This coming August I will be starting my Master’s in Social Work and along with working will be interning 16 hours a week. I know now more than ever that I need to develop and fine tune positive habits in my life. I haven’t written in a while which has saddened me, because I know that writing is cathartic for me and it also holds me accountable. I know for sure that as busy that I might be I still need to make time to write. One of the biggest factors in developing good habits is that my internship will be at Valley Children’s Hospital. I was forewarned that it is tough and emotionally draining. I could end up assisting in grief counseling (for parents who just lost a child), families that have domestic violence, seeing extreme child abuse, and the reality of being around sick children when they pass away. I know that this experience will be amazing and will be extremely relevant to my future career path, but I know that self-care is imperative. In order to better track and hold myself accountable these are the following habits that I will plan to develop:
1. Mindful Breathing 3 minutes at least 2 times a day. This will probably be easiest to implement right when I wake up and during my lunch break. The hope of this behavior is to help maintain clarity throughout the day and to be able to stay emotionally leveled.
2. Yoga once a week. With my new gym membership that actually has yoga classes this should be easier to achieve. My options are either Monday evening or Saturday morning. Yoga will not only allow me to reap emotional benefits, but it will help my body repair from the other workouts I complete during the week.
3. Establishing and Keeping a bed time. Sleep is so imnportant to a healthy mind and body. The rest of these goals will quickly fall through if I’m not getting enough sleep. In order for me to get a decent amount of sleep I need to be in bed no later then 11pm on a weekday.
4. Drink at a minimum of 10 glasses of water a day. If my days are busy it can definitely become more challenging stay hydrated. I need to make sure I carry enough water with me to make sure that I can continiously hydrate.
5. Bring lunch and snack into work- As of lately I have failed in meal prep and I end up throwing food together and it isn’t sufficient or I go out to eat more than I should. Both of these things are not great keeping body in relative homeostasis.
6. Lastly MOVEMENT- This generally is exercise but it doesn’t have to be so formal. The key factor is finding a time to MOVE throughout the day. Whether it be running, the gym, playing basketball, walking, yoga etc.. the important part is that I’m moving
The above are the goals I would like to begin to work on and now is the time to take this one small sustainable step at a time.
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