• About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
      Professor Phillip Levine Discusses “A Problem of Fit”
    • CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
      CS Department shifts CS 111 course structure
    • WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
      WAMI and WRJ host discussion on criminalization of abortion
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • Andrew tate: ending the cycle of toxic masculinity
      Andrew tate: ending the cycle of toxic masculinity
    • Turn it off: healing from news fatigue in the digital age
      Turn it off: healing from news fatigue in the digital age
    • Let them eat bread: the unequal effects of food price inflation
      Let them eat bread: the unequal effects of food price inflation
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • The 95th Academy Awards Nominations: The Cool and The Controversial
      The 95th Academy Awards Nominations: The Cool and The Controversial
    • Lucy Dacus Brings a Minimal Yet Powerful Performance to Northeastern University
      Lucy Dacus Brings a Minimal Yet Powerful Performance to Northeastern University
    • “Glass Onion” Takes Shots at Easy Targets
      “Glass Onion” Takes Shots at Easy Targets
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
    • Books Before Boys
  • Sports and Wellness
    • Student-Athlete of October
      Student-Athlete of October
    • Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
      Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022
    • The Case for Body Neutrality
      The Case for Body Neutrality
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • The Wellesley Snooze
    • Rejected Snooze Articles for the Week
      Rejected Snooze Articles for the Week
    • Happy Valentine’s Day from Spog
      Happy Valentine’s Day from Spog
    • The Four Best Places to Loudly FaceTime Someone on Campus
      The Four Best Places to Loudly FaceTime Someone on Campus
  • Miscellanea
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
      Administrators shocked to learn that students dislike being left in dark
    • 50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
      50 Lies You Tell Yourself in Order to Survive Until Graduation
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Active Minds Sports and WellnessNovember 10, 2016

11/9

Photo courtesy of Active Minds

Around campus you’ve probably heard people encourage you to practice self care. But you might be wondering what exactly is self care, how do I practice it, and what are the benefits?

Just like how our doctors encourage us to eat healthy, exercise and get 8 hours of sleep to care for our physical health, there are things we can do to take care of our emotional health. Self care activities can be helpful when you are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, sad or nervous. Self care can also be a good way to remember to reward yourself after accomplishing a difficult task or getting through midterms week. Remember that you deserve to feel happy and it isn’t selfish to take some time to take care of you!

On campus, many people talk about self care, which is wonderful. It’s good to remind ourselves and each other how important self care is. Because of how often we talk about self care, though, it can be easy for the practice to feel like a cliche. When it feels like self care is a trite idea that people throw around, it can be helpful to remind yourself and your friends what the bigger picture of self care can look like. 

Self care is powerful because it can help you feel more at ease, and help make the things that you are doing seem more manageable. Also, self care is especially helpful in relationships. Just like how flight attendants tell us to put our air mask on before helping the people around us, sometimes we need to put the air mask on ourselves before we can fully help others. Self care is a purposeful act that helps you feel centered and in control. It is an ongoing way to cope with life stressors and help you find your breath.

Self care should be sustainable. We recommend that you pick activities that you want to do and can do regularly. It’s important to remember that self care does not need to be expensive, or cost money at all. There is often a stereotype that self care only consists of fancy yoga classes or expensive chocolates. While these things can be wonderful and helpful for some people, others can find self care in very different activities.

Here are some members of Active Minds’ top tips for self-care:

Have a mini spa day! You can paint your nails, put on a face mask. Sometimes, just taking a minute to wash your face with some water can be really helpful.

Meditate or go to one of the Cultivating Calm programs hosted by the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life. You don’t need to belong to a particular faith community on campus in order to utilize the resources ORSL offers. They are also a confidential resource if you want to talk to someone.

Your RA hosts programs regularly. Attend them! Enjoy whatever fun activity they have planned and relish in the new connections you are making with your floor community.

The Office of Student Involvement also hosts regular free events throughout the year (like the super popular Bingo nights).

Other regular actions you can take are to have a cup of tea or warm milk, go for a walk outside or exercise, and try to sleep for eight hours a night. 

Self-care is not just about actions. Part of self care is also about giving yourself permission to ask for help and lessen your workload as needed. Let other people know if you need more time or if you won’t be able to take on a certain responsibility. Be kind to yourself! There are great resources on campus that can help you, like your Deans, MHEs, APTs, RAs or your professors.

Sometimes, though, self care is not enough. If you are constantly feeling overwhelmed or feeling hopeless, that may be a sign to reach out to professional resources, like the Stone Center. Self care is not all you need in order to manage your mental health symptoms. Therapy and medication can be vitally important for dealing with an illness or life change.

Also be on the lookout for Love Your Body Week, from November 14-18! Active Minds and other collaborators like the PERA instructors, Mezcla, Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, and the Stone Center (and more!) are working together to have events every day that highlight topics ranging from eating disorders to the mind/body connection. The Friday tea with Mezcla and Slater will include a discussion on self care!

Stone Center:  781-283-2839

As always, email any questions or comments to activeminds_wcso@wellesley.edu

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous articleChicago Cubs’ historic victory inspires Wellesley baseball fan
Next articleNew technology to rein in peanut allergies on the horizon

You may also like

Student-Athlete of October

Athletics Update Oct. 19, 2022

The Case for Body Neutrality

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

  • Stone-Davis dining staff report mistreatment
  • Logos of social media apps such as Twitter, Tiktok, Netflix, Spotify, and Discord. Andrew tate: ending the cycle of toxic masculinity
  • The 95th Academy Awards Nominations: The Cool and The Contro...
  • A collection of a wide variety of foods in the colors of the rainbow Let them eat bread: the unequal effects of food price inflat...
  • Red envelope that contains money to celebrate the Lunar New Year. America’s cultural appropriation is a modern form of i...

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
    • Staff Writers
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2023 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top