily routine, eating healthy meals, staying hydrated, getting enough sleep, setting goals and priorities, and staying positive!

There are numerous ways to add self-care activities to your day. Some ideas include meditation, reading, painting, dancing, listening to relaxing music, taking a bath, going on a walk, watching your favorite show, and getting enough sleep. The list is endless. Creating a routine to incorporate self-care can reduce the percentage rate of burnout.

According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, burnout is defined as “physical, emotional or mental exhaustion, accompanied by decreased motivation, lowered performance and negative attitudes towards oneself and others.” Burnout occurs when a person overworks or becomes overly stressed in their daily lives.

When you are constantly on the go with a million different tasks and activities, it is important to take some time for yourself, to do something for you that allows you to breathe. I like to take fifteen minutes in the morning, as soon as I wake up, to do a quick meditation. This helps me start my day off in a positive mindset. I also incorporate breathing activities in between client sessions to ground myself throughout the day.

Self-care is also a great tool to share with others. It allows more people to be aware of its benefits. Remember, self-care is for everyone! It leads to a happier and healthier way of living. 

Take a moment to pause and reflect on three activities you enjoy doing. Now find a time in your day, even five minutes, maybe an hour, where you can pause for a moment and put yourself first. Got that? Now do it! Start small. Building a routine or adding in something that is unusual may seem challenging at first, but once you start, it will get easier! The more you practice, the easier it gets, so start now! Do yourself a favor, start incorporating self-care into your daily lives. You will be glad you did!

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Self-Care is Essential

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By Keisha Jackson, MSW – April 7, 2021 –

One of the most important things we can do for ourselves is ensure we are taking good care of our body, mind, and soul each and every day. Self-care is a habit we need to develop and use daily, not just when we are sick or feel it’s most convenient. 

Learning how to eat right, reduce stress, exercise regularly, and take a time-out when you need it are big components of self-care. Making a point to incorporate these habits into your life can help you stay healthy, happy, and resilient.

Practicing self-care isn’t always easy. In fact, it’s an ongoing battle I fight with year in and year out. Most of us are crazy busy. There are extracurricular activities to juggle, sporting events to attend, and of course our jobs to work around. Having a full and fast-paced life can be rewarding, but can also become burdensome from time to time.

As the pandemic continues to impact our daily lives, now is a good time to reflect on the past year and remind ourselves about the importance of self-care. Below you’ll find several different tips, ideas, and reminders to help you manage your mental health through self-care.

  1. Create a plan. Creating a self-care plan can make managing self-care easier. When life gets busy, it’s easy to forget to take care of yourself. Making a plan and sticking to it helps release the stress of managing another “task” on your to-do list.
  • Say “no” to others. Saying “no” is a hard thing to do for some people. However, saying “no” when you’re feeling overwhelmed or when you need a day to yourself can be a powerful way to care for yourself.  
  • Do things that spark joy. Self-care is all about doing something specifically for YOU. Do one thing daily that sparks joy in your life. Examples of this could be a simple coffee run, getting up to go for a walk around the block, or even watching an episode of your “guilty pleasure” show.
  • Soak up the sun. As the days are beginning to lengthen as summer approaches, we have more time to enjoy the sunlight after school or work. Just getting 10 minutes of sunlight or having those blinds in your bedroom window open can spunk up your mood and provide you with much-needed Vitamin D. Be sure to wear sunscreen if you’ll be outside for extended periods of time!
  • Don’t skip out on the basics. Continue to eat healthy, exercise regularly, and get a healthy amount of sleep. 

Some of these tips may sound silly or obvious, but it can often be hard to prioritize that extra time to ourselves. It’s important to create time in your day to be alone with yourself, no matter how busy you are. Time alone can help you ponder the best way to move forward in life and keep you grounded, healthy, and happy.   

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