Self Care

Dearest Arlington Families,

I hope this finds you dancing to your families' favourite dance-off songs . After you finish rehydrating from your frenetic boogie for long enough to read this, I wanted to remind everyone about the Self-Care day planned for this Friday. 

If you haven’t heard already, yes, the school will be closed and you are relatively free to do what you want with your time. Self care is probably the greatest gift we can ever give ourselves right now. Role modelling this is so important with your young ones. The more love and attention you can show to yourself, the greater the benefits. Its cumulative. It gives you more resilience. Yes to Self-Care, and Self-Care Friday!… now what will you do with your time? If you happen to be looking for ways to constructively utilise this time from a wellbeing perspective, there are some foundational aspects which you will greatly benefit balancing across some all important yet different dimensions including:  physical exercise, nature time, nutrition, sleep, human connection, creative expression, joyful activities and reflection. Work out how you can engage with as many of these as possible. If you need any assistance with working out how to do this, please let me know and I can redirect you to helpful resources. You need to do these things for you though, nobody else. Do what YOU want - don’t take my advice. Listen to YOU. YOU are the most important person in the world. Only YOU can really understand your own body, emotion, mind and spirit. Only YOU know what music you want to dance to. Only YOU can really know when you need a break. Listen to YOU and make sure you are communicating these wants and needs to those around you - ie: your family. The more people you have on your side, the more you will feel supported and a sense of belonging. 

As such, your family are likely a great source of connection for you right now. Let your family know what you need in the most respectful way possible. Everybody will benefit from clear communication, whether this be verbally, written in a letter or through an interpretive dance. However you choose to do it, connect! 

We are all pretty much over screens. They are constantly emitting light which is a drain as our faculties are constantly processing, which is why breaks are so important. Despite this drawback, they still serve a great purpose at this time. Engaging with screens as a tool for connection is one of these helpful purposes. Set boundaries with your screen time, there are many ways to do this: https://www.integrativenutrition.com/blog/how-to-create-sustain-meaningful-virtual-connectionshttps://worldhappiness.report/ed/2021/social-connection-and-well-being-during-covid-19/Studies have shown that despite the fatigue that online connection brings us, it is still overwhelmingly more important to connect over a screen rather than to be lonely without one. Your friends miss you. Find your favourite online activity and enjoy it with people - peopleareawesome on YouTube is one of my go to’s. I won’t attempt to go into everything - please see all my previous emails if you need more suggestions - but the greatest thing I could encourage you to do right now is to engage with a reflective practice. Something that makes you stop and think and consider and brainstorm possibilities and hypothesise actions - all for your benefit. What has life been like for you recently? How could things be better within my current boundaries? What do I need to do to make that happen? What is the first step? Is that step realistic? How could I break that down? How will I hold myself accountable? Who could I get to help me with this? How will I reward myself for beginning this process? Just 10 mins to answer these questions may be the start of a whole new paradigm for you. This website is also awesome: https://reframe.thnk.org/tool/step/1/Please contact me if you need anything :) 

Alright, well your dancing has inspired me to unapologetically get down to some funky beats so I will leave it at that. 

Wishing you all the best for your Self-Care Friday Amir and Charlie :)