What One Year of Quarantine Taught Us About Self-Care

March 2020 was the month that marked a complete 180 turn in every American’s lives (along with everyone around the globe). Now one year later, for better or for worse, we have all learned a thing or two about how to better care for ourselves in totally new ways. Some of the most important lessons we learned were how to better care for our mental health through self-care routines. We realized that contrary to what we believed self-care to be, it turns out to be some of the least glamorous things we may have to do in our day.

Self-Care: Creating a Life of Confidence and Safety

Self-care was never about the face masks, lavish vacations, or other ways of treating ourselves. When a widespread virus has put our health into primary focus, we learned we had to pay attention to both our physical and mental health. We found innovative ways to care for ourselves through the limitations of COVID life. Every day, we continue to learn how to better care for ourselves through these often exhausting, challenging times.

Need some more ideas of tools to add to your self-care toolbox? Here are some of the biggest self-care takeaways from the past year.

• Time to Disconnect: Sometimes, the outside world can feel too overwhelming, so take the time to unplug and recharge with quality time with yourself or others. Whether it’s nature walks, roller skating at the park, cooking a good meal with your loved ones, or playing a favorite board game, permitting yourself to forget the stresses of life will help take the load off.

• Healthy Boundaries: With working from home commonplace, setting up the necessary boundaries away from work is essential to eliminate home and work-life feeling like one big jumble. Learning to separate the two is vital. When putting up boundaries with work, reevaluate the other boundaries in place in your life. Are there any toxic relationships with friends or families taking space and affecting your mental health? Maybe you need to draw a line in the sand with these relationships, too.

• Accessing the Help You Need: Whether it’s a 12-Step Program, therapy, or a doctor’s appointment, getting your needs met for your health challenges doesn’t have to wait. Make use of telehealth technology and available online support groups.

• Smart Budgeting: With millions of Americans unemployed or furloughed due to the pandemic, people’s finances don’t look like they used to. Learning to budget and be thrifty wherever you can help ensure that you can feel more secure financially.

• Learn Something New: Choose to pick up a new hobby, from painting to jewelry making to crocheting and everything in between. Something that helps you to destress and relax will give you something to look forward to and will do your restless mind a favor.

Self-care is about creating the necessary boundaries in our lives and giving enough attention to our needs for us to thrive. Finding the right balance for you is essential to supporting your physical and mental health during stressful times. Avalon Malibu is one of California’s only certified primary mental health treatment facilities and can help give you the tools you need to overcome mental health challenges. At Avalon, we offer an integrated approach that blends holistic and clinical therapies to set you up for treatment success. Call us today at (844) 857-5992 to find out how we can help you get back to living your best, most vibrant life.