Juggling academics, work, extracurriculars, events and other activities often leave college students overworked, overstressed and overwhelmed. With little downtime to call their own, students are putting their physical, emotional, and mental health at greater risk. Especially in social and campus climates that are actively oppressing and disadvantaging minority students of different races, sexualities and genders, self-care is incredibly important when everything in your daily life just becomes too much. Burnout is a real and exhausting result of non-stop strain on the mind, body and soul.

What is self-care?

Contrary to popular belief, self-care is not limited to the fancy, candle-lit bubble bath or the afternoon massage visit.

Lovely, but not exactly the most practical.

Self-care, at its most basic definition, is any self-initiated action aimed to remedy and improve your overall well-being in one or more aspects of their lives. This includes physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health and can involve personal and professional sectors of your daily life. Dedicating time to self-care can often be difficult and understanding what you need for a particular situation can offer its challenges. Helping yourself can be as simple or as complex of an action as an individual wants or needs. There is no specific standard or expectation for self-care. As long as the activity is comforting, relaxing, de-stressing, healthy and uplifting for you, then it's entirely valid. Finding a balance between work, play, and self-care is key.

Why practice self-care?

Not only is it important to not subject your body and mind to over-exertion for the sake of avoiding illness and burnout, but it is also important to allow yourself reprieve in the face of emotional trauma, institutionalized violence, mental illness, abuse, etc. so you can better cope with and heal their effects. Self-care is supposed to work alongside and supplement proper medication and therapy for those who receive it.

There are many elements to self-care that may be unbeknownst to many.

And let's be frank, everyone needs a break. It's not easy allowing yourself this time, especially in the face of daunting academic expectations and necessity for social justice activism. The desire to do it all and constantly act are tough to maintain. But compromising any aspect of your health for any length of time can be incredibly damaging. That's why figuring out a balance, understanding your limits, and practicing self-forgiveness are so important.

Self-care should not produce guilt for potential loss, but rather an understanding of what can be gained as a result.

Burying your face in books and churning out assignments all day without a break is a sure way to burn out.

How do you do self-care?

As a sort of guiding framework for figuring out the self-care practices that work for you, it's important to consider the following 10 Steps to Self-Care:

1. If it feels wrong, don’t do it.
2. Say "exactly” what you mean.
3. Don’t be a people pleaser.
4. Trust your instincts.
5. Never speak badly about yourself.
6. Never give up on your dreams.
7. Don’t be afraid to say “no.”
8. Don’t be afraid to say “yes.”
9. Resist the need to always have control.
10. Stay away from drama and negativity -- as much as possible.

Self-care activities range from watching Netflix, to talking walks, to organizing your space, to even taking a shower. They can involve opening up a comfort box, enjoying some comfort food, or making a bullet journal to get organized. Self-care can also be a time for self-reflection, telling yourself you are amazing and you deserve good things, and practicing meditation.

Even catching up on sleep can be a rejuvenating self-care activity.

What's important is figuring out what works for you. Some may relax by watching this Kitten Cam from Animal Planet, but others may not enjoy cats due to allergies or phobias. Self-care is not a "one size fits all" sort of deal. Additional suggestions and recommendations can be found at these three links.

The takeaway?

Enjoy yourself, love yourself and forgive yourself. Self-care is a way to balance your life in a way that suits your wants and needs. In an ever-growing stressful world, taking care of yourself has never been more important.