It's been a little while since I've blogged, but I feel like I have something worth putting into words.
As we this year towards the home stretch of 2021, with many preparing for Holiday celebrations with filled with shopping, food, and family, there comes with this the inevitable business leading many into distress and leading to decisions that we come regret and come up with resolutions to combat in January. In addition to this, covid-19 remains in the forefront of many people’s lives bringing with it illness, isolation, and bitterness that puts damper on our spirits and also is harmful to our health: physical, mentally, and even spiritually. So, the first mention of embracing self care is easy to disregard. We all are I’m sure familiar with the self talk, “I’m too busy for that” or “I’ll get to that sometime later.” But maybe we should realize that this is when we need to address self care the most. I recently listened to a podcast from Jimmy McKay’s PT Pintcast titled: “Three Insights You Need From an FBI Hostage Negotiator”(December 02, 2021) that discussed how to engage clients about making behavior changes being asking “No” questions. (“Would you be against…) And I think it is applicable to self care as my question to you the reader is: “Would you be against doing something small to positively nudge your health and your stress in the right direction? Would you be against trying some different over the next 30 days to improve your self care?” With this in mind, I helped create a 30 day self care challenge.
The background for this really starts at least in 2020 with the start of the pandemic. At that time, one of my colleagues with APTA Michigan, Lori Boright, suggested that we consider starting a chapter task force to address how the pandemic was already starting to negatively PT and PTA professionals within her circle. Upon forming, the task force focused through SoMe on strategies to address self care problems and the work continues to the present. As the task force continues to look for creative ways to nudge our membership, I helped create a 30 day challenge that is being published in our fourth quarter edition of Shorelines coming to member’s emails in early December, as well as to our website: aptami.org
In addition to my service to the chapter, I have also been active with the Academy of Prevention and Health Promotion Therapies (APHPT) which focuses on population health and upstream strategies to improving overall health. A cornerstone to this tribe is a focus on strategies to address are what we call “The Elements” #MOVE #FUEL #RECOVER #ENDURE #CONNECT. If you look at the research relating to improving the health of populations you will find that there is ample evidence to support interventions to improve physical activity, diet, sleep, coping/stress mediation, and interactions/relationships with those around you. Obviously, use of strategies to address the elements also have a strong impact on the individual level. Within the academy, we frequently test various strategies personally so that we know their impact when we share them with our clients. So, I also created a 30 day challenge with input from my awesome OT friend and colleague, Megan Doyle within APHPT and was encouraged to share this challenge on Twitter. Many of the self care activities included within the 30 day self care challenge come from my experiences within the APHPT community. These activities within include mostly one day nudges, but also some 5 and 7 day challenges that serve as a circuit breakers to change your routine and habits. There are challenges that address physical activity, as it is important to get at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity each week. There are food challenges, both of the abstaining and trying something new variety. Some challenges are specific to sleep, many focus on stress management, and a number include a component that involves relationships with those around you. Maybe you’ve tried some of these things before, maybe not. There are strategies that address all of the elements in some way or another. I’ve found that many of these challenges have helped my personally and given the opportunity, they may be helpful for your to make some small changes. If you give them a try, you may be surprised at how little things can truly be transformative. We often think about the things that we want to change in our lives, but reflecting on how we want to improve alone is just not effective in promoting change. You need to actually put this into practice and this challenge is meant to do just that.
With this in mind, I take us back to the question: Would you be against participating in this 30 day challenge? Despite this being a busy time of year, there is never truly a better time to start. Now is the time to light a candle for yourself! I hope that you will consider putting this into practice and embrace your own self care!
Edward Mathis, PT, DPT
P.S. I like to thank Eva Norman, an awesome PT colleague from Minnesota who is also deeply committed to promoting health and wellness to her clients, who encouraged me to write this blog.
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