Self-Care is an Act of Revolution
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare” - Audre Lorde
Self-care is an act of resistance— specifically in a capitalistic society. It disrupts systems of power that seek to politicize and police our bodies and existences.
As marginalized individuals especially, we were often taught that self-care is selfish–or we were never taught about it at all. But a strong mind does not equate to a healthy mind. When we don’t practice self-care though and help others before ourselves, we risk experiencing burn-out.
Burn-out is defined as a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion caused by long-term involvement in situations that are emotionally demanding. Signs of it can look like loss of idealism, spirit, and motivation.
At Avril Heals, we are launching Self-Care Sundays on Instagram Live as a way to mediate this gap. Our goals with Self-Care Sundays are to:
Define what self-care means to us individually and collectively
Learn and explore simple practices we can integrate into our daily lives
Learn the impact self-care can have on our bodies in reducing stress and increasing joy
Give ourselves permission to and recognize that we deserve to practice radical rest
Develop self-compassion
That last bullet point is one of the most important ones. When we truly begin to practice the key elements of self-compassion which are self-kindness, mindfulness and recognizing our own humanity, we no longer have to convince ourselves that we “deserve” self-care, we simply believe it. Studies have also shown that the act of self-compassion stimulates oxytocin, often referred to as the love hormone, to be released into our bodies.
And when we do this in community, trauma survivors have shown an increase in feelings of support and a decrease in those of isolation, stigma, and shame.
During our Sunday workshops, the co-founders (myself and Kat) will always be present and facilitate activities, and we also encourage community members who have experience in the following to reach out:
Sound baths
Yoga
Art making
Zine making
Music healing
Movement
Dance
Poetry
Creative writing
Sex education
Trauma-informed community discussions
It’s always great to work with specialists, but it’s important to remember that we are all experts of our own experiences. If you have any skills you’d like to share during a workshop with us, shoot us a DM!
And if you just want to tune in and be in community, we’ll see you soon!