A lot of people are currently stuck at home due to COVID-19 and for some, it is a detriment to their well-being. There are ways to help cope during self-isolation such as partaking in self-care and students at Florida A&M University are ready to share their tips on maintaining themselves during this quarantine.
Option 1: Fitness
Christelle Haygood is a junior business administration student at FAMU. During this pandemic, she has been searching for new ways to take care of her mental and physical health.
During this quarantine period, Haygood started @fitness.quarantine on Instagram. She is hoping to lose weight to help with health problems and to inspire others to get active.
“Self-care is very important and in every shape or form, we all need some type of self-care,” said Haygood. “Personally it keeps me aligned day-to-day taking that special time for myself.”
Haygood says it’s about being selfish at the moment even if it takes thirty minutes to an hour. She believes that people owe that to themselves and should never feel bad for taking that time.
Xavier McClinton is a junior economics student that believes a good way to practice self-care during this time is to also find or create a routine.
McClinton shares that he is really focused on his physical fitness by working out daily, doing home workouts and running a mile or two a day. He even found that spending up to thirty minutes a day stretching has proven to be a stress reliever for him.
“Personally I’ve been practicing self-care by trying to establish a routine, and remaining
productive,” McClinton said. “I’ve tried to focus on accomplishing the goals and priorities I’ve set out for myself for the day.”
Option 2: Check-ins
Currently, social media is filled with challenges and check-ins. There are challenges that range from push-ups to music choices when on the auxiliary cord. This is how some people are staying engaged, but also keeping uplifted and sane.
In regards to physical self-care, McClinton believes that men have no issue practicing self-care by remaining active or working out and you can see that with the “check-in” posts across social media.
He believes it’s hard for men to practice self-care. He thinks that in the last 10 years there have been major improvements, but there is still room for more.
McClinton goes on to say that on the other hand men, especially black men, still have this mentality that they are “man enough” to deal with certain things on their own. This may also stem from the stigma that society can put on men as they are growing up, which can contribute to the concept of “toxic masculinity.”
Kimani Jackson is a vocal performance student and has his own thoughts on the topic.
Jackson believes men are taught to be strong and keep it moving, and sometimes while looking out for everyone else they forget to care and focus on themselves.
Check-ins and challenges can be a good start to focusing on oneself, but still getting the feel of interaction.
Option 3: Set and Accomplish Goals
“I realized this is the best time to accomplish the many goals I have set out for myself but never had the time to achieve,” Jackson said. “Prayer, meditation, content building for social media, songwriting, and also working out are some of the goals I have accomplished.”
A message from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website says “create a menu of personal self-care activities that you enjoy, such as spending time with friends and family, exercising, or reading a book.”
Jackson stated that self-care is more important now than it’s ever been because it’s very easy to find oneself lonely and fearful due to quarantine and the news. He believes that this can result in inefficiency and self-abandonment.