Moving Beyond Self-care to… What, Exactly?
Dear Friends,
How are you? Thanks for opening this email and taking a moment to connect.
I have a question for you.
Have you ever felt guilty in conversations about self-care— like your never doing enough of it?
If so, you aren’t alone.
Many times, the ways we talk about well-being place the burden on an individual to simply “do more self-care” when they are feeling unwell, unhappy, or unfulfilled. This can create feelings of blame, or even shame.
But what’s really going on?
While self-regulation strategies and personal empowerment have their place, if we’re all feeling so stressed and burned out, there’s more to the story than individual responsibility.
For the last 8 years, I’ve been asking the question:
How can we cope with our environments so we can be well?
But in the wake of the global pandemic and the collective trauma we’ve all experienced, the question I’ve been exploring through research and practice the last three years shifted to this:
How can our environments change so we don’t need to try so hard to cope?
I have a new framework called “From Self-care to Community Care: Creating Cultures that Support Well-being for All.” It’s based upon this research-based reality:
For all people to be well, we must feel safe to share our truth, and our truth must make an impact.
Intrigued? The first step to change is in the language we use with one another.
Check out my new speaker reel where I introduce the language and concepts of the “Community Care” framework.
This is a model that honors the role of our environments in our well-being and empowers us to collectively act toward changing our communities together. It provides some new ways for thinking and talking about well-being that are more equitable and more inclusive.
I’m envisioning the change we all need the most right now— one where we move forward together as communities instead of individuals.
Will you join me? If so, reach out.
I’m excited to hear from you!
Big (Virtual) Hugs,
Brandi