Self care during covid-19 doesn’t always mean you have to do something. It could be that we are able to sit at home and do nothing.
And what exactly is nothing?
I don’t know how many times I have answered the question:
“What are you doing today?“
My response: “Oh nothing, just cleaning.” Well, cleaning is self care. Having an environment in which your body and your psyche can be at peace is self care.
Self care is reading that book, exercising, sleeping, watching a tv show that leaves you not guessing, vegging out, and sometimes doing nothing at all.
Right now in the current state of this pandemic, being alone with your thoughts can be self destructive. So why not use this time to make our minds strong? We could do some DBT - Dialectical Behavioral Therapy - and if your income is limited you can find DBT resources and journal prompts online.
It is a hard thing to open up to people. Sometimes it is easier to open up to strangers as it is harder for ourselves to face these scars and reopen them. It is part of the healing process. I know someone who has been out of a relationship for four years and still has dreams and nightmares about her child’s father. She still cries and feels guilty about the way things went: the fights and the psychological toll it took on her from gaslighting, and the mental abuse.
But she also has admitted that with this pain, she has done research into her dreams for symbolistic reasons. She has read tales of animal totems, and beliefs in different religions. She reads through ”psychology of dream” magazines, and folklore as well.
"What is dream interpretation in psychology?
Dreams are thoughts, emotions and the images shaped by them, which are encountered when asleep. One has dreams during the rapid eye movement sleep. Various theories on dream interpretations exist but the real purpose of dreams is still unknown. Dreams are closely associated with human psychology." psychologenie.com/psychology-of-dreams.com
Self care isn’t just physically relaxing yourself; it is mental as well, making peace within yourself. That can be the hardest thing to do. When I was in my early 20s I had to get up every day, look at myself in the mirror to meet my eyes and say: I forgive you for... and then the occurrence. It was me owning my responsibility in it. I also, being a survivor of domestic abuse through no fault of my own, did the same thing because we end up believing it is our fault. So I forgave myself for thinking that was what I deserved, and I also had to forgive the people who did that to me so I wasn’t dealing with the negative energy within me. These are very hard things but nonetheless self care. And right now all this time is leaving us within our minds and within our thoughts.
Self care doesn’t need to be practiced every day in a particular routine. You don’t need to do yoga for two hours every day because it’s self care. And if you’re like me and want to do all those little hobbies - write, draw, crochet, cook, take a bath and relax - do it in increments throughout the day as this is the best time. It is a hard habit to start but you need to want it! And if you skip a day on “self care” - guess what - that is self care too!
So give yourself a high five and the credit you deserve! Pick up where you left off and start loving yourself and, more importantly, healing your soul.