ARA COUNSELING

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Good morning everyone!
I didn’t plan to blog on the last day of the month, but it just happened this way. The last two months have been a whirlwind of events that caused lots of emotions, movements, and more. In addition to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that started at the beginning of 2020, there has been many injustices in the Black, Asian, and Latino/a/x communities. Within the last couple weeks in Minnesota alone, there was the killing of Daunte Wright by a police officer and the conviction of Derek Chauvin. All of this on top of our daily and personal struggles and difficulties as well.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I have been emotionally and physically drained of all my energy. This prompted me to start thinking about my personal self-care and how to increase my self-care to ensure that I have the energy needed to continue working and being present for my family members. I wanted to share what I have been doing for self-care to help anyone who has been drained of their energy and needs to recharge.

1. Healthy Habits: Sleeping, Eating, & Exercising
   By no means am I a medical expert; I am not giving any medical advice. I am simply relaying information that I have learned from my personal experience, primary care doctor, and research. I recommend that everyone consult with their primary care doctors for specific directions on sleeping, eating, and exercising.
   Sleeping. I have always recommended an average of 7-9 hours of sleep each night for individuals over the age of 18. I understand that our lives are busy and sometimes we cannot get 7-9 hours of sleep each night, but I urge everyone to do their best to get enough sleep to make sure that they are not exhausted throughout the day. “Enough” sleep is subjective because everyone’s bodies, lives, and physical conditions are different. If you are not sure how much sleep you should be getting, please consult with your primary care doctor.
   Eating. For myself, I either try to eat 3 decent-size meals plus 2 snacks OR 6 small meals throughout the day. I have been trying to eat more fruits and vegetables especially to decrease constipation. In addition, my goal each day is to drink at least 8 cups of water which has been helping with constipation and hydration of my skin. I understand that everyone is different depending on your body type, lifestyle, and medical conditions. I urge everyone to consult with their primary care doctors to ensure that they are eating enough food to give their bodies energy.
   Exercising. This is my least favorite out of the three. When I was still in college, I loved going to the gym to run on the treadmill and workout. However, it has become more difficult as I have gotten older along with working a full-time job and having children. So now, I try to go on an hour walk (usually 3 miles) at least 3 times a week. It gives me a chance to get some fresh air and Vitamin D. For those that cannot exercise due to physical limitations, I recommend just getting outside to enjoy the weather when the weather is nice.
2. Daily Self-Care
   I’ve always encouraged my clients to practice daily self-care especially when they’re transitioning from work to home. This helps with leaving their work at work and not bringing it into their “home time”. One of the biggest struggles during this pandemic was that a lot of us were working from home so then we were already home causing the two to just blend into each other. Prior to the pandemic, I used to always stop at a store on my way home (either Target or Walgreens) and just browsed around for about 15 to 30 minutes. This helped shift my mind from work into a place that was ready to go home to cook dinner and spend time with my family. Now that I am working from home, I have started reading fiction books. Once I completed my work, I would open up my Kindle app and read for 15 to 30 minutes before transitioning to doing things around the house. Another daily self-care that I had been doing prior to and during the pandemic is my skincare routine in the mornings and at night. This was my way of pampering myself because I was taking care of my skin. This usually took about 10 minutes max and left me feeling happy. Thus, self-care doesn’t need to be long or difficult. It can be anything that makes you feel good.
3. Weekly and/or Monthly Self-Care
   Now these weekly and/or monthly self-care are supposed to be much more time-consuming and planned out in advance. Prior to the pandemic, a weekly self-care thing that I used to do was going on dates with my husband. We either chose a restaurant that we had never been to or a fun activity to do. Ever since the pandemic started, we had put our dates on hold. What I started doing instead was monthly self-care which was getting monthly massages. Everyone is different so what I do for self-care may not work for you. You will have to figure out what helps you reenergize and is financially feasible.
4. Connecting with Others
   Human beings were not designed to be alone; we are creatures who enjoy connecting with others. Sometimes, we may have had negative or traumatic experiences that caused us to not enjoy connecting with others – and I understand that. However, I always encourage my clients to find at least one person that they can have a positive and healthy relationship with. Researchers have found that positive connections with others have improved individuals’ physical and emotional well-being. Personally I am not a social butterfly. I do enjoy going out and being around others, but I also enjoy staying in and being by myself as well. I do not have a big group of friends, but I do have certain individuals that I enjoy spending time with. I make it a personal goal to connect with at least one friend every day. We don’t have to talk about anything important or specific. We can talk about random things, recent social media drama, or political news.

These are the things that I have been doing in my personal life to make sure that I am continuing to recharge and have energy to do the things that need to be done. I hope that you were able to take away a few things to implement into your daily lives. Remember that I am not a medical expert so always seek consultation and advice from a medical professional especially around sleeping, exercising, and eating.