New Year, More Rest for Me
It's time to take care of ourselves.
I think we make this promise to ourselves every year: a promise to be a little kinder to ourselves, to take things easy and to make sure we put ourselves first. Well, of course the shenanigans of life constantly get in the way, jeopardizing our chances of being put first and taking care of ourselves.
However, the last couple years have been plagued with unimaginable suffering due to this pandemic. Mental health struggles are at a record high and are especially plaguing our children. We are all having trouble getting through the days now. With that being said, I feel that now - more than ever - we most definitely need to put ourselves first. We’ve got to take care of our mind and ensure that we get proper rest.
Meditation is Magnificent
For me, meditation is always one of my go to coping mechanisms when I am feeling overwhelmed and/or burnt out. Meditation has become increasingly popular among adults young and old over the years. In fact, more recently, meditation is being considered as a coping mechanism for children as well to help cope with the struggles that have come forth due to the pandemic. Meditation involves sitting in a quiet space and allowing the mind to focus on one particular aspect, to promote clarity and a level head which allows the mind to feel clear and calm.
Personally, I am huge on meditation. I will often utilize calming instrumentals on YouTube and allow myself to just sit quietly and focus my mind on one particular aspect - whether that be the sound of the music, or the softness of my bed as I sit comfortably, or the feeling of my palms brushing against the soft material of my leggings. Allowing myself to focus on that one aspect and allowing my mind to remain clear leaves room for a sense of calm to come in. Meditation before bed has allowed me to begin getting decent amounts of sleep at night, as the meditation helps my brain to relax so I can actually get some rest.
Positively Affirming with Positive Affirmations
The use of positive affirmations is becoming increasingly popular as well. Affirmations are like emotional support or positive encouragement; sayings that one may repeat to themselves or someone else numerous times in order to promote a positive, healthy mindset. It isn’t uncommon for local stores to sell journals or cards that are used to promote the use of positive affirmations. In fact, I use positive affirmations myself in my daily Intensive In-Home work with at risk clients. Positive affirmations have helped my clients to grow confident in their thoughts and feelings, and have helped to promote positive thinking.
I utilize positive affirmations for myself as well. It has become my way to relax and be a little more gentle on myself. I am someone that can be really hard on myself at times. Any little mistake I make, I will criticize myself for the days to come and that isn’t necessarily the healthiest mindset to have. However, using positive affirmations has helped me to become increasingly confident in decisions I make, and have helped promote a positive mindset within myself. I personally have positive affirmation cards from Five Below (they are called 'Make Today Magical'), but I am sure they can be purchased from anywhere such as Amazon or Target, etc. Each day, I will take a card from the deck and repeat the statement to myself (such as today’s statement: “I Believe In Myself”).
A positive mindset helps the mind to feel less overwhelmed and a little more relaxed, thus encouraging rest and self-care.
Do Something You Enjoy
It’s always important to find something you enjoy. I find that when one is doing a task that they do not enjoy, it’s easy to become exhausted with the task and ultimately tired and overwhelmed. What’s the point in doing something that you do not enjoy? Doing something you enjoy allows room for happiness and peace, and peace allows room for relaxation.
I always try to do a little something that I enjoy. It’s been a little difficult lately, because I am working quite a lot now so often I’m a little tired from work. But one of my main focuses for this year is to begin doing activities that I enjoy. Whether that be writing, or taking myself to Starbucks, or cracking open that book I’ve had on my shelf for literally a year - I will do an activity that I enjoy. If I do an activity that I enjoy, the happiness from such activity will give way to peace. What does peace pave the way for? Relaxation, and rest.
The last two years have been - for lack of a better term - hell…for all of us. I think we have lost sight of ourselves and have been neglecting ourselves, and have been inadvertently taking on the heaviness of the world which weighs down on us. For 2022, we should work on being kinder to ourselves and doing these activities to promote happiness, peace, and relaxation. We are all that we’ve got sometimes, so we definitely need to focus more on taking care of ourselves.
That’s exactly what I plan to do. It’s a new year, so I plan to take care of myself and work on resting my mind, body, and soul.
Peace and happiness - that’s what I want for myself this year.
About the Creator
Ali Renee
Therapist (under supervision). Mental Health Advocate. Writer.
I'm just here and a lil' queer.
Dear 2021, I'm Kinda Glad You're Done!
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By Fiazahmedbrohi 2 days ago in Longevity
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