April 2022

I had a new appointment with a cardiologist today, and I was very anxious as I waited to see him. I suspect my anxiety is already affecting my heart rate or my perception of it, and the last thing I needed was for it to go higher. I’ve studied mindfulness and meditation a great deal, […]

On August 18, 2013, Ryder Carroll introduced the world to the idea of a bullet journal. As he created it, a bullet journal is a system for keeping track of your life: appointments, to-dos, notes, whatever. There is a method for using symbols to tell you what each list item is and whether it has

How well do you manage strong emotions like grief, anger, or fear? If you seem to handle them well, you probably have learned effective self-soothing methods from your parents. But if those feelings are a problem for you, you may not have any healthy ways of coping because you never learned them. It’s never too

Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash Actually, I don’t know that I would call it a “superpower.” It’s more like having the ability to fade into the background, so no one notices you. That sounds like a skill that an abused child would develop, but I don’t think I was abused. (Shouldn’t I know?) I had

When I first found out that how much you take care of yourself is an indicator of your self-respect, I was blown away. It makes sense when you think about it, but I had never thought of it that way before. Think about two pieces of clothing you own: one is an old, ratty t-shirt

What if I told you that a pen and a piece of paper could help you achieve a state of calm in just minutes? It’s true. I’m talking about zentangling, and it’s not as hard as it sounds. It’s like doodling, but with a bit of structure. A monk, Rick Roberts, and an artist, Maria

According to Martha Tesema in Shine, the Black Panther Party played a large part in bringing the idea of self-care to the general public, especially to the black community and people of color. The idea of self-care began in the 1950s as a way for mental health patients to develop a better sense of self.

Self-care has seven pillars, but we’re talking about three, plus a tip to help you save time. Mental, emotional, and physical self-care are most important because they’re personal to you. Taking care of the inside first helps you deal with the outside, like environmental and social care. Time-saving tips show you how to make time

Lady — I already know you ain’t got time for self-care. But you know you need to do it. Who’s going to do all the things that you do if you can’t? Who is going to take care of you because you didn’t take care of yourself? I’ve helped both of my parents when they couldn’t care

My uncle used to light up a cigarette as he scheduled his next radiation treatment for lung cancer. Why bother, right? If you’re tuning in to your body and not taking action on what it tells you, aren’t you doing the same thing? Maybe not as drastic or life-threatening, but still. Why bother? Your body