self-care
As a society we are often taught to constantly go-go-go. America’s working class is said to be the “backbone of the economy”, it is the land of success and opportunity (“5 traits of America’s working class – CBS News”, n.d.). A working mindset is almost handed over to us at a young age to adopt and apply to our individual lives so that we are motivated to fit into the common mold and path of school, careers, family, and retirement.
Personally, being related to and knowing such successful individuals, it is not a rare feeling that you should constantly be working towards your future. We may be taught to associate free time with laziness and negativity, however, that is not the case. I say lightheartedly, that I am convinced my dad is not capable of sitting down and doing “nothing”. It is extremely hard for him to relax because of how he was raised and also the generation he was born into. My dad was born in the 1960s so as many of us know, identifying and/or managing stress, anxiety, depression, and many more related mental health disorders were not talked about or treated like they are today. Thankfully, I was taught how important it is to take the necessary time off to self soothe and re-energize so that you can put forth your best work and attitude utilizing your healthy mental and physical energy. I find it beneficial to dissociate and know when it is time to put a topic to rest for the night. After a stressful day I have a couple of things that help me re-coupe, for one, I love having face masks and calming essential oil scents to choose from. Also taking a hot shower and changing into something comfy always helps set a relaxing tone for the rest of the day or evening. I do find it useful, if something continues to linger in my conscious, to vent a little bit to a loved one but I do not always need a response in return so sometimes just having someone listening to my day is all I need.
This working mindset is related to the uprising of mental health disorders in the United States. It is said that, “Nearly 1 in 5 US adults aged 18 or older (18.3% or 44.7 million people) reported any mental illness in 2016.2 In addition, 71% of adults reported at least one symptom of stress, such as a headache or feeling overwhelmed or anxious.” (“Mental Health in the Workplace”, n.d.). Especially for those working in trauma or the criminal justice field, it is so important to practice self care, not only for oneself but for those they work with. Preaching and teaching practices to inmates or trauma patients requires compassion, understanding, self inquiry, and knowing personally what works for you may be useful information that you can tie into your practices.
As previously taught, in Dani Harris and Danielle Rousseau’s “Yoga and Resilience: Understanding Sexual Trauma” trauma resides in the body. Practicing yoga and movement can be greatly beneficial in reconnecting with your body, however, because the “stress response is a biologically derived reaction to a life-threatening event. With trauma, survivors can become stuck in the stress response, reacting even when they are not currently in threat of danger. Survivors may have stress reactions to everyday events and experiences. Further, reenactment and re-experiencing trauma can occur at any point, even during what may seem to be an otherwise ordinary and non-threatening circumstance.” As stated before, everyone deals and reacts differently but yoga, mediation, and mindfulness is known to be especially helpful with alleviating stress, anxiety, and other related symptoms, for those who have experienced sexual traumas and leads to significant potential for resilience. This practice is used to “ease the somatic and emotional toll that many survivors pay as a result of their trauma.” Additionally found extremely beneficial is deep breathing, which often coincides with the practices done in yoga. Deep breathing quite literally sends signals to your nervous system telling it to calm down.
5 traits of America’s working class – CBS News. Retrieved December 13, 2021, from https://www.cbsnews.com/media/5-traits-of-americas-working-class/
Mental Health in the Workplace. Retrieved December 13, 2021, from https://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/tools-resources/workplace-health/mental-health/index.html
Harris, D., & Rousseau, D. (2020). Understanding Sexual Trauma. In Yoga and Resilience: Empowering Practices for Survivors of Sexual Trauma. Handspring Publishing.