By SHA’URI SHIPLEY-CLARK
Tiger Media Network
The Hays Public Library and Forsyth Library hosted another event in its “How-To” series on Thursday. This time, the libraries presented on self-care.
The event started out with a presentation from James Gerstner from the High Plains Mental Health Center, who spoke about taking care of yourself and different ways you could do that. He started the presentation by showing a picture of a girl standing on other girl’s shoulders while balancing spinning plates. He talked about how people try to balance everything without help or taking a break.
“Sometimes we just need to put the plates away,” Gerstner said.
Gerstner also discussed the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s eight dimensions of wellness, which include emotional, physical, social, intellectual, occupational, financial, environmental, mental, and spiritual. https://library.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files
Gerstner also spoke about how he keeps care of himself, talking about making small goals instead of starting with bigger goals with high expectations.
“ I struggle with prioritizing long-term self-care goals over short-term relaxation,” he said. “Going for a 20-minute walk is a better self-care idea in the long run because it checks more boxes – it’s physical exercise, gets you out in nature and gives you a break from screens. It’s easy to know that it is the better option, but it’s hard to choose going for a walk over staying on the couch and watching another episode of a show.”
He mentioned how many people in their New Year’s resolution, people want to be more active and fit, but lose momentum and don’t stick with their goals. Gerstner said that the third week in January is the most depressing week because of the toll the previous holidays take on people and how only about 25% of the population keep up with their resolutions after 30 days, according to cbsnews.com.
The night continued with some DIY activities, including a lip scrub, body scrub, honey body scrub, and a gel air freshener. Also available were some coloring pages and a table with some information about self-care staffed by Amy Schaffer, from Health and Wellness Services.