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Replenishing Our Pitcher: A Look at Self-Care

Katelyn Lee, Counseling Center Staff

Self-care has become one of the newest wellness-related buzz words, and yet, is still a concept that is widely misunderstood. It’s vital to have a good grasp on how to care for yourself, but also to encourage and model this behavior for others in our world.

Self-care is traditionally thought of as doing something nice, like treating yourself to a favorite fancy coffee drink or getting a manicure. Although these can certainly be elements of self-care, the concept is much broader and complex than this. Self-care is also about setting boundaries to keep yourself well and protected. It’s also essential to remember that self-care can look very different person to person, based on your individual needs.

The easiest way to break down the complexity of self-care is to look at it within the context of the domains of wellness: physical, emotional, spiritual, social, financial, occupational, intellectual, and environmental. Example: In regard to physical health, are you eating well? Are you exercising? Are you engaging in preventative medicine with your doctors? Do you get enough sleep? If you answered no to any of these questions, this would be a good area to start with in regard to improving your self-care regimen.

One of the best analogies for self-care is treating yourself as though you are a pitcher of water. You are constantly pouring out from your pitcher into the areas of life that are important to you: coursework, relationships, student activities, jobs, hobbies, etc. But what are doing to replenish yourself to ensure you can keep pouring out? Are you connecting enough socially? Or perhaps too much? Do you have the tendency to overcommit that leaves you feeling drained? How can you simplify your life? Are you able to say “no” when needed?

As a student, how can you weave self-care into routines to create overall wellness?  It’s important to take care of yourself to keep physically well and feeling balanced. To get started, implement one new self-care activity per week, to refill your pitcher, such as:

• Get SUPPORT from your friends and family when you’re feeling stressed.
• Make SLEEP a priority (6-8 hours per night).  Insufficient sleep can impact your health, mood, GPA and safety.
• EAT healthy & balanced meals and don’t skip meals.
• EXERCISE for not only your body but for your brain too.
• PARTICIPATE in activities with friends on a regular basis, don’t skip (go even when you don’t feel like it).
• RELAX by listening to music, reading a book, taking a walk or bike ride or watching a movie.
• JOURNAL to express your feelings and thoughts to gain new perspectives.
• VISIT a new place like a local museum. In Rochester visit The George Eastman Museum, Memorial Art Gallery, Susan B. Anthony Museum & House, The Strong Museum of Play and Artisanworks – just to name a few!
• Be SPIRITUALLY engaged and take time to pray, keep a prayer journal and worship.

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