Self Care. What a buzz word these days. 

The National Institute of Mental Health (2020) defines self care as “taking the time to do things that help you live well and improve both your physical health and mental health.”

But to me that doesn’t really give us a direction for our self care. What does self care mean? 

With COVID especially there has been a shift and A LOT of talk about self care. It’s no surprise that when we are dealing with hard things we NEED to take care of ourselves. In speaking with one of my closest friends last week about what I am going through she mentioned that “we have to have heightened self care when things are tough.” 

Failure and rejection are tough. 

But at the same time I feel like we’ve morphed self care into many activities,  “acts of love” and pampering that aren’t actually taking care of ourselves. Great example, pouring yourself a glass of wine or making yourself...

Here we are in 2022 and still facing a global pandemic. I believe that we are disconnected now more than ever. The hard part is in many ways we have to be. With new COVID variants still arising, the health of SO many people is such an issue. But this makes life really difficult because we are not meant to be isolated. By nature, we are social creatures. 

Even for those of us that live alone, social interaction is imperative for our health. 

In some ways COVID has forced us to get creative with our social interaction and thank god for technology and the ability to see people via computer and phones. For me personally COVID has actually enhanced some of my relationships. In the early months of COVID a small group of 5 of my closest friends decided to create a text thread that has been monumental in my ability to cope. In many ways COVID contributed towards our group getting closer and deeper than we ever have. This forced us to be more vulnerable, authentic and compassionate...

We’re coming up on 7 months of this new normal. Since the cancellation of collegiate spring sports and various "Bubble" scenarios for pro leagues the Athletic Community is very much still navigating this new normal. 

We have already seen collegiate sports cut, budgets deflated and resources going towards a LOT of testing. Athletic staff's have restructured weight rooms and worked tirelessly to make sure that facilities are set up to maintain standards and protocols that put student athlete safety first. As if there were not already a plethora of demands placed on college athletes, having to maneuver through a season and the normal day to day among the COVID crisis is definitely an added task. 

There’s a lot to navigate here. 

Take COVID away and regular student athlete life is challenging enough. Time to simply get everything done academically, athletically, and socially is strained. There’s the added piece of...