Self care and the body
No matter what you do, one could always take “better” care of themselves. Whether it is being a first responder, veteran, or everyday person, people can experience trauma in so many different ways. Taking care of yourself not only physically, but mentally, can be the difference in your life. It is such an important thing that so many people just simply look over.
Self care was never something I thought too much about, but this class has really opened my eyes to trauma and how it can affect me. Especially with my profession, it is definitely something I need to look into more. As the semester has gone on, I realized that my way of caring for myself was to workout, which a lot of people do. The only issue for me though is actually getting to the gym as it takes some time. If I had any built up anger from something I would usually run it out or lift it out. When I put those headphones on and listen to my playlist, I am really in my own world. I focus on nothing else but bettering myself and at the end of my workout I feel better than I did before I went to the gym. I try to go to the gym as much as possible, but sometimes I am not able to make it there. I try to go everyday I can but when I found myself unable to, my day just felt different. I felt almost mentally tired as the day went on. Working out was kind of my way of getting ready for the day and being prepared to take it on. Luckily, the semester has given me more avenues and taught me that working out isn’t the only thing I can do.
Yoga has been a huge topic this semester. Personally, it is not something that really interests me that much, but it is really good to know about all the benefits yoga has. The thing with yoga is that you can do it virtually anywhere. Whether if thats in a studio at your gym or even your bedroom, it does not really matter. I always see people doing it at the beach during the summer and in parks. Even doing certain aspects of yoga, like breathing techniques and meditation have great results when talking about self care. Self care isnt just physical, it has a lot to do with being in the right mental state as well. If you are constantly stressed or annoyed when working, you cannot preform you duties to the best of your ability and your production decreases. Keeping yourself in the best mental shape should go hand in hand with keeping yourself in the best physical shape as well. When it comes to yoga, I do eventually see myself trying it but for now, I am going to stick with my normal routine of working out.
People in every aspect deal with their own problems. You never know what someone has gone through and it is important to know this, especially if you are going to join the profession of law enforcement.
I think it is so important to find just one thing that can benefit you mentally. Even if you dont feel as if you need to do something to better your mental health, I say just try it. Whether its cleaning, listening to music, working out, going out for a walk, run, bike ride, etc, I think it is so important to find something that can more or less be your escape.