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Hannah Massarella, a nonprofit consultant, offers six tips for breaking down barriers to self-care.

ttention and discussion around the importance of good mental health and wellbeing in the workplace is growing, particularly in light of reports such as that by the Chartered Institute of Personnel Directors, which show that stress is the leading cause of long-term workplace absence. As a result, leading nonprofit directors are developing a wide range of strategies to create workplaces that prioritize staff wellbeing.

An important aspect of wellbeing is self-care, defined by my team at Bird as establishing and prioritising a routine of self support that promotes better health and wellbeing and leads to more creativity, improved productivity and stronger relationships.

However, nonprofit directors and managers face a range of unique challenges when it comes to self-care in the workplace.

The good news? There is a way forward.

Let's look at some of the challenges first, and then dive into solutions.

The nature of nonprofit work

Whether it's dealing with bereavement in cancer charities, working with vulnerable refugees, or supporting survivors of sexual violence in humanitarian crises, nonprofit employees often face emotionally challenging situations.

Working in the charity sector can feel more like a lifestyle than a job.

Despite a strong desire among nonprofit leaders to relieve staff of the emotional burden of their work, the unpredictable and unreliable nature of funding means this can be a challenge. Funding for staff wellbeing and development often competes with the pressure to invest all available resources into supporting beneficiaries, which at the end of the day is what the charities are judged on.

Embedded culture

Within the nonprofit sector, there is a culture of overwork-long hours, taking work home with you both emotionally and literally, and running out of time to take holidays or time off in lieu are all common place, despite many directors actively trying to change it.

Barriers are also often put up against the discussion of self-care, mental health, and the emotional impacts of common nonprofit culture. A reluctance to engage with emotions can be identified, with men often feeling like they are not able to speak up and admit they are struggling, and women experiencing accusations of being too emotional and therefore not up to the job.

Finding balance

This dedication to the cause that many nonprofit employees experience can become detrimental to other workplace relationships. It is common to spend all your empathy on the people you serve, and then have little left in the tank to support colleagues or team members.

Known as compassion fatigue, it can impact your relationships outside of work, as well.

As a result, directors and managers find themselves continuously trying to facilitate a balance between staff supporting themselves, others within the organization, and the people they serve.

Way forward

Despite the challenges, more leaders in the nonprofit sector are considering how to create healthy organizations. Our research at Bird suggests a two-pronged approach is needed.

Leaders need to encourage staff to practice their own self-care strategies and create a culture that supports them when they do.

Here are six self-care tips for nonprofits that want to build a healthier culture:

1. Provide professional support.
A number of organizations provide professional support services to staff. This includes specialist and confidential support for staff members, such as counseling services, one-to-one coaching, and mentors. Additional support is also provided via online portals, such as websites that contain a range of information on wellbeing and self-care, as well as forums and discussion pages.

2. Invest in training programs.
Nonprofits are also investing in training programs that aim to support individuals to self-care. This includes classes such as yoga, mindfulness, and meditation for all team members.

3. Make time for events and celebrations.
Staff wellbeing can also be given a boost by organizing events that celebrate successes, increase morale, and improve relationships. Staff awards ceremonies, wellbeing days, or time together off-site can all have a positive impact on wellbeing.

4. Put wellbeing at the front.
Progressive nonprofit organizations are trying to incorporate and mainstream wellbeing into broader organizational structures. Recording time off and monitoring sick leave is key if anything is to be done about it. Hiring staff that understand the need for prioritizing wellbeing is also key. Having policies and procedures in place and visible to all emphasizes the focus on wellbeing across the organization.

5. Provide autonomy and flexibility.
Treating staff like adults who can manage their own workload and ability to find the best way to get tasks done is key to wellbeing. If a member of staff knows they will get a report finished if they can work at home, let them-they know what they need.

6. Model wellbeing as a leader.
Wellbeing practices won't be prioritized by staff if they don't see their leaders doing the same. A key piece of wellbeing in the workplace is modeling and sharing with your team when you are leaving early to get some headspace, or arriving late because you did an extended yoga session at home. Being open about what you need in order to stay focussed and driven will encourage others to do the same.

There is much work to do, but it isn't impossible. We can prioritize wellbeing so nonprofit employees can remain balanced, resilient, and able to do the jobs that they are so passionate about.

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Why We Need To Prioritize Self-Care In The Nonprofit Sector

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Does the stress of your nonprofit job impact your personal life? These self-care tips were written for you.

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Encouraging & grounding images

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76 Best Self Care images in 2020 | Self, Positivity, Words

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Mar 16, 2020 - Tips and pictures that help the SN team - and that you might find helpful, too!. See more ideas about Self, Positivity and Words.

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Discover the power of self-compassion with Kristin Neff. Join our community and explore the benefits of practicing self-compassion together.

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Last month, George Floyd was killed by police on the street in Minneapolis; almost immediately, the video of his death circulated on the internet. As much as we wanted to look away, we could not. The image of Floyd's final minutes reignited centuries of collective grief and trauma. The officer's knee on Floyd's neck represents the struggle many of us have felt for years, as we've suffered and struggled to manage and navigate the waters of systemic racism. His cries for help, his wanting to be seen and heard, are the cries of all of us who work hard to acquire just a small slice of the American Dream. America is hurting, and Black Americans are hemorrhaging with pain.

We founded the Facebook group Clinicians of Color, LLC, (COC) in 2016. Currently, it has over 12,000 members. Its purpose is to help therapists of color start or grow a private practice, but we also provide clinical training to help members develop skills, acquire knowledge, and become successful in business. The group has become a source of tremendous support and a safe place to process life's challenges.

We've spent the last few days processing our feelings, with emotions ranging from profound sadness to intense rage. Many of us are experiencing difficulty sleeping and trouble concentrating. We feel alienated and angry. One theme that comes up often in our group is the sense that white therapists struggle to understand and truly empathize with race-based trauma.

Race-based trauma is a theory developed by Robert T. Carter, showing how after experiencing acts of racism, people of color exhibit symptoms consistent with post-traumatic stress. This applies to the difficulties experienced by Black and brown therapists.

To amplify the voices of our colleagues and clients of color, we decided to ask COC members to share their experiences of race-based trauma and offer guidance on how our white counterparts can better support us, as well as their own clients of color. Here are just a few of their responses-a small testament to how much we have to say. If you have Black colleagues or clients, we think you'll find this feedback insightful, and we hope you'll use it to become better informed about what people of color experience and need during this difficult time.

- Lisa Savage, LCSW, and Kim Knight, LPC

***

"I think it's important that all clinicians today understand the nuances of historical and intergenerational trauma. That entails understanding the history of race and discrimination in this country as well as how that history has played out in our professions, and continues to be perpetrated in the work we do. Our work requires more than just kindness; we must think critically about what we've been taught and understand how what happens at the macro levels of our society impacts the client directly in front of us."
Kimberly Grocher, LCSW, CPC, RYT
New York, NY

"As a Black clinician, I recently spent a moment with a client, sharing her emotions about the reoccurring events faced by our community. There needs to be a requirement that clinicians engage in training on racism in the Black community before they can get their license renewed. This training should be presented by someone in the Black community."
Tunisia Buise, LCSW-C
Baltimore, MD
"Stop asking the Black community to help you with your guilt and pain when our community is suffering. We're trying to hold our community together with the last strength we have in our bodies. Our collective mental health is fragile, rooted in our DNA. Understand that."
Tiffany C. Brown, PsyD
Chicago, IL
"I know many people love to throw around the words ally and cultural competence. But I hope they can understand that trust in a therapist isn't granted because that therapist attended a three-hour workshop on cultural competence, led by someone who isn't a person of color. That doesn't make them an ally. We need therapists who are willing to do deep anti-racism work, who present with cultural humility. This way, we can choose our allies. Allies isn't' self-appointed. They're chosen."
Shamyra Howard-Blackburn, LCSW
Baton Rouge, LA

"Our mandate as therapists is to work within the scope of our practice. We understand if we were seeing a client with chronic pain, OCD, or PTSD, that we'd need to pursue training or supervision in that area before continuing our work. Otherwise, we'd run the risk of exacerbating their issue, even though we might think we're being helpful. The same is true when we're working with clients of color, many of whom are experiencing the effects of racial trauma. Therapists who continue working with these populations without any lived experience, training, or supervision often end up retraumatizing their clients in their attempts to be helpful."
Jocelyn St. Cyr, LICSW
Arlington, MA

"I've begun telling students and beginning counselors to 'lean in and look within' at their own biases. Acknowledging personal biases and educating oneself about culture and ethnicities different from your own are ways to shift your thinking and become more open to differences. This can challenge and foster change."
Shaketa Bruce, MS, LPC, NCC, CCH
Atlanta, GA

"We cannot accept people saying, 'Get over it, it already happened, move on.' I think this is a major problem-the lack of acknowledgment that we as a race have experienced trauma. We have to say it out loud, acknowledge it, and understand how this crime against humanity manifests. Only then can we truly address it, see it for what it is."

Zamantha Gobourne, LICSW
Washington, DC

"I think recognizing that clients of color may never feel completely regulated is important. It's important to honor that there's always a sense of hyperarousal due to systemic and institutionalized racism. Helping clients acknowledge and manage this is important to decreasing chronic stress, the physical and mental damage it can cause."
Nina Keeler, LMFT
West Bloomfield Township, MI

"Black pain shouldn't need to be intellectualized to be heard."
Phi Rochon, LMSW
Laurel, MD

"Understand that systemic racism contributes to Black people's vulnerability to psychological, emotional, and social distress. It makes them hesitant to seek mental health services, especially from those who don't look like them."
Tytannie Harris, LCSW
Chicago, IL

"Black people should be provided with compassion and grace after trauma. Traumatic responses don't always look civil and organized. Trauma is seen in many different ways by our community. Generational trauma runs deeply in the Black community. Our cries have been unheard for so long, and that erupts in various ways. Don't be misled by what you see in the media. What appears to be violence may be pain."
April Lamb, LCSW
Chicago, IL

"Black folk shouldn't have to navigate the age-old narrative of 'not all cops are bad.' It's dismissive and does harm. There's a rational explanation for our traumatizing reality-it's based in history. The narrative that not all cops are bad may feel true if you don't have to live with the reality that a cop could take your life without accountability or consequence, simply because your skin is brown. It can happen regardless of socioeconomic status, gender, affiliation, or education. It's a reality for people of color that police can trigger the brain to feel endangered before helped. It's a trauma response."
Crystal Jones, LCSW
Fredericksburg, VA

"Why is it that black and brown people who suffer from substance use disorder are treated differently from white people who also suffer from it? In the George Floyd arrest video, around the 5:27-mark, the Asian cop mocks George by saying, 'All I have to say is don't use drugs.' The autopsy report indicated that there was a toxic substance in George's body, but nothing clearly states he was an addict. Throughout history, society has given heavier penalties to and stigmatized people of color who suffer from drug addiction, whereas with white people it's looked at as a disease. The criminal justice system gives people of color harsher sentences and limited or no assistance to help them with their disease. When therapists work with people of color who suffer from substance use disorder, they have to understand that they're treating more than addiction. They're treating systemic injustice, trauma, and generational hurt."

Katie Onitiri, EdS, LAMFT, LCADC
Ewing, NJ

"I believe that historical and current systemic deficits need to be acknowledged in order to move us into a place of healing. Talking is good, but action is better."
Erica Kelley, LPC, CRC, LBSW
Detriot, MI

"The white majority needs to understand that after being constantly referred to as angry, intimidating, and savage by others, it's very difficult for Black people not to be cautious, mistrusting, and frustrated. We know that no matter how much we've contributed to making this country great, we will never get the credit or fair treatment we deserve. What we need now more than ever is true allies."
Chantel Bratcher-Coleman, LPCMH, CAADC
Newark, DE

"I believe it's important for our white counterparts to know that people of color are hurting. The unfortunate and tragic death of George Floyd and countless other Black men and women at the hands of people in positions of authority brings up generational trauma for people of color. Our white colleagues need to understand this, search their hearts, and do the work necessary to be aware of their prejudices and biases to be a catalyst for change. No longer is it enough to be sensitive to our plight. Now, more than ever, it's imperative to do something, to take political action, to end racial injustices and disparities. Then and only then can this nation work on collective healing and truly uphold its name as the United States of America."
Diona Shelton, LCSW
Troy, IL

"It's essential to integrate our understanding of trauma with the growing clinical understanding of the impact of racial trauma on individuals. If we're truly trauma-informed, there's no way to ignore the clinical implications of racial trauma on individuals and communities of color. There is an ethical and professional obligation in working with Black people, Indigenous people, or people of color to understand how a lack of safety, systemic and historical oppression, and survival and trauma responses impact mental health, goals, and constructed core values."
Crystal Blanton, LCSW
Pleasant Hill, CA

"Being Black in America makes us a target for hatred, bias, fear, and even death. As a wife and a mother, I'm afraid that every time my son or husband leaves the house, they might not make it home safely. I fear they'll be judged just for their color. How can your race determine the quality of life you have in this country? It truly troubles me."
Monica Douglass-Davis, LPC, NCC, CPCS
Snellville, GA
***
Lisa R. Savage, LCSW, is a social work graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, who focuses on bridging gaps in mental health services, particularly in marginalized communities. Savage founded The Center for Child Development (CCD) in April 2007, located in Newark, DE, designed to improve access to mental health services for children and families in the state. Kim L. Knight, LPC, is an author, coach, speaker, and licensed mental health counselor with over 20 years' experience in the wellness and helping profession. After years in the healthcare industry, she became a mental health therapist. She currently practices in Long Island, NY. For more discussion, resources, and training opportunities, please visit cliniciansofcolor.org.
www.kknightcounseling.com www.thecenterforchilddevelopment.com

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White Therapists, Here's What Your Black Colleagues Want You to Know

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For people of color, the murder of George Floyd reignites centuries of collective grief and trauma. Here, the two founders of Clinicians of Color share some of their members' experiences with race-based trauma as well as their guidance on how white therapists can better support them and clients of color.

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Why?
Scientists believe that your brain has a built-in " negativity bias." In other words, as we evolved over millions of years, dodging sticks and chasing carrots, it was a lot more important to notice, react to, and remember sticks than it was for carrots.

That's because - in the tough environments in which our ancestors lived - if they missed out on a carrot, they usually had a shot at another one later on. But if they failed to avoid a stick - a predator, a natural hazard, or aggression from others of their species - WHAM, no more chances to pass on their genes.

The negativity bias shows up in lots of ways. For example, studies have found that:

In a relationship, it typically takes five good interactions to make up for a single bad one.

People will work much harder to avoid losing $100 than they will work to gain the same amount of money.

Painful experiences are much more memorable than pleasurable ones.

In your own mind, what do you usually think about at the end of the day? The fifty things that went right, or the one that went wrong? Like the guy who cut you off in traffic, what you wish you had said differently to a co-worker, or the one thing on your To Do list that didn't get done . . .

In effect, the brain is like Velcro for negative experiences, but Teflon for positive ones. That shades "implicit memory" - your underlying expectations, beliefs, action strategies, and mood - in an increasingly negative direction.

And that's just not fair, since probably most of the facts in your life are positive or neutral. Every day, lots of good things happen, such as a lovely sunset, someone is nice to you, you finish a batch of emails, or you learn something new. And lots of other good things are ongoing aspects of your world (e.g., your children are healthy, life is peaceful in your corner of the planet) or yourself (e.g., personal qualities like determination, sincerity, fairness, kindness).

Besides the sheer injustice of it, acquiring a big pile of negative experiences in implicit memory banks naturally makes a person more anxious, irritable, and blue. Plus it makes it harder to be patient and giving toward others.

In evolution, Mother Nature only cares about passing on genes - by any means necessary. She doesn't care if we happen to suffer along the way - from subtle worries to intense feelings of sorrow, worthlessness, or anger - or create suffering for others.

The result: a brain that is tilted against lasting contentment and fulfillment.

But you don't have to accept this bias! By tilting toward the good - "good" in the practical sense of that which brings more happiness to oneself and more helpfulness to others - you merely level the playing field.

You'll still see the tough parts of life. In fact, you'll become more able to change them or bear them if you tilt toward the good, since that will help put challenges in perspective, lift your energy and spirits, highlight useful resources, and fill up your own cup so you have more to offer to others.

And now, tilted toward absorbing the good, instead of positive experiences washing through you like water through a sieve, they'll collect in implicit memory deep down in your brain. In the famous saying, "neurons that fire together, wire together." The more you get your neurons firing about positive facts, the more they'll be wiring up positive neural structures.

Taking in the good is a brain-science savvy and psychologically skillful way to improve how you feel, get things done, and treat others. It is among the top five personal growth methods I know. In addition to being good for adults, it's great for children, helping them to become more resilient, confident, and happy.

Here's how to take in the good - in three simple steps.
1. Look for good facts, and turn them into good experiences.
Good facts include positive events - like the taste of good coffee or getting an unexpected compliment - and positive aspects of the world and yourself. When you notice something good, let yourself feel good about it.

Try to do this at least a half dozen times a day. There are lots of opportunities to notice good events, and you can always recognize good things about the world and yourself. Each time takes just 30 seconds or so. It's private; no one needs to know you are taking in the good. You can do it on the fly in daily life, or at special times of reflection, like just before falling asleep (when the brain is especially receptive to new learning).

Notice any reluctance to feeling good. Such as thinking that you don't deserve to, or that it's selfish, vain, or even shameful to feel pleasure. Or that if you feel good, you will lower your guard and let bad things happen.

Barriers to feeling good are common and understandable - but they get in the way of you taking in the resources you need to feel better, have more strength, and have more inside to give to others. So acknowledge them to yourself, and then turn your attention back to the good news. Keep opening up to it, breathing and relaxing, letting the good facts affect you.

It's like sitting down to a meal: don't just look at it-taste it!

2. Really enjoy the experience.

Most of the time, a good experience is pretty mild, and that's fine. But try to stay with it for 20 or 30 seconds in a row - instead of getting distracted by something else.

As you can, sense that it is filling your body, becoming a rich experience. As Marc Lewis and other researchers have shown, the longer that something is held in awareness and the more emotionally stimulating it is, the more neurons that fire and thus wire together, and the stronger the trace in memory.

You are not craving or clinging to positive experiences, since that would ultimately lead to tension and disappointment. Actually, you are doing the opposite: by taking them in and filling yourself up with them, you will increasingly feel less fragile or needy inside, and less dependent on external supplies; your happiness and love will become more unconditional, based on an inner fullness rather than on whether the momentary facts in your life happen to be good ones.

3. Intend and sense that the good experience is sinking into you.

People do this in different ways. Some feel it in their body like a warm glow spreading through their chest like the warmth of a cup of hot cocoa on a cold wintry day. Others visualize things like a golden syrup sinking down inside, bringing good feelings and soothing old places of hurt, filling in old holes of loss or yearning; a child might imagine a jewel going into a treasure chest in her heart. And some might simply know conceptually, that while this good experience is held in awareness, its neurons are firing busily away, and gradually wiring together

* * *

Any single time you do this will make only a little difference. But over time those little differences will add up, gradually weaving positive experiences into the fabric of your brain and your self.

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Why? Scientists believe that your brain has a built-in " negativity bias." In other words, as we evolved over millions of years, dodging sticks and chasing carrots, it was a lot more important to notice, react to, and remember sticks than it was for carrots.

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ur revels now are ended and January looms, with its exhortations to get fit, lose weight, dry out. So here's a radical alternative diet: instead of depriving yourself, how about making it a month of treats - but feeding your brain instead of your face? Our one-a-day calendar will take you into magical realms of poetry and prose, argument and imagination. It will transport you to some places you always wanted to explore, but couldn't find the time, and to others you never knew existed, where you will find strange and wonderful things.

In fact, this calendar very nearly didn't happen because I kept disappearing down rabbit-holes so deep and fascinating that, had I been the white rabbit himself, someone would have had to drag me out by the ears. Some entries - such as John Huston's film of Malcolm Lowry's mescal-fuelled modernist masterpiece Under the Volcano (20 January) - come with the authority of a full year's leisurely burrowing (it is among the BFI's list of 100 great films to watch on Netflix and Amazon Prime, which was a comfort and joy through lockdown, and is handily still being updated).

But others were completely new to me. The fun of an adventure like this is the way that one genre melts into another, sending ripples across time and space. Many entries in the calendar are picked on this basis: as small, easy portals into something wide and various which will reward further investment of time and money. Some are introductions to poets, artists and musicians who do, after all, have livings to make. I'm not just being flippant: if you want to fully understand poet Alice Oswald's relationship with water (28 January), you need to read her book-length, source-to-sea portrait of a river, .

But other entries, such as Glasgow University and BBC Radio Scotland's Robert Burns readings (24 January, naturally), are triumphs of cultural completism which radiate the enthusiasm of everyone involved. But I digress...

A literary calendar for January 2021

1 January

(Poetry, 2 mins)
Angelou published this totemic poem in 1978 and continued to perform it into her 80s. Like a fine wine, it matured over the years, as this glorious late outing demonstrates. Decades of chain smoking are invested in her smoky chuckle, as she asks: "Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise?"

2 January

(Film, 1hr 37 mins)
In these dark days of the year, when the conviviality has worn thin but you're still stuck at home, what's really needed is a spirit-raiser, preferably one that doesn't involve alcohol. Forget all those costume Austens: this 1995 teen comedy is where the novel meets film and has babies - something smart and very much its own thing, which everyone in the family can enjoy.

3 January

(Music, 4 mins)
Has there ever been a sexier song than this one, based on Molly Bloom's soliloquy, from Ulysses? There are two versions, because James Joyce's curmudgeonly estate at first forbade Bush from using his words. When they relented years later, she rerecorded it as Flower of the Mountain with the original text. I know which is my favourite, mrmmm, yes.

4 January

(Drama, 2 mins)
Never has John of Gaunt's speech from Shakespeare's Richard II seemed more powerful than when Croll reminted it in an all-black, female production at the Globe in 2019. It appears here as part of the Monologue Library, a lockdown archive of more than 100 solo turns by top actors. Listen and weep for all those truck drivers massing outside Dover.

5 January

(Poetry, 2 mins)
You don't have to share Old Possum's religious beliefs to appreciate his take on the Epiphany, the festival of the three kings. Others have read it more elegantly, but there's a frigidity to his delivery that shivers those famous opening lines: "A cold coming we had of it, /Just the worst time of the year".

6 January

(Poetry/music (20 mins)
Long before anyone could have imagined being locked down, NPR's concerts were bringing poets and musicians direct from their tiny desks to yours - and never more powerfully than in this 2016 performance by hip-hop hero Williams. Political in the truest sense, it includes a tender tribute to whistleblower Chelsea Manning.

7 January

(Film, under 2 hours)
Talking Pictures TV has been a comfort blanket through the on-off lockdowns, with its stream of forgotten gems. Today at 2pm Tommy Pender plays Tom the chimney sweep, with Billie Whitelaw as Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby, in this all-star 1978 live action-animated adaptation of Charles Kingsley's Victorian classic. As to who voices Jock the Lobster or Cyril the Walrus, you just have to guess.

8 January

(Podcast, 40 mins)
Kristen Roupenian, whose own name-making short story Cat Person went viral after being published in the New Yorker magazine in 2017, reads an unsettling Shirley Jackson story that ran there in 1943 - and explains how a single word tips it into horror. A cult curio from the New Yorker's super-cool fiction podcast series.

9 January

(Radio drama, 1hr 30 mins)
Richard Burton leads the unforgettable 1954 recording of life in the little village of Llareggub, which unfolds like a Chagall painting, with its fishingboatbobbing sea and its houses as blind as moles, where Polly Garter for ever mourns her dead lover, while Mr Pugh dreams up poisons for his living wife.

10 January

(Lyrics, 2 mins each)
If Bob Dylan can win the Nobel prize, Lehrer can surely be counted a poet. The great mathematico-musical humorist recently made all his lyrics and sheet music available to download free of charge until 2024. Altogether now: "Pollution, pollution! You can use the latest toothpaste, And then rinse your mouth with industrial waste..."

11 January

(Short stories, 10 mins each)
A gem of internet arcana from a fin-de-siecle Irish writer who naturalised as Japanese and remains a hero there. Here are corpse-eating spirits and faceless ghosts. The tales inspired a cult 1965 film by Masaki Kobayashi, which has been described as the "Rolls Royce of horror anthology movies". But read him in the original first.

12 January

(Poetry, 1 min)
One of the Irish poet's loveliest poems - published in his 1975 collection, North (Faber), and chosen to sit alongside his Nobel citation - was written for his aunt Mary, "broad-lapped with whitened nails" in her floury apron. Hear the love in his voice at the Poetry Archive.

13 January

(Talk/Book, 12 mins)
In 2013, the novelist gave a speech to students at Syracuse University, which was a love song to kindness - "that luminous part of you that exists beyond personality". Such was its success when it was printed in the New York Times (where you can still read it) that it was published as a standalone pamphlet by Bloomsbury.

Photograph: Katherine Anne Rose/The Observer

14 January

(Archive Reviews, 10 mins)
From the collected poems of Yeats ("As discouraging as a breakfast of cold porridge"), to Nabokov's Lolita ("dull, dull, dull in a pretentious, florid and archly fatuous fashion"), an irresistible collection of literary misjudgments that should be prescribed reading for anyone wanting to make a quick buck as a critic.

15 January

(Short story, 8 mins)
The cautionary tales of Hector Hugh Munroe - AKA Saki - might not be as well known as those of his contemporary Hilaire Belloc, not least because he wrote in prose. Also, because they're gorgeously twisted, as demonstrated by this piquant story-within-a-story of a smug little girl whose good behaviour medals prove her undoing.

16 January

(Essays, 2 hours+)
Baldwin's twin letters on his Harlem childhood and the evil of racism in US society were published in 1963 (Penguin), and became a rallying cry for the US civil rights movement. This reading by Jesse L Martin is a timely reminder that Baldwin is a hero for all seasons.

17 January

(Conversations, 30 mins each)
This inspiring interdisciplinary daisy-chain of half-hour dialogues commissioned by Artangel ran over 12 hours last September and is now available in individual sections online, with an accompanying reading list. Novelist Naomi Alderman chats with inventor Saul Griffith, composer Brian Eno exchanges urbanities with forensic architect Eyal Weizman. Take your pick.

18 January

(Poetry, 9 mins)
The poet and archivist combined two skill sets into a debut collection that commemorates the death of 13 young black Londoners in the New Cross fire on this day in 1981. Surge (Chatto) was shortlisted for the 2019 TS Eliot prize, for which Bernard gave a reading that is truly haunting. Once heard, never forgotten.

19 January

(Lecture, 1 hour)
As a poet who is passionate about being out and about, it's ironic that Oswald's first lecture as Oxford professor of poetry should take place on YouTube. But here it is - a stimulating and moving meditation on the relationship between water and grief, from Homer describing the tears of Odysseus to Jericho Brown's Riddle, mourning the death of Emmett Till.

20 January

(Film, 2 hours +)
Albert Finney delivers a timely resolve booster for anyone whose dry January is in danger of falling apart, as the alcoholic former British consul trying to "drink himself sober", in a small Mexican town celebrating the Day of the Dead. Jacqueline Bisset stars alongside him in Huston's 1984 adaptation of Malcolm Lowry's "modernist Mexican Ulysses ", which was previously assumed to be one of the great unfilmables.

21 January

(Poetry, 5 mins)
The American winner of the 2020 Nobel prize in literature hasn't published a new poetry collection since 2014 when she won the National Book award for this book (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). While publishers scramble to fill the gap (at least four new publications are slated for this year), listen to her "unmistakable poetic voice" at the NBA ceremony.

22 January

(Essay, 2 hours +)
What are the stories that need to be told in the age of catastrophe? In this gripping polemic (University of Chicago), the Indian novelist argues that we can only address the challenge of climate change by uncoupling ourselves from a storytelling tradition rooted in the industrial revolution: ie, we need to reinvent the novel.

23 January

(Poetry, 9 mins)
Until winning the TS Eliot prize in 2019, Robinson was one of the poetry world's best-kept secrets. His prize reading includes a poem that should be adopted as an anthem to health workers in the age of a pandemic: Grace takes its name and subject from the redoubtable Jamaican nurse who saw his prematurely born son through his perilous first days.

24 January

(Poetry, 2 mins each)
Address to a Haggis is the traditional fare for Burns Night - and you can seek it out in this 716-reading archive created by Glasgow University and BBC Radio Scotland - but I've always had a soft spot for the "blethering, blustering, drunken blellum" Tam. All come with celebrity performers and a handy set of notes.

25 January

(Podcast, 56 mins)
Theatre director Ian Rickson devised a revealing format for this podcast series: invite artists to discuss a song, a film and a piece of writing they really love. A basketball documentary about Michael Jordan and the poetry of William Blake are among the choices of a poet who is caught, like their subjects, in mid-air (they were transitioning from Kate to Kae as it was made).

26 January

(Lecture, 1 hour)
The 2018 Nobel prize winner marked her win with a characteristically smart and thought-provoking lecture about the need for a new literature to reflect - and deflect - the cacophony of our "polyphonic age", one that looks for a fourth-person narrator reminiscent of biblical parable or the classical deus ex machina. Read and discuss, in English, Polish or Swedish.

27 January

(Blog/essays, 5 mins each)
The Paris Review 's Eat Your Words blog series, extracting recipes from literature, is a delight. You could try Italo Cavino's sour cherry meringue pie or James Baldwin's oysters with mignonette, but who could resist the chance to taste Lady Chatterley's Lover? Stivers's essays are delicious, too.

28 January

(Letter, 1 min)
Possibly the sweetest letter ever written by a famous author to his fans was penned by the great American humorist months before his death, in response to a request for a school visit by five pupils at a New York school. Read it on Letters of Note.

29 January

(Talk, 30 mins)
Adichie's 2012 TED talk launched an international debate on feminism and took the Nigerian writer to a new level of global celebrity. It's funny and clever. And if you like it, you can go on to to her letter to her friend, Dear Ijeawele, which lists 15 ways to ensure your daughter grows up a feminist.

30 January

(Illustrated essay, 5 mins)
There are such riches in the British Library's Discovering Literature section that it's easy to get lost for days, but for all that John Ruskin declared it "the calamity of modern poetry", Dinah Roe's introduction to this creepy masterpiece (Penguin) is particularly seductive, with letters, facsimiles and Arthur Rackham illustrations to die for.

31 January

(Classes, 12 hours)
There are loads of online writing courses but this OU OpenLearn offering is both good and free. It's 12 hours overall, broken down into sections: character, setting, genre. So if you've worked your way through all the brilliant writing above and fancy having a go yourself, here's a starting point.

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Feed your soul: the 31-day literary diet for January

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ur revels now are ended and January looms, with its exhortations to get fit, lose weight, dry out. So here's a radical alternative diet: instead of depriving yourself, how about making it a month of treats - but feeding your brain instead of your face?

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Pre Reading Managing The Effects of Working with Secondary Trauma.pptx (2)

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A classic, simple cake recipe for victoria sponge is one of the recipes that you should have in your repertoire. Once you master this, bake sales and afternoon tea will no longer be daunting, and making variations will be easy.

Need a super easy chocolate cake? Check out this quick and easy basic chocolate sponge cake. This moist chocolate cake is a super simple, all-in-one cake for all those chocolate lovers out there. Serve with an extra dollop of cream for ultra indulgence. Best chocolate recipes here...

Give your chocolate cake a red tinge in this classic American cake recipe, covered in silky-smooth cheese frosting for extra indulgence.

Our really popular and easy chocolate fudge cake recipe is super easy and quick to make so it is perfect for when you need to bake a last minute simple cake for a special occasion. Why not try some of our other delicious chocolate cake recipes?

This is an easy banana cake recipe to try - a real nutty twist on everyone's favourite. Serve with your freshly brewed morning coffee. Discover even more banana bread, banana cake and banana muffin recipes here.

Try our super easy coffee slab cake, this recipe is nut-free and comes with a creamy cappuccino buttercream. This simple yet moreish cake is perfect for parties, birthdays or just family gatherings. Check out more of our best coffee recipes here.

Try our simple carrot cake recipe that's easy to make. Everyone loves the spiced flavour of carrot cake. We've added muscovado sugar for a richer flavour, golden sultanas and pecans for texture and a shot of syrup to sweeten the frosting.

This easy chocolate sheet cake works brilliantly as a base for any kid's birthday cake. We've added a chocolate frosting here, but you could it personalise it with a different topping if you like. Try another of our traybake or sheet cake recipes here.

These cute little lemon cupcakes would work equally well for a kid's party, baby shower or just a treat to serve with afternoon tea. If you love cupcakes then check out more of our best cupcake recipes here...

A classic lemon drizzle cake that sounds as good as it tastes. If you fancy some enjoyable baking with a great reward at the end, this recipe is for you. We've got more lemon dessert and pudding recipes here.

Follow these simple steps to get a beautiful, classic jam and cream sponge sandwich that is lighter than air.

A simple sponge cake layered with the tangy, fresh-tasting sweetness of a passion fruit icing. This easy cake recipe would make a lovely afternoon tea treat. Discover our best layer cake recipes here.

Classic coffee cake is one of our all-time favourite afternoon treats. In this easy recipe, we've given it a modern twist to include deliciously crunchy pecan brittle. See our best ever coffee recipes for more inspiration.

Liked our easiest ever chocolate fudge cake? Then you really, really have to try the white chocolate version. It looks fantastic and is guaranteed to be a crowd-pleaser.

Change up the classic lemon drizzle with juicy blood oranges. Our polenta cake is easy to make and the ideal sweet treat to accompany your morning coffee.

Check out this easy traybake recipe with sweet and juicy raspberries and creamy custard, a perfect teatime treat. Long-life custard is a bit more stable and usually thicker than fresh, so it's good for baking into cakes.

Bake our easy ginger traybake recipe with moreish Bonne Maman rhubarb compote, perfect with your afternoon cuppa.

Finally, here's how to cool, dry and store cakes

Do I need to cool my cakes? Cool your cakes in the tin when they are very hot. Once they can be handled, take them out. Otherwise they will steam and end up soggy.

How long do I let my cake cool before icing? Before icing cakes or any baked produce, remember to leave them to cool completely; they need to be cold. Being at an ideal temperatures means that the icing will stay exactly where it needs to be and will not run off the cake.

How do I cut a cake? Use dental floss to cut a cake in half; it works like a cheese wire. But not the mint flavour, of course!

How do I fix a dry cake? Your heart deflates when you realise that all the time and effort spent baking a cake has been wasted because once it's out of the tin, it's dry. Fear not; just make a simple syrup. Boil equal parts sugar and water together and brush it over the dry cake, the sweet liquid will seep into the sponge creating more moisture.

How do I store a cake? The two or three tiered cupcake stands are beautiful but not very practical unless you're in range of ravenous friends who will demolish the food within an hour or two; this is due to the fact that they are not airtight. It is worth investing in a cake stand that has a sealed lid to keep your baked produce fresh

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A classic, simple cake recipe for victoria sponge is one of the recipes that you should have in your repertoire. Once you master this, bake sales and afternoon tea will no longer be daunting, and making variations will be easy. Need a super easy chocolate cake?

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WELCOME to Yoga With Adriene! Our mission is to connect as many people as possible through high-quality free yoga videos. We welcome all levels, all bodies, all genders, all souls!
If you’re brand-new to yoga, check out my Yoga For Beginners and Foundations of Yoga series. These are designed to giv…

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Boundaries for wellbeing | Dr. Senem Eren | TEDxDocklands

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Drowning in Empathy: The Cost of Vicarious Trauma | Amy Cunningham | TEDxSanAntonio

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Angela Davis & BLM Co-Founder Alicia Garza in Conversation across Generations

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15 Minute Guided Meditation To Find Peace In Uncertain Times