Self-Care during COVID-19

It is important to remember to take time to care for yourself in stressful situations like the one we are dealing with currently. Self care can be different for everyone. Here are some ways that you can help to care for yourself during this time, which will help build your resilience and ability to care for others.

Create healthy boundaries when you are working from home. This will give you time required to care for yourself. Maybe create an appointment on your calendar to schedule time for a walk or one of the ways listed below to care for yourself. Click here for more tips when working from home.

Spend some time outside and enjoy the day, no matter the weather. Go outside for a walk, a bike ride, or enjoy your garden.

Meditation and breathing:

• A guided meditation app from the Zen Buddhist Thich nhat Hanh practice
• Mindfulness Meditation recordings
• Mindful breathing, this means taking time during the day to focus on your breathing
• Try being silly and using Laughter Yoga to work on your breathing

Build your resilience:

• Wellness and Resilience During COVID-19 from Andrea Northwood, PhD, LP, CVT’s Director of Client Services at Center for Victims 
• Practice Resilience with MCCC!
• Building Resilience in the Era of COVID-19

Take time each day to exercise:

• PTV Exercise and Dance Classes to relieve stress and get moving through this crisis!
• Amber Gray is offering her Ground in the Swirl online class
• The YMCA has some free exercise videos
• Try one of these yoga videos

Make sure you are eating healthy.

Get enough sleep:

• Try to maintain a normal bed time
• Start a routine before you go to bed to help you wind down (avoid tv and screen time) which could include meditating or reading a book

Take time to learn how to cook a new dish:

• If you’re interested in cooking, try taking a look at Bon Appetit’s video channel: www.bonappetit.com/video where you can learn some new techniques and maybe expand your repertoire. 
• Or take a look at the Food Network’s Cooking with Kids for some fun options for staying in the kitchen or at least in the house. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/packages/recipes-for-kids/cooking-with-kids
• Many of Julia Child’s classic shows are available on YouTube. You can finally learn just how to make a French Omelet or try making it with Jacques Pépin 

Get crafty! Paint, draw, knit, or find other ways of crafting.

From the Fundamentals lessons is the Self Care job aid, which includes some helpful applications you might want to check out: Self-Care Job Aid 

Other resources suggested to us by other organizations:

• Pocket Card for COVID-19 Crisis. Available on The Professional Quality of Life Measure (ProQOL) website is a caring for yourself “pocket card” for caregivers. Dr. Beth Hudnall Stamm developed this revised “pocket card” about caring for yourself in the face of difficult work for the current COVID-19 health crisis. (See the above link or download at this link.) Please use, copy, and distribute it freely, as long as (a) authors are credited, (b) no changes are made, and (c) it is not sold. We hope you find it useful.
• Self-Care sheets for Caregivers and Teachers from the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland is available in English, Swahili, French, Spanish, Arabic.
• Healthcare Personnel and First Responders: How to Cope with Stress and Build Resilience During the COVID-19 Pandemic (Posted 6/25/2020)
• Coping with Stress during the COVID-19 Outbreak from the World Health Organization is available in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese, Arabic
• CDC Managing Stress and Anxiety During Coronavirus available in English and Spanish
• SAMHSA Taking Care of Your Behavioral Health: Tips for Social Distancing, Quarantine and Isolation during an Infectionus Disease Outbreak. Available in English(link is external) and Spanish
• MGH Guide to Mental Health Resources
• Benson-Henry Institute for Mind-Body Medicine
• Podcast “Stress and Anxiety in a Time of COVID-19”
• Podcast “How to Conquer your Anxiety during the COVID-19 Outbreak”
• NCTSN Public Health Resources for Disasters and Pandemics