Although most people tend to think of self care as a face mask and cute headband, it can be anything. Self care is, simply put, any time one designates to cool down or let their body and mind take a break. Although for some people that can be a facemask, skincare fridge, and gua sha, for others it is much less complicated. Self care can be anything from simply taking a 30 minute nap to watching the first three seasons of The Bachelor in one weekend, it entirely depends on the person and what they like to do. 

“To me, self care is knowing you, and knowing yourself, and knowing your body. And understanding when you are starting to see signs and symptoms of a burnout, or starting to notice if your mental health is being greatly affected. Once you start to notice those things about yourself – self awareness –  self care can come in many different forms,” BHS counselor Savannah Hogue said. “I think that setting healthy boundaries for yourself is like the biggest form of self care. For me, something that I do for self care is simply saying no to things that I am uncomfortable with or things that make me feel like I’m not following my boundaries or my ethics.”

Self care is seen in the media everyday, making it seem that it happens often, when in reality, it does not. 

“I think a lot of people see self care as doing face masks and stuff like that. And, you know, if that is what makes you feel good, and that’s how you relax yourself, then do that, but that’s not just what it is. It comes in so many different forms,” Hogue said. “Anything that makes you feel good, and to help you take care of yourself. You could do face masks or something like a bath to help you wind down.”

Most people, whether it be high school students, teachers, parents, or anyone else, do not actively practice self care, or just do not realize that they do. When someone is extremely stressed, exhausted and busy, they tend to not focus on themselves or take any time to cool down. People do not set aside time to take breaks until they are already burnt out, and by that time, it is too late. 

“On a daily basis, just being mindful, like checking in with yourself and where you are at. If you are starting to feel overwhelmed, think about what type of things you could do today in order to make yourself feel good,” Hogue said. “Whether that be getting your homework done right after school so you give yourself time to relax in the evening, or do you need to spend time with your friends or family? Just different things to make yourself feel good.”

Students are constantly trying to push themselves and burning out because of it. Students are constantly seen experiencing “gifted kid burnout,” meaning that they are or were a talented student, but have experienced burnout due to how far their parents, peers, teachers or even, they, themselves have pushed them, without a break. Parents and teachers need to be more mindful of how far they push their child or students. Students need to be encouraged to give it their all, without burning themselves out. 

“In my opinion self care is going to be very important. If you are not doing self care, you are not going to be able to do school work or anything you are wanting and needing to do, because you are basically going to be in a negative space. You are not going to be performing at your best. So, I think self care is going to be more important [than stressing yourself out over school work],” Hogue said. 

Self care is just as important as getting homework done, if not more. That is not to say to stop doing homework, it just means that taking time to fully take care of oneself – mentally, not physically – is a good thing. Setting aside time everyday, or even just a couple times a week, is key to living life to the fullest and being as successful as possible. 

“Self care is vitally important. Self care impacts your mental health. It impacts how you live your day, everyday. If you’re not doing things to take care of yourself, you’re not going to be living your best life,” Hogue said.