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This was shared with me from a MBSR (mindfulness based stress reduction) class. For anyone who would like additional mindfulness exercises.

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The UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness has prepared a number of practices that are now available on SoundCloud.

Short Mindfulness & Compassion Meditations

Seated Meditations

Compassion & Loving - Kindness Meditations

mPEAK

Body Scan

Mindful Movement (Audio)

These gentle postures are to be moved through with attention to body sensation and your personal limitations. The audio guidance provided by Lois Howland most closely follows the sequence of original postures found in Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Mindful Movement on SoundCloud
35-Min Mindful Movement by Deborah Rana

40-Min Mindful Movement Standing Posture s by Livia Walsh

40-Min Floor Yoga (Yoga en el Piso) by Zayda Vallejo

42-Min Standing Yoga (Yoga de Pie) by Zayda Vallejo

45-Min Mindful Movement Standing Postures by Lois Howland

45-Min Mindful Movement Lying Down Postures by Lois Howland

Audio 1 guided by Dr. Lynn Rossy (48:09)

Audio 2 guided by Dr. Lynn Rossy (52:03)

Support Our Programs

Contribute to our scholarship fund so that we may continue to offer mindfulness to those who can benefit the most, but afford it the least.

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The UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness has prepared a number of practices that are now available on SoundCloud. Short Mindfulness & Compassion Meditations Seated Meditations Compassion & Loving - Kindness Meditations mPEAK Body Scan Mindful Movement (Audio) These gentle postures are to be moved through with attention to body sensation and your personal limitations.

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CAPC "Emotional PPE resources for resiliency and team health"

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CAPC "Emotional PPE resources for resiliency and team health"

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I got an email this morning from CAPC (center to advance palliative care) with some resources for resiliency as we move through this pandemic. They also have a few virtual events coming up that are open to non-members!

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COVID-19 and Emotional PPE | COVID-19 Response Resources Hub

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Emotional PPE includes resources for improving team health and tools to help clinicians cope with moral distress, grief, and trauma. Learn more from the COVID-19 Response Resources Hub.

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I came across this worksheet and I appreciate how it categorizes different aspects of emotional needs we may have. It has helped me reflect and figure out what areas I may need support in the moment. Hope you may find this useful as well.

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From our friends at Evergreen Hospice!

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On particularly stressful days, I try and take a break mid-day where I lay down (to give my neck a rest) and listen to a poem from this podcast.  It helps me to get out of my swirl of thoughts and relax into another way of being.

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Pursuing deep thinking and moral imagination, social courage and joy, to renew inner life, outer life, and life together. A nonprofit media and public life initiative.

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This tool helps me to prioritize my time. For example, I decided after my heart attack that I would not do email in the evenings any more. I get up early when I have something due, but I reserve my weeknights for myself and my family.

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Pod Mapping Worksheet (BATJC, Mia Mingus)

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Pod Mapping Worksheet (BATJC, Mia Mingus)

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Mutual Aid Tools for COVID (Ejeris Dixon)

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Mutual Aid Tools for COVID (Ejeris Dixon)

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Ejeris Dixon on How We Can Use Tools of Mutual Aid to Manage the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ejeris Dixon is the co-editor of Stories and Strategies from the Transformative Justice Movement.

Resources
Pod Mapping worksheet and instructions Half Assed Disabled Prepper's Tips for Preparing for a Coronavirus Quarantine More from our Forward Thinking on Covid-19 Series
Transcript

Hi everyone, I'm Ejeris Dixon, and I'm the co-editor of Stories and Strategies from the Transformative Justice Movement, and under the age and in the midst of this global pandemic around coronavirus, a lot of people are thinking about how do we use tools of mutual aid, which really connects to the work that we've been doing around how do communities stay safe together. So how are we going to take care of each other around what is happening? We know we're in the midst of a government failure. We know that the odds are that we're going to have to support each other to get food, to get to the doctor, or to check on each other.

There are two resources I wanted you all to know about. There is one that's called Pod Mapping for Mutual Aid, and it's an adaptation of a resource that is in the book that we just put out around pod mapping. And the idea is around defining who your relationships are and asking those people how you can support each other through those times. Then, there's a whole outer layer, when you look at the tool, that will actually look at organizations that can be supportive.

I would also love to shout out a tool kit that my co-editor, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha wrote around a Half Assed Disabled Prepper's Guide to Surviving the Coronavirus quarantine. And it talks about a whole bunch of ways that you can not only prepare your household, prepare yourself, but take care of the people around you. We're the ones who are going to take care of each other to survive these times. We won't be able to survive these times alone. So, I really hope that you look at these resources and think about how will you support your neighbors, how will you support your loved ones and start having those conversations now.

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Ejeris Dixon is the co-editor of Stories and Strategies from the Transformative Justice Movement.

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Students Disrupted by COVID- 5 Motivating Tips (U Mich blog)

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Students Disrupted by COVID- 5 Motivating Tips (U Mich blog)

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The times are strange, but you only need to handle right now.
By Holly Derry, Molly Maher, Caroline Carter, Behavioral Science Team
Your life has simultaneously been turned upside and gone very quiet in a matter of days. Social distancing and lack of toilet paper are new for everyone, and none of us has it all figured out yet. It's normal for all this change to lead to distraction and demotivation.

Even when things feel out of control, there might be a few things you can control to make it better. The key is to find your own best way to handle the Right Now. The rest will come when it comes.

Download our study guide: Adjusting Your Study Habits During COVID

These aren't the only way to escape a cycle of all-nighters on Animal Crossing and avoiding homework, but they are here for you to try. Even if these don't feel right for you, please try something. Your future self will love you for whatever small steps you can take.

Five ways to find (at least some) motivation

1. Remind yourself why you care.
The same drive and purpose you've always had are still inside you, even if school doesn't feel as important right now.
First, think about your why ... why you are in school, why you care about your actions.

Think of the major or careers in which you're interested. How does the school work you're doing now help you make progress toward your career goals?

Think of what you value about yourself. Maybe you are creative, patient, detailed, the organizer of social gatherings, or comfortable working independently. How does this relate to how you want to act during this remote school period?

Now ... imagine the future two months from now. This might sound like something you don't want to do, but please try. Pretty please.

In the first scenario, you haven't structured your time. You don't watch lectures or study much. You instead decide to scrape by for the rest of the semester.

While it might be uncomfortable, think about what you of two months from now might be thinking.

Does this line up with your why?

How do you feel about this version of yourself?

What are your grades?

What are your best days?

What are your worst days?

In the second scenario, picture the opposite. Imagine you DO have a schedule. You keep up on your assignments, try hard most days, and learn as much as you can.

Now ask yourself again:

Does this line up with your why?

How do you feel about this version of yourself?

What are your grades?

What are your best days?

What are your worst days?

Spend significant time reflecting on what you feel in the second scenario. Do you feel proud? In control? Strong? Relieved? Hold onto these feelings. Consider writing them down. If you find yourself saying, "meh, why should I bother?" find this feeling again. Let these feelings be your motivation.

2. Set small daily goals.
Goals give us direction. They're best when they're concrete and achievable. Aim for five daily to-dos.
Start by writing a list of things you would like to do this week, in each area of your life:

What is essential for each class?

What about your self-care would feel good this week, like healthy eating, exercising, and sleep habits?

How can you stay connected with friends and family?

How will you unplug and relax?

The list you made for the week is probably pretty big. Let's make it smaller:

Using what you did above, pick no more than five things you want to focus on each day.

Make sure at least one is personal and not for school.

If any tasks are too big to do in a couple of hours, break them down into one or two steps.

If you only get four done, celebrate anyway! Especially if you feel more productive and motivated than last week.

Adjust your list for the next day each night before bed, so you wake up with an achievable plan.

3. Pair your work with something fun and interesting (ish).
Sometimes the things you have to do just aren't fun ... but there might be ways for you to make them slightly more interesting.

Set the scene for your work. Pick a comfy spot, light a candle, play a song you love.

Prepare a treat you only have while you read, like tea or hot chocolate.

Make a video call spot with a comfy chair, a pleasing backdrop.

Ask a friend to be a study buddy so you can talk through assignments or check in on progress.

4. Think about how you can go on autopilot.
Building up habits is easier when you don't have to decide to do them over and over (and over) again.
You probably have more flexible time than ever, but that also means you have to keep choosing schoolwork over and over again. Meanwhile, you might feel like you have to say "no" over and over again to things you'd rather be doing. Exhausting, right?

Get out of that cycle by setting yourself to autopilot. Make it more automatic to choose what you need to do and easier to say no to temptations.

Here are some ideas:

Set a time trigger: Pick a daily or weekly signal that it's time for a specific task. Do one school to-do list item over breakfast every day. Set Tuesday morning as a time for lecture videos and readings for your hardest class. Write for an hour after lunch every day.

Control your environment: Look around and get rid of temptations as much as possible. For example, make it easy to say no to the TV by unplugging it. Choose a desk or kitchen chair to avoid a nap interrupting you five minutes into your homework. Close a door to signal to others that you're busy.

Phone-free hour: We know how easy it is to scroll your feed while also on Zoom. Put your phone in the other room, even if for only an hour of studying at a time.

5. Remember to take a breath.
Sometimes taking a break and coming back to something helps you face it more easily. Maybe you need a few days to just take care of yourself.
Here are a few related ideas:

Release any guilt for not being productive. Take each day as a chance to start fresh.

Look for the bright spots where you can find them - strangers helping one another; instructors checking in on students; communities pulling together.

Consider what limits you might want to set on how much you watch the news or read stories about coronavirus.

Reach out for support if you're struggling (see "extra help" below). And when you're ready, make a plan and keep moving forward. We will all get through this together.

When it's time for extra help

For U-M students

For everyone

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Are you a student disrupted by coronavirus and feeling unmotivated? We have five ideas

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Coronavirus have forced schools to close, transition education online and students to adjust. If you're a student struggling with this new normal, here are some strategies you can use to handle the stressors, pressure and maintain your success.

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Using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy to Assist Individuals Facing Oppression (Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy)

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Using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy to Assist Individuals Facing Oppression (Society for the Advancement of Psychotherapy)

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Many individuals in the U.S. experience oppression on the basis of their racial and/or ethnic identity, immigration status, socioeconomic status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religious identity, language, etc. (Benner & Wang, 2014; Corbett & Hill, 2012; Maira, 2004; Unks, 1995; M. S. Williams, 2000). Further, many individuals hold multiple marginalized identities that intersect and influence how they experience oppression (Crenshaw, 1991) . With current governmental policies (Goodman, Shaikh, & Rivas, 2018), greater visibility of discrimination on social media and news outlets (Robbins, 2018), and an increase in hate crimes reported since the 2016 U.S. presidential election (FBI, 2016), members of marginalized groups may be experiencing heightened mental symptoms (American Psychological Association, 2017; Belluz, 2017). While the ultimate prevention and intervention strategies for marginalization and oppression in the U.S. need to be at the structural and systemic levels and delivered via governmental policies and laws, there is also the need to think about and utilize tools that may help individuals to cope within the context of ongoing oppression.

Evidence-based psychological treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) have demonstrated efficacy and effectiveness in decreasing mental health symptoms including depression, anxiety, trauma, and substance use (Celano, NeMoyer, Stagg, & Scott, 2018; Ramos, Erkanli, & Koenig, 2018; Shein‐Szydlo et al., 2016; Weaver & Himle, 2017; Windsor, Jemal, & Alessi, 2015). However, most therapists trained in CBT may have limited experience with delivering CBT well when the antecedent of the mental symptoms are linked to experiences of marginalization and oppression (M. T. Williams, 2013). In addition, some of the key strategies and core assumptions of how mental health symptoms are sustained may be problematic when the antecedents are experiences of marginalization. Nonetheless, CBT can be beneficial in empowering individuals in coping with marginalization and oppression by keeping the following 5 suggestions in mind.

1. Enhance Awareness Of How Marginalization, Oppression, And Discrimination Impact Thoughts, Feelings, And Behaviors

Experiences of marginalization can negatively impact a person's feelings (e.g. sadness, anger, feeling jumpy), thoughts (e.g. thinking negative about oneself), and behaviors (e.g. turning to alcohol or drugs to numb the emotion) (Dale & Merren, 2018). One of the tools of CBT is assisting a client in learning that there are three components of every emotion experience and that these three components are all connected and influence each other (Barlow et al., 2017). Enhancing an individual's awareness of how marginalizing/oppressive experiences impact their internal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can be beneficial.

2. Enhance Awareness Of Antecedents, Behaviors, And Consequences

Another CBT tool that can assist an individual in reflecting on and coping with marginalized experiences are the ABCs, with A= Antecedents, B=Behaviors, and C= Consequences (Barlow et al., 2017). Antecedents are the situations that precede or trigger your emotions and behavioral reactions. Behaviors are the reactions (inclusive of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors) you may have. Assisting an individual in tracking their ABCs, may provide insight into common antecedents that occur before they have certain thoughts, feelings, behaviors, as well as the resulting personal consequence following certain behaviors. Ultimately, for a client paying attention to their ABCs is about learning to see common antecedents, observing their own thoughts and feelings, and ultimately choosing the desired behavior for them that best aligns with the consequence they desire.

3. Do Not Pathologize Thoughts And Behaviors That May Be Normative In Response To Oppression And Marginalization

Given supporting theories and research (Clark & Beck, 1999), it is common for CBT therapists to be of the mind frame that a client's unhelpful thoughts (e.g. the world is dangerous) and behaviors are what drives the mental symptoms (e.g. depression, anxiety) and to place effort into helping clients to change these unhelpful thoughts. One method is to teach clients to ask themselves certain questions (e.g. Is their evidence for this belief or fear?) (Barlow et al., 2017) when they are having an unhelpful thought. The hope is that the client's responses to these questions will help the client to dismiss the unhelpful thought or change it to something more adaptive. However, when a person's symptoms and thoughts (e.g. the world is dangerous, people are evil) are in response to marginalization, labeling these thoughts as unhelpful and/or asking certain questions can be further marginalizing, dismissive, and inaccurate (i.e. the world can be dangerous for marginalized groups). Instead, a therapist will need to acknowledge and link these thoughts to the experiences of marginalization.

Further, a therapist can assist a person in expanding their thought in a way that may decrease negative emotions linked to the thought (e.g. world is dangerous, but my community will continue to fight to survive) as well as pull on an individual's strengths by asking other questions from CBT (Barlow et al., 2017) such as If ______ happened, could I handle it?, How would I cope with it?, and In the past how have I coped with it? A therapist may also encourage empowering thoughts (Dale, Pierre-Louis, Bogart, O'Cleirigh, & Safren, 2018) that have been noted in research among marginalized groups such as "I have the power within me" [oppression attempts to disempower individuals but they are inherently powerful] and "I am not to blame" [person or institution that perpetrated the oppression is at fault].

4. Review And Enhance The Use Of Distress Tolerance Tools

Distress tolerance tools such as self-soothing and distraction activities are taught in a particular type of CBT, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (Linehan, 2014), and may be helpful to clients coping with marginalization as they try to bring down their distress and cope with difficult situations. Self-soothing activities include those that utilize vision (e.g. looking at the trees), hearing (listening to music), touch (e.g. taking a bath), smell (e.g. smelling a fragrance), and/or taste (e.g. have a favorite treat). Distracting activities are those done to temporarily shift one's cognitive and emotional focus onto something else such as playing a game, helping a friend or family with a task, watching a funny movie, counting to 100, and singing the words to a song.

5. Elicit From The Client And Discuss Culturally Congruent Coping

Elicit from the client and encourage behaviors that may be beneficial and culturally congruent as they cope with marginalization. These may include seeking support from similar peers, engaging in activities that celebrate and enhance pride in one's marginalized identities, and exploring avenues for activism and advocacy.

6. Strongly Encourage Engagement In Regular Self-care Activities Elicited From The Client

CBT therapist should also actively encourage self-care/enjoyable activities irrespective of what symptoms are being targeted/treated in therapy (Dale & Safren, 2018). If we use the analogy of a cellphone, experiences of marginalization and oppression drains a person's battery, and engaging in activities to care for oneself and experience joy, may help to replenish and recharge one's battery. In encouraging self-care the therapist should elicit enjoyable activities directly from the client and be mindful not to suggest activities that may not be feasible or accessible for the client.

Cite This Article

Dale, S. K & Saunders, S. (2018, September). Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy approaches in assisting individuals coping with marginalization, oppression, and discrimination. [Web article]. Retrieved from http://www.societyforpsychotherapy.org/using-cognitive-behavioral-therapy-to-assist-individuals-facing-oppression

References

American Psychological Association. (2017, November 1). Stress in America TM: THe State of Our Nation. Retrieved July 17, 2018, from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/index.aspx

American Psychological Association. (2017, February 15). Many Americans Stressed about Future of Our Nation, New APA Stress in America TM Survey Reveals. Retrieved July 17, 2018, from http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2017/02/stressed-nation.aspx

Barlow, D. H., Farchione, T. J., Sauer-Zavala, S., Latin, H. M., Ellard, K. K., Bullis, J. R., ... Cassiello-Robbins, C. (2017). Unified Protocol for Transdiagnostic Treatment of Emotional Disorders: Therapist Guide. Oxford University Press.

Belluz, J. (2017, June 8). Study: the wave of hostility under Trump is going to make us sick. Retrieved July 17, 2018, from https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/6/7/15753760/trump-racism-america-sickness-2016-election

Benner, A. D., & Wang, Y. (2014). Demographic Marginalization, Social Integration, and Adolescents' Educational Success. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(10), 1611-1627. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0151-6

Celano, M., NeMoyer, A., Stagg, A., & Scott, N. (2018). Predictors of Treatment Completion for Families Referred to Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy After Child Abuse. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 31(3), 454-459. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22287

Clark, D. A., & Beck, A. T. (1999). Scientific Foundations of Cognitive Theory and Therapy of Depression. John Wiley & Sons.

Corbett, C., & Hill, C. (2012). Graduating to a Pay Gap: The Earnings of Women and Men One Year after College Graduation. Washington, DC, US: American Association of University Women. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED536572

Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241-1299. https://doi.org/10.2307/1229039

Dale, S. K., & Merren, K. (2018) Legacy of Slavery and African-American Psychology. In Medlock, M., Shtasel, D., Trinh, N., & Williams, D. R. Racism and Psychiatry: Contemporary Issues and Interventions. Springer International Publishing

Dale, S. K., Pierre-Louis, C., Bogart, L. M., O'Cleirigh, C., & Safren, S. A. (2018). Still I rise: The need for self-validation and self-care in the midst of adversities faced by Black women with HIV. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 24(1), 15-25. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000165

Dale, S. K., & Safren, S. A. (2018). Striving Towards Empowerment and Medication Adherence (STEP-AD): A Tailored Cognitive Behavioral Treatment Approach for Black Women Living With HIV. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 25(3), 361-376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2017.10.004

Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2016). Hate Crimes Statistic s. Retrieved from https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2016

Goodman, A., Shaikh, N., & Rivas, L. (2018). From Separating Families to Jailing Asylum Seekers, Trump Admin Accused of Criminalizing Migration. Retrieved July 17, 2018, from https://www.democracynow.org/2018/7/5/from_separating_families_to_jailing_asylum

Linehan, M. (2014). DBT? Skills Training Manual, Second Edition. Guilford Publications.

Maira, S. (2004). Youth Culture, Citizenship and Globalization: South Asian Muslim Youth in the United States after September 11th. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, 24(1), 219-231. Retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/article/181213

Ramos, K., Erkanli, A., & Koenig, H. G. (2018). Effects of religious versus conventional cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on suicidal thoughts in major depression and chronic medical illness. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 10(1), 79-87. https://doi.org/10.1037/rel0000113

Robbins, L. (2018, May 17). Man Threatens Spanish-Speaking Workers: 'My Next Call Will Be to ICE.' The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/nyregion/man-threatens-spanish-language-video.html

Shein‐Szydlo, J., Sukhodolsky, D. G., Kon, D. S., Tejeda, M. M., Ramirez, E., & Ruchkin, V. (2016). A randomized controlled study of cognitive-behavioral therapy for posttraumatic stress in street children in Mexico City. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 29(5), 406-414. https://doi.org/10.1002/jts.22124

Unks, G. (Ed.). (1995). The Gay Teen: Educational Practice and Theory for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Adolescents. Psychology Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4wWhq4Z4YHIC&oi=fnd&pg=PA53&dq=homophobia+in+sport&ots=QfJQbwrbCT&sig=4K5-b9OEe-Sq3KCScO7l5Tlz4O8#v=onepage&q=homophobia%20in%20sport&f=false

Weaver, A., & Himle, J. A. (2017). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression and anxiety disorders in rural settings: A review of the literature. Journal of Rural Mental Health, 41(3), 189-221. https://doi.org/10.1037/rmh0000075

Williams, M. S. (2000). Voice, Trust, and Memory: Marginalized Groups and the Failings of Liberal Representation. Princeton University Press.

Williams, M. T. (2013, June 30). How Therapists Drive Away Minority Clients. Retrieved July 17, 2018, from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/culturally-speaking/201306/how-therapists-drive-away-minority-clients

Windsor, L. C., Jemal, A., & Alessi, E. J. (2015). Cognitive behavioral therapy: A meta-analysis of race and substance use outcomes. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 21(2), 300-313. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037929

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Using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to Assist Individuals Facing Oppression

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Many individuals in the U.S. experience oppression on the basis of their racial and/or ethnic identity, immigration status, socioeconomic status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religious identity, language, etc. (Benner & Wang, 2014; Corbett & Hill, 2012; Maira, 2004; Unks, 1995; M. S. Williams, 2000).

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We need to move on from self-care to communal care (Brigid Delaney)

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We need to move on from self-care to communal care (Brigid Delaney)

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Any chance that my hope the odious phrase "self-care" would be expelled from popular use this new decade disappeared when I saw the cover of this month's Cosmopolitan (UK) magazine.

The cover star is Lena Dunham and the strapline is "on sex, love and self-care". That she is talking about self-care in terms of a health problem (endometriosis) that took 13 years before it was diagnosed - and left her serious health problems, a series of operations, and feeling chronically run down and low on energy - is a signal that self-care is currently a better option than the care that society currently gives us.

But shouldn't we be asking for more? Shouldn't we be moving from the concept of self-care to a broader, more inclusive notion of collective care?

That was, and remains, my hope for this decade.

If a phrase summed up the complicated flawed zeitgeist of the 2010s - it was self-care.

The concept that originated in black activist circles in the 1980s, was later put through the grinder of late-stage capitalism and appropriated by white, corporate feminism and the industrial wellness complex.

It was first used in 1988 by black lesbian feminist Audre Lorde, while fighting against cancer and the political status quo. She wrote "caring for myself is not an act of self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare".

But according to the New Yorker, this thought "has led to the popular idea of ' self-care ', in which there is moral and political utility in relaxing with your sheet mask".

Want a last minute holiday to Bali? Self-care. Need to hang out at home and watch Goop Lab, while wearing a botanical sheet mask? Self-care. Don't want to respond to a friend's text message asking for help? Self-care.

Despite its co-opting by the market, there is a reason why the phrase "self-care" took off so totally in the last decade. In the #MeToo era, a whole range of ills women had put up with in a patriarchal society were re-examined.

Self-care was very appealing for women who were overwhelmed, women who were sick, women who were crushed under the weight of the emotional and physical labour of running a household and working and maintaining a family and friendship, women who were burning out. Which is basically most women.

In a world where so much is out of our control - from political events to climate catastrophe - what can we control? We can control the products we put on our skin and enrolling in a barre class and the food we put in our bodies.
'Self-care': how a radical feminist idea was stripped of politics for the mass market | André Spicer
As a result, "self-care" - used as both an incantation and a declaration of rights, was a reclamation of sorts - mostly over women's time, emotional capacity and agency. The term became elastic enough to cover the woman who was recovering from breast cancer and needed rest, to the day spa that was promoting a special on avocado body scrub.

Yet the problematic nature of the term is rooted in its very linguistic structure: self.

While looking after yourself is great, self-care is still an idea rooted in a neoliberal tradition of looking out for ourselves, rather than seeing ourselves, our health and our fates as inextricably linked to our fellow human beings.

Wouldn't it be great if this decade we took the self out of self-care and strived instead for communal care?

Self-care is saying "I need to look after me", while collective self-care is saying "we need to look after each other" (in the words of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius: "What is not good for the swarm is not good for the bee.")

Collective care exists outside the market and can't be captured by capitalism, turned into a product that we buy back and, by definition of its price, excludes many from participating in it.

The fact that it's collective, means it's for everyone.

Communal care can include things like being a better neighbour, making yourself available for people who may need support, communities supporting each other emotionally and practically during crises such as the bushfires, to larger, more macro reforms and structural changes in society, such as advocating for universal health care, the introduction of a four-day working week, more affordable and available childcare and a rise in Newstart.

Unless our care moves from the self to the collective (or ideally both the self and the collective) as a society, we will continue to be unwell.

Brigid Delaney is a Guardian Australia columnist

Topics

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We need to move on from self-care to something that cannot be captured by capitalism | Brigid Delaney

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Any chance that my hope the odious phrase "self-care" would be expelled from popular use this new decade disappeared when I saw the cover of this month's Cosmopolitan (UK) magazine. The cover star is Lena Dunham and the strapline is "on sex, love and self-care".

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Melissa Harris-Perry Opens Up About #SquadCare

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Melissa Harris-Perry Opens Up About #SquadCare

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On Instagram, #selfcare makes for good content. Users have tagged over 2.5 million posts-acai bowls, atmospheric candles, yoga mats, green juice-with the hashtag. Over 75,000 people are practicing it on #selfcaresunday, and more than 25,000 photos bear witness to the fact that #selfcarematters. And it does; marginalized populations have performed self-care for centuries in the face of systemic oppression. But the term, whether it refers to critical activist work or a kind of spiritual nourishment, suggests that it's possible to practice care on our own. The truth is we exist in matrices of allies and friends who do this work for us. If we're honest, it isn't #selfcare. It's #squadcare. This week, ELLE.com scholars at Wake Forest University go deep on just what that means. Here, Melissa Harris-Perry reflects on why it's mattered to her.
I began leaving my doors unlocked at night. Then I would prop the front door open as an invitation. I wanted to die. The blinding grief somehow convinced me that if I was visibly vulnerable, perhaps a serial killer would come along to end my misery. I was 23 and studying for a Ph.D. that left me feeling more like an imposter than a professor. The man I loved did not love me. I was in debt and could see no way out. And I was just beginning to be honest about having survived rape as a young teen. Weak from subsisting solely on Diet Coke, I crumbled under the weight of the fear of failing, crushing loneliness, and unspeakable insecurities. I was lying on the floor of my apartment when Blair walked through the door I'd left open for a yearned-for killer.

We weren't yet close friends when she put her arms around my shoulders and said firmly, "Girl, stand up. This is kind of ridiculous."

I refuse to accept that self-care is necessary for health and well-being.

I credit that moment for my rejection of the ubiquitous concept of self-care. Ask about my self-care routine, and I'll respond with a blank stare. I don't follow self-care advice or buy the products it insists on. I refuse to accept that self-care is necessary for health and well-being. What lifted me from the floor, locked the front door, helped me find a counselor, and initiated 20 years of bullshit-free friendship was not self-care-it was squad care.

Throughout the decades, Blair and I have read each other's academic papers and covered each other's short-term financial crises. I squeezed her hand as I pushed my daughter into the world and held her head during both of her C-sections. When my first marriage fell apart, Blair would not let me fall apart with it. And when a brain tumor took her beloved mother, nothing could stop me from being there when she said her final farewell. We don't see or talk to each other daily, but we practice a kind of care across those distances.

At its worst, self-care is to our current moment what granola, leg warmers, and yoga were to previous generations. Distilled into bath bombs and marketed to the consumer class, self-care can come off as a collection of hipster luxury items-a visible manifestation of excess time and resources spent massaging trigger points and pushing back cuticles. We are rarely asked about the labor conditions for those rubbing our feet. The stench of economic inequality is not exactly relaxing aromatherapy.

But at its best, there has always been a radical potential planted within the insistent focus on self-care. Black feminist theorist bell hooks planted the seed of radical self-care in her book Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self-Recovery, writing, "We cannot fully create effective movements for social change if individuals struggling for that change are not also self-actualized or working towards that end. When wounded individuals come together in groups to make change our collective struggle is often undermined by all that has not been dealt with emotionally." Here hooks is reminding us that meaningful, political change does not happen as a result of the forces of history. Social movements are launched and sustained by activists, but those activists are human; breakable under the weight of the burdensome work they perform. Rather than simply ask these wounded warriors to bear up under the weight of their liberation labor, we can offer them a self-care framework that would give them explicit permission to care for their own welfare, even as they work on behalf of the broader community.

The unmatched Ella Baker often motivated civil rights activists by giving them her memorable charge: "We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes." A collective self-care framework would adapt this claim and counter: "We who work for freedom must take an occasional nap to ensure we survive to see freedom come." This kind of self-care charts a more feasible, humane pace for activists, but still comes back to the idea that self-care consists of what you can do for you.

We rely on others to care for us when we are too young, too old, too ill, too broken, too sad, too scared, too needy, too overwhelmed, or too incapable.

But whether it's through selling bath soaps or encouraging activists to take mental health breaks, celebrating individual self-reliance elides the fact that ultimately care is not something we do for ourselves. We rely on others to care for us when we are too young, too old, too ill, too broken, too sad, too scared, too needy, too overwhelmed, or too incapable. Care is why we live in community, why we form families, and ultimately, why we form government.

Ultimately, self-care encourages women to rely solely on themselves rather than to make demands on anyone or anything else. Self-care validates as good and noble all of those women with sufficient resources to "take a break" from the hustle and bustle while it censures those who seek relief from the collective care of the state-through child care subsidies, food assistance, low-income or subsidized housing, or health care. In so much of our political language, the black, brown, and poor women who seek care in these ways are still represented as bad, fraudulent, lazy, and wasteful.

And so instead, we turn to squad care, a way of understanding our needs as humans that acknowledges how we lean on one another, that we are not alone in the world, but rather enmeshed in webs of mutual and symbiotic relationships. Sometimes our squads are small, intimate, and bonded by affection, like the bestie squad Blair and I have shared for decades. Sometimes our squad is enormous, impersonal, and bonded by geographic and historic identity. As Americans, our national squad care is most obvious in moments of natural disaster or through public policies like social security.

Squad care reminds us there is no shame in reaching for each other and insists the imperative rests not with the individual, but with the community. Our job is to have each other's back.

What is my self-care routine? I don't have one. But I do my best to keep my squad in good shape. As a teacher and mentor, I have worked to develop a squad care ethic with my students by creating experiences that allow them to learn from and rely on one another. For the past 10 months, five undergraduate students participated in the ELLE.com Scholars program-a journalism program at Wake Forest University in partnership with this site. Together, these dynamic young women traveled, researched, and produced extraordinary media content. And they became a squad, counting on one another in good and tough times as they developed leadership skills and professional capacities beyond anything we imagined at the start. What follows is an examination on how squad care operates in not only their lives, but the lives of young women they admire nationwide.

We give you #SquadCare.

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On Instagram, #selfcare makes for good content. Users have tagged over 2.5 million posts-acai bowls, atmospheric candles, yoga mats, green juice-with the hashtag. Over 75,000 people are practicing it on #selfcaresunday, and more than 25,000 photos bear witness to the fact that #selfcarematters.

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Caring for Ourselves as Political Warfare (adrienne maree brown)

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Caring for Ourselves as Political Warfare (adrienne maree brown)

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protests and actions can give us the highest highs and the most gut wrenching terrors or deepest disappointments. in the midst of wildly inspiring actions and protests happening worldwide, there is increasing racialized violence and the urgency of trying to grab this moment, the feeling of pressing up against our edges.

i invited adaku utah, leah lakshmi piepzna-samarasinha and susan raffo to generate an offering of practices to restore us to ourselves, to recenter us on why we are here and doing this work. autumn brown and maryse mitchell-brody are developing a guide with many others for how to create a healing justice practice space.

remember, audre lorde teaches us: "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare."

we need all of us:

PRE-PROTEST SELF CARE TIPS
adaku
Cast a Heart Spell

HEART SPELL
Return to yourself
Light a candle
Inhale the air that surrounds you, from the soles of the Earth to the crown of the galaxies
Open your heart with breath, with life force
Feel your heart expand with the rhythms moving through you
Exhale
Inhale
See light fill all empty spaces
Awaken the tree within
Breathe your limbs tall
Your roots deep
Exhale
Inhale
Expand heart muscle even wider
Push past boundaries
Break through chains
Reach for your power
Digest its dimensions
Fill through cracks
Pulse with life
Exhale
Inhale
Deep
Deeper
Anchor yourself to the love that is you
to the love that is your ancestors
to the love that is life
to the love that can never be stolen
Radiate this truth
Strong enough to break restrictions
Exhale
Inhale
Increase the flow of love
Let each breath be a magic spell you cast upon yourself

If you will be protesting using #BlackLivesMatter, take some time to remind and align yourself with the inspiring herstory of this movement led by the brilliance of Black Queer women Patrisse Cullors, Opal Tometi and Alicia Garza. www.blacklivesmatter.com

Create a poster or chant that is an affirmation and embodiment of the resistance and resilience of Black People. Last week I came up with this chant/mantra I kept repeating to myself during the march:: White supremacy you tryna fuckin rule.. NO.. Black love will rise over you!

If you do not have capacity to hold up a sign during the protest, write the affirmation somewhere you can see. I often write on my palms or glove, a sticker I can place on my water bottle, a cloth patch I can safety pin on my jacket or write something on a piece of my clothing.

Pack a wellness bag for you and comrades. Ask what will sustain and take care of you and your team while you are protesting. Here are some things that I've learned to put in mine as I am supporting wellness for myself and community members during protests (Giving thanks to Black Cross Health collective, fellow wise comrades and my intuition for these resources!):

the National lawyers Guild number
Lots of water in a water bottle to drink and to wash of your skin or eyes if needed
healthy snacks and fruits
warm, comfortable protective shoes you can move and run in
extra warm layers if its fall or winter (gloves, scarves, hand and toe warmers)
zip-lock with bandana soaked with cider vinegar (water if nothing else). It can aid in breathing during chemical exposure
shatter-resistant eye protection
fresh clothes in plastic bag (in case yours gets contaminated by chemical weapons)
inhaler, epi-pen, insulin or other meds/healing herbs if applicable
several days of prescription medication and doctor's note in case of arrest
protective herbs and crystals ie sage, cedar, osho root, onyx, amethyst
Nervous system tinctures: oatstraw, motherwort, lemon balm
Rescue remedy flower essence
Throat lozenges
tampons and pads
first aid kit

Check out these amazing action additional tips from the Audre Lorde Project.

Learn the language of your body and spirit. Notice how your body chooses to respond in the midst of certain people/certain places/certain types of actions/certain types of inactions/certain times of the day/certain times of the month/certain types of noise/certain types of movement. What do you notice? Does what arises bring you ease or tension? Being numb or not knowing is totally fine too and is also information about how your body is choosing to show up at that given moment. Write down, draw or remember what you discover. Affirm what is happening. Your body, spirit and intuition are such incredible guides that can support how we live. Without judgement, recognize that your body has unique ways of responding to what is happening inside and outside of you. Many of these responses have been powerful protection tools that continue to keep you alive.

Create safety and/or support plans in advance. Ask yourself and community that you trust, what will I/we do if ____________ happen? How would I/we like to be supported? Icarus Project has a great tool.

Figure out what your capacity is. Can you protest for 1 hour or 7? Are you currently recovering from illness and need to shift your form of resistance outside of the streets? Are you someone who is arrestable? If it is cold out, how long can your body tolerate the weather?

Make a TURN UP revolutionary mix tape

SELF CARE TIPS DURING PROTESTS

adaku
Continue to remind yourself why you are there. Recite mantras, meditations or chants when you need.

Tilt your eyes up softly to meet the sun, moon or stars. Let them wash over you with their power and embrace. Feel your connection with other forms of life. Allow your breath to move in and out as slowly as a cloud morphing through the sky. Imagine your breath is pulling in the vast expansiveness of the sky, the radiance of the moon, the majesty of the sun or the consistency of the night. Let each inhale awaken the vast possibilities that exist inside and outside of you. Allow each exhale to blanket where you are with a commitment to a world you desire to live in.

Continue to listen to how your body is responding. What sensations are arising? Where do you feel them? Are these sensations telling you to slow down, eat, keep going, call your support buddy, catch up with the crew you are marching with, warm up your body, breathe deeper, walk with a different contingent, head home?

Remind yourself of a moment when you could feel your own power. Allow yourself to feel that energy all over again. Invite the presence of that power to be with you now. Feel it expand. Breathe in the textures of your truth. Send this power wherever you need it. Let each inhale carry this power as far back to your ancestors and each exhale carry it forward through you and into future generations.

If you are near a tree, with permission, sit under or place your spine on the tree. Let the dignity of the tree encourage yours to rise with every breath.

susan
Vibration vibration vibration...hum low in your throat, as low as you can go, and bring that hum down into your lungs and your chest...feel the vibration, taking a breath in when you need to breathe, and then back to vibration. Let the vibration be a small chosen shake, a rattling of what is held inside, the vibration expanding in circles from your throat out through the rest of your body

Movement. It doesn't matter what kind, just move as you are able. Move from the inside of yourself, inviting your hands, your arms, your face, your heart, your brain to lead the movement. The movement can be small and energetic or it can be big and take up a lot of space. From inside your self, start the movement like a shooting star, sensing when it shifts direction or wants to stop.

Notice what is happening around you right now. The colors of life around you, the texture, the edges between things, the edge of a building against the street, the edge of a car wheels on the ground, a tree against the sky. Notice where there is an edge, a boundary between two things, sense into that. Let your skin feel texture around you in whatever way your skin notices texture: rough bark or cement, hot flat metal of a car, cold slickness of a window. While you are noticing, tell yourself what you are witnessing. There is a red brick building in front of me and the bricks closest to the street are crumbled. My hands can feel the bits of dust and red brick, their sharp and crumbly edges. Put yourself into whatever part of the space around you is safe enough to touch and sense. The color of it. The sound if there is sound. The taste if you can imagine taste.

POST PROTEST SELF CARE TIPS
adrienne with one minute or less:
breathe. take three breaths that are a little deeper. imagine the breath filling you up from the heart, more each time, till your whole body has breath.

speak a mantra or commitment that brings you back to your purpose. here are some examples:
black lives matter. (alicia garza, opal tameti, patrisse cullors)
my people are free. (harriet tubman)
all is full of love. (bjork)
love's in need of love today. (stevie wonder)
i am enough.
black love. (BOLD and many others)
i am a practice ground for abundance/love/fearlessness/ transformation/magic
i do it! (my niece mairead)
i'ma have none of that (my niece siobhan)
i just want to talk about dragons (my nephew finn)
all that you touch you change (octavia)
I am my ancestors' answered prayer (Leah)
I am significant (Adaku)
I am the love that I have been waiting for (Adaku)
Tell your child self: You are alive. I am alive (Adaku)
when Black people get free, everybody gets free (Black Lives Matter)
who is worth my love, my strength and my rage? (Leah saw it on tumblr on a lot of qTPOC sites)
act in a way your past, present and future self will appreciate (kyisha williams)
no one said this road would be easy/ I don't think she brought me this far to leave me (Mango Tribe)
think of someone who you love, who you do this work for, alive or ancestor or dream. hold that thought like a rock.

keep a tincture or flower essence with you to use at these moments. i am currently loving one called ' boundaries in a bottle ' (from Dori Midnight) which helps immensely in my work. rescue remedy is a go to for lots of people. a few drops under the tongue can help you breathe. good fight herb co has a lovely self-love potion that is also really helpful after the battleground.

leah
I use motherwort tincture as a reliable anti anxiety aid, that also scoops me up in her arms when I'm grieving, mourning or cried out. Hawthorne and rose are great for heart hurts too.

adrienne
light a candle so the fire can transform your focus and energy. wach it for a while, or let it sit in a sacred space to release what you can't carry.
with ten minutes
that loved one i mentioned above? spend some time thinking of them at your side, or at your back. lean on them. let them hold you. breathe into it.

meditate. with each in-breath, invite spaciousness and rest into your body and spirit. with each out-breath, release that which is not yours to carry. (some examples: 'breathing in space, breathing out drama'. 'breathing in sleep, breathing out white guilt'. 'breathing in comrades, breathing out fear'. or this one from naima penniman: 'breathe in beyonce, breathe out condalezza rice'.)

lay down flat on your back, pull your knees up to your chest, hug your knees, and rock back and forth. this gives your body a quick break, your vertebrae more space, a little massage to your hips.

pour yourself a glass of water. drink the whole thing, inviting your body to be like water, transforming to move forward.

write about what you learned at the action/protest. write it for yourself, write it to share with others.

leah
pranayamic breath, or 'the great yogic breath' (shout outs to nisha ahuja for teaching me) take a deep breath into your heart, and then into your belly. hold it. feel how full you are. exhale from your belly, then from your heart. repeat.

containment breath (shout outs to vanissar tarakali for teaching me): inhale into your belly. when you exhale, do it in three stages- exhale from your belly, pause, exhale from your middle chest, pause, then exhale from the top of your chest. this breath helps give a sense of containment when I am feeling overwhelmed and EMERGENCY MUST GO EVERYTHING IS AN EMERGENCY.

I also squeeze my arms and thighs and feel the bones underneath when I am overwhelmed and dissassociated- it helps me feel like there is something holding me up all the time, that I don't have to do anything to get, and it brings me back to my body more than other anti dissassociation exercises.

Train yourself to go outside and take a short walk every couple of hours, if you are locked up by a computer. I was always telling myself "yeah, I know I should but...." and remaining glued to the computer. A recent work gig that told us all to go on quick breaks every hour showed me how much this helped my focus, for real.
with an hour adrienne
take a nap. a timed nap so you won't miss anything, or an untimed nap...whichever one is more relaxing for you.

exchange shoulder and neck massages with someone you feel physically safe around. use your thumbs to move up and out, imagine that stress and oppression are small knots at the top of the spine and that you can smooth them out and drop them off the edges of the shoulders.

cook yourself a meal, alone or with loved ones.

write a note of appreciation (on paper, on email, through social media) to someone (in the movement or in your circle) who you deeply appreciate right now. you don't have to send it, but you do have to feel it.

put yourself in water - a shower, a bath. let the water remind you who and what you are. anything that feels too big, send it to the ocean.

take care of something alive and revel in the impact of that action. water a plant, change a diaper, play a game, hold an elder's hand. small miracles grow big ones.

engage in a spiritual practice that brings you into yourself. that may be prayer, meditation, movement, song, art. ask someone to hold this space with you. others from your actions, or those who aren't/can't protest but are in alignment.
with two hours or more
leah
What feels good? Figure out how to do the work in ways that feel as good as possible. When Healing Justice for Black Lives Matter blew up and all of a sudden I was getting 48 FB notifications an hour- including from a million white healers I didn't know personally, who were all eager to join in, without maybe noticing how their presence shifted what had been a majority BIPOC action- what had felt like a juicy, generative, wild freedom song action started to feel like a stress ball in my shoulders. But this time, I actually stopped and said, how do I want to do this? How do I want it to feel? I asked for help. I gave myself permission to turn off the computer for breaks. I breathed. I reminded myself, and got reminded, that it's ok to check people and set limits! Boundaries are beautiful.

Take time for sex and cute outfits and the gender things that make your body strong and shining. My sephora lipstain and eyeliner are on purpose, they are not sidenotes, they are femme armour and blessing and allow me to teach, organize and show up. So is texting my dates and masturbation as self care.
adrienne
yes to pleasure activism. remember your body can release a lot through pleasure. be grateful for your skin, softness, hardness, nerves, mysteries, releases.

community acupuncture. let the acupuncturist know you are engaging in protests and actions, what you want to release, what you want to embody.

see another kind of bodyworker or healer. i ride for somatic bodywork and limpias, but there are so many practices that can help - craniosacral, tarot, reiki, coaching. on december 18 a lot of us are offering our healing services at a reduced rate, and/or donating all of our income to ferguson movement work. we are also offering up healing for black activist/organizers involved in these protests worldwide, not just that date, but in general. find more about both efforts here.

go to a sauna or spa or hot springs. i have a list here, they range in affordability. a lot of places have options to sit in the hot tub even if you don't get a massage or treatment.

adaku
Continue to listen to how your body is responding. What sensations are arising? Where do you feel them? Are these sensations telling you to slow down, eat, mastrubate, call your support buddy, catch up with the crew you are marching with, warm up your body, breathe deeper, sleep?

Sit, stand or lay down in silence. Breathe in silence. In the deep quiet, find a word or phrase that needs to be spoken. On your next exhale, scream it at the top of your lungs.

Put your arm around yourself. Take a deep breath. Give yourself a squeeze. On your next inhale repeat an affirmation to your core.

Offer up gratitude to yourself, your ancestors and/or your team for protecting you and supporting your capacity to engage in this action.

Do this with someone your body trusts and feels comfortable being vulnerable and close with:: Embrace each other in a hug (Hugging stimulates an incredibly deep nervous system relaxation response). Mirror each other with each next step. Breathe in through the nose slowly and evenly until you fill your lungs to capacity. Hold the breathe for five slow counts. Breathe out through the nose, releasing the air slowly. Repeat 3 times. If you have capacity, whisper an affirmation into each other's ear at your very last exhale.

Allow yourself to be heard by someone you trust. Call, visit or welcome someone who has capacity to hold space with you to join you where you are. As much as feels comfortable, share how you are doing and what you might need in the coming moments, days or weeks.

Make a dream pillow to support insomnia, anxiety and panic attacks. (Great recipe from mountain rose herbs).

Give yourself permission to come undone. To cry unabashedly, to laugh wildly, to whip your hair back and forth, to dance ferociously, to summon up the fiercest scream. Tap into the primal nature of your emotions. Let it stir what needs to be heard.

Suck on some honey! my favorite. If you can, mix a tablespoon of honey with a tiny tiny pinch of lavender. Both are incredible relievers of stress and anxiety and fortify the immune system. Suck slow and intentionally. Let the sweetness caress every part of your mouth.
leah because self care is collective care is disability justice:
Lift up disabled and chronically ill folks for how much we have invented the art of collective care (because we have to live interdependently, because we know the medical industrial complex is not our friend.). Ask the crips in your life for tips first! We know how to make access and share resources on no money, we've been doing this for forever!

A place I always go to for disabled wisdom about collective care is this blog, which has all the thinking and all the real talk practice (access audits, how to make a spaces that's accessible except for the bathroom accessible, and more.) Yashna's article about collective care also never gets old. To see how we organized Creating Collective Access, a group of disabled and sick folks collectively caring for each other, at the Allied Media Conference, go here.

This blog post - about how sick and disabled and mad folks offer support to each other all the time, and how we don't have to wait to be "healed" to offer care to each other- is really speaking to me right now.

At the same time, it's not like sick and disabled and mad people all are a monolith or have this issh figured out either! Years ago, I was part of a group of sick and disabled qtpoc who were trying to figure out how to care for each other. My Virgo moon was all about "let's just get the google doc going!" but another person was like, wait a second- most of us have experienced people trying to care for us in messed up ways- paternalistic, controlling, disrespecting our autonomy, all the ways people try to "help the handicapped" all the time. We need to figure out first what would even allow us to accept help. She made us journal about a time when someone offered help to us in a way that felt good and was about solidarity, not charity.

A lot of the time, I see folks go "I know I should ask for help,but it's hard..." And that is totally real. And it's because of ableism. Ableism, inside the white supremacist capitalist colonialist ableist patriarchy (the WSCAP), tells us that if we ask for help, we are weak, and that's a bad thing. Most of us have lived in the world in ways where there have for real been nobody we could trust to take care of ourselves well but ourselves (on a good day.) This is embedded in everything from abuse in nursing homes to welfare cuts to jail to our families. I've heard politicized QPOC comrades blithely call folks who ask for help, "energy vampires" or say, "Oh her, she has issues, she's so *neeedy.*"

So sometimes the first step you have to do in order to even feel comfortable asking for and receiving help is to unpack all that. And to start small. Make your list of the shit you could really, really use help with, and another list of the people you think would be safe to ask, and ask for the least risky thing first. See how it feels. See how it goes. Experiment.

Do an access check in before you plan an action and before you start. Ask people what they need to be in the space. Often, people have never been asked before and go "uhhhhh..." That's fine. Start where you are. Let the needs and their brilliance shape the action. That's actually stronger than trying to force people into a mold that doesn't fit them.

If you're already caring for people, but you are wrestling with feeling depleted, giving more than you can, feeling resentful- unpack that stuff too, because it's not good for anyone.

If you are nondisabled, don't be texting your disabled friends all the time going "See you at the barricades! Oh wait you can't do a five mile march in the cold... oh well, take care!" That's ableism and it's shitty and we're all really sick of it. Figure out ways you can do actions where you can all take part. Roll with the krip/sicko crew when we make it to the march. Ask us how and if we want your support. Re read " Wherever you are is where I want to be " by Mia Mingus

Ask your sick and disabled friends what we need to participate, in what actions, and let us steer the boat of what we want/need instead of doing what you think is good for us- we're the experts on our own bodies and lives, trust me ;). Bring water and snacks. Offer to push a manual chair ( you can often rent them for cheap from a medical supply place or drugstore) for someone who is a cane user or someone who walks but has chronic pain who wants to be able to be on a longer march. Ask your powerchair using friend if her battery needs a charge, and help people get out of the way of her rolling, if that's what she wants.

Hold that leaving the protest at any time someone's bodymind is about to give out is just as radical as staying.

This is a good guide by and for disabled folks doing direct action.

Also, recognize that for some of us with disabilities and chronic illness/pain and/or madness, we may make the choice to push our bodies extra hard to be in the streets- but that we may need extra time to recover afterwards. When we shut down the port of Oakland during Occupy/Decolonize, I had to be there at 4 AM and walk 3 miles each way because the accessible busses were badly promoted and left before I got there. I'm glad I did it, but I totally went into a flare, hurt like hell and needed to sleep 12 hours afterwards. Don't judge us for our choices or tell us what to do or that we are being irresponsible for being in the streets. Understand that we negotiate many kinds of risk in these bodies everyday, that our relationship to pain is different because we dance with her all the time, and we negotiate stretching our limits all the time. Ask us what you can to do support- if you can bring food after, or do childcare so we can rest.

adrienne
and if all else fails, read this again, because...

susan
This is power. This is power humming on this page. Reading it settles me in places where I wasn't aware of the need for settling. Reading this makes me want to show up quietly and fiercely, to rest quietly and fiercely, and to show up again. This is power humming on this page.

adrienne
please add on more resources you know of, and please take care of yourself. we know you are precious.

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Caring for Ourselves as Political Warfare

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protests and actions can give us the highest highs and the most gut wrenching terrors or deepest disappointments. in the midst of wildly inspiring actions and protests happening worldwide, there is increasing racialized violence and the urgency of trying to grab this moment, the feeling of pressing up against our edges.

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We're so glad you found us. When you or someone close to you goes into crisis, it can be the scariest thing to ever happen. You don't know what to do, but it seems like someone's life might be at stake or they might get locked up, and everyone around is getting stressed and panicked. Most people have either been there themselves or know a friend who has been there. Someone's personality starts to make strange changes, they're not sleeping or sleeping all day, they lose touch with the people around them, they disappear into their room for days, they have wild energy and outlandish plans, they start to dwell on suicide and hopelessness, they stop eating or taking care of themselves, or they start taking risks and being reckless. They become a different person. They're in crisis.

This page offers an assortment of resources that may provide perspective, comfort, and/or tools that could be of assistance to people experiencing various sorts of tough times.

Here is a really useful set of ideas and strategies that's written for folks who are dealing with a mental health crisis Navigating Crisis:

Navigating Crisis (as a printable PDF in English)

Online Peer Support (Fireweed Facebook group and Drop-in Support Circles - These online spaces are meant to offer each other support within an anti-oppressive and social justice framework. It also comes with its own set of problems including issues of privacy and risk of being reported. Please respect that this space is closed to providers and family members and is designed for those with lived experience only.)

NAVIGATING CRISIS

SUICIDES

HOTLINES AND WARMLINES

PSYCHOSIS/ HEARING VOICES

PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS

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We're so glad you found us. When you or someone close to you goes into crisis, it can be the scariest thing to ever happen. You don't know what to do, but it seems like someone's life might be at stake or they might get locked up, and everyone around is getting stressed and panicked.

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Communities of Care, Organizations of Liberation (Yashna Maya Padamsee)

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Communities of Care, Organizations of Liberation (Yashna Maya Padamsee)

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The answer to burnout isn't self-care, it's unionizing

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The answer to burnout isn't self-care, it's unionizing

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It's Monday morning and your alarm goes off. As you wake up, the dread of going to work creeps in. You're feeling exhausted, stressed out, underpaid and underappreciated. It's a mindset you can't shake, and no amount of coffee will fix: You have workplace burnout.

The World Health Organization recently included burnout as a legitimate diagnosis in their handbook that guides medical professionals in diagnosing diseases. It is characterized by three indicators: ​"feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one's job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one's job; and reduced professional efficacy."

So, what can be done about burnout? ​"Self-care" has been touted by social media influencers as the best solution to restoring your mental health, no matter the cause. Sure, healthy food, exercise and sleep are important ways to deal with stress, and we could all use more of each. But eating a salad isn't going to fix the systemic problems at your workplace, nor will getting a massage give you a voice on the job, or increase your paycheck.

If you work at a nonprofit, you might be all-too-familiar with workplace burnout. Nonprofits are notorious for being understaffed and under-resourced. Workers at nonprofits often have to wear multiple hats for the sake of supporting the mission of the organization, and the resulting stress can take a toll on their mental and physical health.

It is important to address these workplace issues comprehensively, but there is one clear and immediate solution: join a union.

Being in a union means that you and your coworkers work together to fix the problems at your workplace, and then negotiate for solutions with management. Whether this means collectively bargaining for raises, vacation time, better healthcare or more clear-cut job duties, there is an undeniable strength in a union. The negotiations will result in a legally enforceable union contract. Unlike most employee handbooks, once you have a strong union contract, management can't erode your pay or benefits, or fire you without notice.

Workers at organizations such as the Center for American Progress, Community Change and the Economic Policy Institute have organized with the all-volunteer Nonprofit Professional Employees Union (where I'm president) in order to create strength and stability at their offices. Recently, workers at the New Museum and the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York organized with the United Auto Workers. Other nonprofits, like the staff at ALIGN New York, have joined the Communication Workers of America. The nonprofit industry is a growing sector in the U.S. economy, and workers are increasingly demanding the dignity they deserve at work.

According to Tech Impact, the top three reasons for nonprofit workers quitting are being underpaid, lack of upward mobility and excessive workloads. Joining a union can help address each of these issues. Research shows that increasing wages leads to less turnover, which is good for both employees and the organizations at which they work. Nonprofit workers in unions have also bargained for regulated hours, tuition reimbursement, transportation benefits, paid parental leave and professional development - all of which help workers stick around longer and feel more satisfied at their job. Plus, having a union reduces gender and racial wage gaps, and provides workers the tools with which to fight discrimination.

August 17 is National Nonprofit Day - a time to celebrate all of the vital work done by nonprofits across the country. Much of that praise is owed to the millions of nonprofit workers who are often working longer hours than their private sector counterparts. Most nonprofit workers know they're not going to get rich with their chosen occupation, but they still deserve a voice on the job. A unionized workplace provides workers fair and equal treatment through their contract. But a union is more than a contract - it's a system to improve your life at work. While having a union won't magically fix all of your problems, it provides a blueprint for solving them.

Your best defense against burnout isn't self-care, it's joining together with your colleagues to build power collectively at your workplace.

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The Answer To Burnout At Work Isn't "Self-Care"-It's Unionizing

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It's Monday morning and your alarm goes off. As you wake up, the dread of going to work creeps in. You're feeling exhausted, stressed out, underpaid and underappreciated. It's a mindset you can't shake, and no amount of coffee will fix: You have workplace burnout.