Self Care, Etc.

So something that I have been focusing on this past year is Self Care.  I have probably done the Self Care Assessment and Plan about 5 or 6 times since last summer and it has radically helped me change habits, focus on goals, and take better care of myself.  Most of the times I did the Assessment and Plan I was sharing the experience and results with one or more friends.  It has been awesome to bring self care into my friend communities as I have mainly been using it at work for my volunteers or students I present to.  Some things I have done more of because of the plan (which is based on the assessment) is exercise, reading, being in nature, doing affirmations, going to therapy and doing things which I am not the expert of.  One thing I still very much need to work on is cooking and eating better.  But as my therapist said when I talked to her about my self care goal of eating better was that we change, one thing at a time, so basically (not in these words): chill out for now.

One of the most productive evenings I spent with four friends having a "self care girl night" at my place was  when one of the girls, Ashley Madeline, bought boxes at Michaels for all of us and we decorated them with paint, collage, block letters, and other fun crafty things.  These were our "self care boxes" and we did a group brainstorm of self care methods and then wrote our favorites on colorful cardstock, much of which was supplied by Helen Grace, and cut them up and put them in the box.  We also placed symbolic items such as stones which symbolized self-care, and little keys and clocks symbolizing taking time and opening up.  The process was equally as fun as the final product, as it got all of us talking and planning and consciousness-raising.  I keep my box at work and since self care night have since created and added affirmations to the box as well.  All I did was copy/paste the ones I liked from a goddess website and download cute, free fonts before printing on color paper.  The final printable affirmations are here: Career, Daily Life, Emotions and Moving On, Health, Love, Self Esteem.

Our Self-Care Brainstorm

Junko's Self-Care Tips

The finished Affirmations.

My Self-Care Tips

Ashley Madeline's Self-Care Box

Inside view of Ashley Madison's Box

Inside view of Sonia's Box

Helen Grace's Box

Front view of Ashley Madison's Box

Junko's Box

Inside of My Box

Front view of my box

Top view of My and Sonia's Boxes