Self-Care During Clinical Practice

Self-care encourages you to maintain a healthy relationship with yourself, so that you can transmit the good feelings to others. This is especially important in your relationships with students and colleagues. You cannot give to others what you don't have yourself.

You can view self-care through the following five lenses:

1. Mental - your frame of mind, equilibrium, sense of wellbeing

2. Physical - exercise and movement, such as stretching or walking (even a 15-minute walk can make a difference)

3. Spiritual - as it relates to your personal well-being

4. Social - connection with others: family, friends, community

5. Emotional - tame negative thoughts, tap into your values (Emotional Agility by Susan David)

View “The Five Dimensions of Self-Care” to learn more about these dimensions as applicable to your individual needs and unique circumstances.

Vibrant has an easy-to-navigate checklist to help you conceptualize specific self-care practices. You can use this checklist to create a Self-Care Action Plan.

Two practices to help you sustain self-care throughout this quarter, and beyond, include:

1. Meditation/breathing
2. Mindfulness

Meditation is a mind and body practice that has a long history of use for increasing calmness and physical relaxation, improving psychological balance, coping with illness, and enhancing overall health and well-being. Mind and body practices focus on the interactions among the brain, mind, body, and behavior. Throughout your school day, find little moments to rejuvenate your mind-body connection with breathing and visualization exercises.

Here are two suggested resources to help you start practicing meditation:

• 10-Minute Mindfulness Meditation Video: A guided meditation

• Headspace app: Free guided meditation

Mindfulness is a type of meditation in which you focus on being intensely aware of what you're sensing and feeling in the moment without interpretation or judgment. Practicing mindfulness involves breathing methods, guided imagery, and other practices to relax the body and mind and help reduce stress. As with meditation, find little moments throughout your day to stop and breath or tap into what you are feeling.

In the video, What is Mindfulness?, the Founder of the Mindfulness Stress Reduction Program discusses what it is and why it is important.

For MSTEP CPIII candidates who are beginning new placements, please revisit our Developing Rapport newsletter.

Self-Care:

• Portable Practices for Promoting Self-Care

• Emotional Agility by Susan David, PhD: “Emotional agility is a revolutionary, science-based approach that allows us to navigate life's twists and turns with self-acceptance, clear-sightedness, and an open mind.”

Meditation/Breathing:

• Meditation Music: YouTube video with meditation music and nature sounds

• 10-Minute Meditation for Anxiety: Guided meditation video

• Brief Mindful Breathing for Anxiety: Video introduction to mindful breathing with a short guided breathing exercise

Mindfulness:

• Mindfulness Exercises - One Simple Mindfulness Exercise: Short video to begin practicing mindfulness

• 8 Mindfulness Habits You Can Practice Everyday: Blog post providing actionable steps one can take to practice mindfulness

• 22 Mindfulness Exercises, Techniques, & Activities for Adults: Comprehensive online article with suggestions and additional resources linked

• Mindfulness Exercises: Free online worksheets to guide you through mindful practices

Physical Activity:

• The Mental Health Benefits of Exercise: Online article showing the connection between physical activity and mental health

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Email: soe@calpoly.edu
Phone: 805-756-2126

Website: https://soe.calpoly.edu/20202021-clinical-practice-website