Self-care is any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Learning how to eat right, reduce stress, exercise regularly, and take a time-out when you need it are touchstones of self-care and can help you stay healthy, happy, and resilient.

 source https://www.studenthealth.virginia.edu/well-being/well-being-guides/taking-care-yourself

Emotional well-being is a person’s ability to accept and manage feelings through challenge and change. To develop emotional well-being, we need to build emotional skills—including positive thinking, emotional regulation and mindfulness.

“Taking care of myself means making sure that what I’m doing is healthy and enjoyable. This includes a lot of taking adequate alone time to recharge but also socializing when I want to, as well as establishing boundaries. Paying attention to what I feel when I am doing certain things and being aware of whether those interactions are negative or positive for me is crucial for my well-being.” - L.F., Class of 2022

Self-Care

Self-care is any activity that we do deliberately in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Learning how to eat right, reduce stress, exercise regularly, and take a time-out when you need it are touchstones of self-care and can help you stay healthy, happy, and resilient.

• Check in with yourself, mentally and physically. Some ways to check-in with yourself include: in-between classes finding time to reflect, journaling and meditation. You can practice mindfulness anytime, while walking, eating, or even washing laundry.
• Create a sleep hygiene routine. Try adopting a consistent bedtime, having a comfortable sleeping environment, and managing your time before bed to feel proud of the work you did accomplish. See our Healthy Sleep Guide for more information.
• Healthy phone habits/hygiene. Some ways to create healthier phone habits include: leaving your phone is a separate room or location for meals and work time, incorporating non-digital activities into your daily routine, and turning your phone on grayscale. See our Virtual Well-Being Guide for more information.

Develop a Growth Mindset

Your mindset impacts your ability to empower yourself towards success, reduce stress, and when we’re feeling good within ourselves we form better connections with others. 

• Practice makes it better. An easy place to start is with gratitude, spend 5 minutes at the end of each day reflecting on the things you’re grateful for. 
• Learn from your mistakes and failures. Practice self-compassion, find the lesson, and move forward knowing next time will be better because of what you now know. 
• Give yourself a break. You’ll be amazed at how much better you work after 10 minutes of doing nothing.

Sense of Meaning and Purpose

This is the motivation that drives you toward a satisfying future. Cultivating a sense of meaning and purpose helps you get the most from the things you do and achieve—large and small—right now.

• Reflect on academics. Take the time to reflect upon whether or not this path is the best one for you. Ask yourself: why is this important to me?
• Reflect on your involvements. Join things that you are passionate about, rather than looking for a resume booster. You only have four years, make them count. 
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