It’s International Self-Care Day on July 24, a day to recognize the importance of taking care of your mental and physical health.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to empower ourselves toward self-care more than ever. In a survey commissioned by Consumer Health Products Canada in May 2020, more than 50 per cent of Canadians are now more interested in finding ways to practise self-care at home in the COVID-19 environment.
At DIVERSEcity, self-care is a frequent topic at our Healthy Self Healthy Family (HSHF) program workshops and sessions. The innovative HSHF program has long supported mental wellness for newcomer youth and their families by way of two main strategies: coping and prevention of poor mental health with workshops and individual sessions.
“Working with DIVERSEcity RISE case specialists, we help educate clients about various mental health issues such as coping with anxiety, depression, grief and loss, anger, emotional regulation, and more,” says Parmvir Singh Boparai, a DIVERSEcity clinical counsellor who runs the program. “Since the COVID-19 pandemic is preventing the occurrences of group workshops, we have started to create psychoeducational videos on different topics of mental health to share with clients. One-to-one sessions are done remotely via phone or ZOOM.”
In this recent video on self-care, Parmvir explains self-care simply: “Self-care is any activity that we do deliberately in order to be able to take care of your mental, emotional and physical health. It’s a broad term that encompasses just about anything you do to be good to yourself. It’s about being as kind to yourself as you would be to others. It is also about knowing when your resources are running low and steeping back to replenish them rather than letting them all drain away.”
Watch the full video to learn more about strategies for self-care.