During these challenging times, we know that parents and caregivers may need some extra mental health support. In this section, we will provide resources that families can access in order to support their mental wellbeing. May is Mental Health Month! Starting now, and during the month of May, we will be sharing resources from Mental Health America.
Taking Time for Yourself
There are always a handful of roles that each of us are juggling. If you are a parent, a student, an employee, a caretaker, someone struggling with a mental health concern, or are just feeling overwhelmed with the responsibilities of day-to-day life, the idea that taking time for yourself may seem unimaginable. Sometimes, it can be difficult to even take basic care of ourselves -- but there are small things that can be done to make self-care and taking time for ourselves a little bit easier.
Accept yourself as you are. Remember that you are running your own race. Try
not to compare your life and what it looks like right now to anyone else’s. When
you start comparing yourself to others, it’s easy to feel inadequate, which makes
it hard to even take the very first step in self-care. Instead, try your best to accept
the person that you are and where you are in life right now.
Focus on the basics. Sometimes being an adult is not easy and it can feel impossible to get even the littlest things done. Taking time for yourself doesn’t necessarily mean treating yourself to special things. One of the most important things you can do is focus on steps to ensure you’re living a healthy lifestyle. Showering and brushing your teeth every day, eating nutrient-rich food, moving your body, and getting good sleep are all building blocks of good self-care.
Find what makes you happy. If you’re caught up in taking care of all of your responsibilities — rather than taking care of yourself — you may not even really know what kind of self-care you need. What works for someone else may not work for you. Take time to think about what things you can do to make yourself feel happy or accomplished and include them in building the self-care routine that makes the most sense for you, your schedule, and your health overall.
Make small goals. Unfortunately, taking time for yourself doesn’t just happen overnight, so try to be patient. Instead of putting pressure on yourself to immediately have the perfect self-care routine established, set small goals that you want to accomplish for yourself. Focus on small, daily tasks like wanting to take a 15-minute walk outside each day, or journaling for 10 minutes every night — rather than a complete overhaul of your life, all at once.
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