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The ABC's of Self Care
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Description:
Caregivers of homeless individuals and families work tirelessly to ensure their clients’ needs are met. This can be both rewarding and draining. Tension often exists between feeling inspired by our work and feeling frustrated about the many things we cannot control. It is not unusual to feel stressed and weighed down by working with people experiencing homelessness.
Content:
To understand self-care, it is helpful to consider what it is not: Self-care is not an “emergency response plan” to be activated when stress becomes overwhelming. Self-care is not about acting selfishly (“It’s all about me!”). Self-care is not about doing more or adding more tasks to an already overwhelming “to-do” list. Healthy self-care can renew our spirits and help us become more resilient. Self-care is most effective when approached proactively, not reactively. Think of self-care as having three basic aspects: awareness, balance, and connection—the “ABC’s” of self-care.
AWARENESS: Self-care begins in stillness. By quieting our busy lives and entering into a space of solitude, we can develop an awareness of our own needs, and then act accordingly. This is the contemplative way of the desert, rather than the constant activity of the city. Too often we act first, without true understanding, then wonder why we feel more burdened than relieved.
BALANCE: Self-care is a balancing act. It includes balancing action and mindfulness. This balance guides decisions about embracing or relinquishing certain activities, behaviors, or attitudes. It informs how we give attention to the physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, and social aspects of our own being. In other words, how much time we spend working, playing, or resting. Think of this healthy prescription for balanced daily living: eight hours of work, eight hours of play, and eight hours of rest!
CONNECTION: Healthy self-care does not take place solely within oneself. It involves being connected in meaningful ways with others and to something larger. We are interdependent social beings. We grow and thrive through connections that occur in friendships, family, social groups, nature, recreational activities, spiritual practices, therapy, and a myriad of other ways. There is no formula for self-care. Each of our “self-care plans” will be unique and change over time. As we seek renewal in our lives and work, we must listen well to our own bodies, hearts, and minds as well as to trusted friends. Caregivers should rely on other adults and support systems to help meet our emotional needs so we have enough energy to support the homeless men, women, and children who are stressed.
Type of Resource:
HRC Resource
Phone:
617-467-6014
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As an occupational therapist, I am so pleased to see the issues being discussed here. OT's strive to help people achieve satisfactory lives through quality, well-balanced activities, including work, leisure and rest/rejuvenation. However, the notion that a well-balanced life must have equal parts of each category of activity is unfounded. The sense of "balance" is subjective, and each person has unique needs and opportunities. One person may need and enjoy doing more work than play, and another may need more rest than many do. We all need some of each, but the proportions vary. In addition, many activities are difficult to categorize; cooking a meal may feel like "work" to me on many days, but "leisure" when I am preparing a special meal.
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My ABC's as a chronic homeless working individual are as follows. In this order, no exceptions or compromises.
l. Provide for my safety and that of my personal belongings. My belongings are in a secure storage unit with surveillance. I do not "camp" or leave any of my personal belongings anywhere. I do not associate with homeless persons in this community, most of whom are unemployed with substance and alcohol abuse problems. I do not solicit or panhandle. I do not render to anyone any uneccessary personal information about myself or my providers. I sleep in an open well lit area, pitch my mat after dark and am gone before light and never leave a trace behind.
2. Maintain exemplary hygiene and that of my surroundings.
3. Provide for my nutrition as best as I am able.
Because focus on these issues daily without fail first before anything else I have been able to maintain employment enough so I do not have to congregate with the homeless population at soup kitchens and shelters. In the past when I have been forced to cohabitate as a single senior woman, it has been obvious that I place myself in harm's way, in this plane of reality, in this criminal state of Florida.
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