What can I do about self-care as an individual?

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What can I do about self-care as an individual?

What new practices can I put in place to practice sustainable self-care? 

Where can I look for resources and tools?  Share tips, tools, ideas, and practices for better self-care.

Note: This dialogue is PUBLIC. Do not share any private or sensitive information. For advice on a specific situation, please contact a participant privately.

Resource and tools

Hello,

Capacitar has "Emergency Kits" which includes simple, basic practices to deal with stress and manage emotions. The kit is available in 13 languages.

 

Resources and tools - for individual, family, group use

Nina,

Thank you so much for directing people to Capacitar. I have really used the book, "Trauma Healing and Transformation: Awakening a new heart with body, mind, spirit practices" by Patricia Mathes Cane

These are wonderful excercises to do alone, with family members, with colleagues or any group you are working with for promoting self care.

take care of your body

The brain and the rest of the nervous system are located in the body. It seems silly to have to state this basic fact, but we tend to act as though "we" are somehow separate from our bodies. In fact, all of our thoughts and feelings are physical processes arising from interactions within our bodies and between our bodies and our social and material environments.

Hence, taking care of yourself starts with taking care of your body. The good news is that simple steps intended to bolster and protect physical health also increase resiliance to stress, improve mood, facilitate cognition, and make it easier to withstand and bounce back from trauma.

So....

  • Eat as well as you can, remembering that food is the fuel for everything you do. If it is possible for you to do so, choose the kinds of foods (such as complex carbohydrates) that will provide slow-burning, sustainable energy rather than the quick rush of a sugar fix.
  • Drink enough water. Many if not most people are chronically dehydrated without knowing it. Dehydrated brains don't work as well as well-lubricated ones.
  • Get your sleep. I can't stress this one enough. Sleep deprivation lowers resistance to illness and stress, hinders cognition, and increses emotional irritability. Research shows that people who are sleep-deprived do know realize how significantly impaired they actually are. Activists often claim not to have time to get enough sleep and, of course, some circumstances do make it difficult. However, anything you can do to make time for sleep will pay off in both increased productivity, improved thinking, and enhanced ability to bounce back from stress.
  • Stretch. Seriously. Stretch in the morning. Stetch before and after sleeping. Get up and stretch for a minute every hour while working. While you're at at...
  • Breathe. Deeply.
  • Exercise when and however you can. If your circumstances allow you to bike, swim, dance, or play a sport regularly, then do it. If that's not possible, do whatever you can to give your heart and other muscles a moderate workout.
  • Express and release (rather than deny and supress) your feelings, especially those of sadness, anger, or frustration. Remember I said that our feelings are bodily processes? That's true. Deciding not to feel them won't make them magically go away. They'll just rattle around in your body, wreaking havoc with your nervous system. So, find ways to express your negative feelings, such by writing, drawing, singing, dancing, or any other way you can. Putting your feelings into words and having those words heard by another person can be especially helpful, but please do remember to phrase feelings of anger and frustration as "I statements" ("I feel...") so that they do not seem to be attacks on others.
  • Seize pleasure however you can. When you are happy or experience pleasure of any kind, you body releases hormones that not only feel good but also help to protect you against stress and depression. So, seize any opportunity you find to feel pleasure, whether that is by listening to music, tasting something delicious, seeing something beautiful, or engaging in consensual pleasurable activities with another person. When you catch yourself feeling happy, consciously savor the experience, drawing it out as long as possible.

As an activist, your body is your toolkit. No mechanic would boast about letting his or her tools get rusty. It's not a virtue to run your body into the ground. Do what you can to take care of your body, and your body will take care of you.

Great post and thinking longterm

I really like all of Patrice's suggestions, they are clear, concise and achievable. I particularly like her point about seizing pleasure however you can:

pattricejones wrote:

  • Seize pleasure however you can. When you are happy or experience pleasure of any kind, you body releases hormones that not only feel good but also help to protect you against stress and depression. So, seize any opportunity you find to feel pleasure, whether that is by listening to music, tasting something delicious, seeing something beautiful, or engaging in consensual pleasurable activities with another person. When you catch yourself feeling happy, consciously savor the experience, drawing it out as long as possible.

I think this is so important when we talk about self-care -- for activists who are constantly taking on daunting tasks at full speed, we've found that the thought of working on self-care itself is intimidating, because we approach it in the same way as we approach our activism.

That typically means thinking in terms of extremes, and massive change, rather than taking little steps and looking to make sustainable changes within ourselves over the long term. So when we talk to activists about making change, often it immediately conjures up the specter of taking on yet another challenge. That can seem scary and unachievable.

But when we start talking about all the ways we are already taking care of ourselves, we start to uncover all the seemingly small and wonderful strategies that every activist uses to stay sane and healthy. Its so important to share these, to realize that not only are these strategies possible, they are real and they work.

Activists are resilient, and we need to build on this resilience to make these changes together in the long term.

Thanks Patrice -- I caught myself in a moment of pleasure with my daughter today and remembered your point that it is seemingly small steps that add up to taking care of ourselves -- so I took time to enjoy it fully!

Emphasising strength and resilience

Revolutions wrote:

When we start talking about all the ways we are already taking care of ourselves, we start to uncover all the seemingly small and wonderful strategies that every activist uses to stay sane and healthy. Its so important to share these, to realize that not only are these strategies possible, they are real and they work. Activists are resilient.

Thanks Jane, this is just what I was thinking today. Often we can focus on the bad news in this area, when people hit the wall and have a really hard time. We can overlook the myriad of ways people find to keep on going. In Sustaining Activism workshops I've enjoyed encouraging people to share their personal strategies for managing stress. So many excellent tips emerge! Some examples can be viewed in this workshop report - climate activists shared their tips through writing and drawing.

being a wellnes activist happens simply, in the present moment

Jane, what a lovely reflection on Patricia's posting. I see how the intensity of human rights activism could easily breed an equally intense, driven approach to caring for yourself. Highlighting the small, simple moments for self care seems very wise to me, and it certainly helps such activities remain doable and sustainable.

At Garrison Institute I had the privilege of working with an amazing group of diverse faculty in the "Wellness Project," a multi-model program designed to amelioriate the ill effects of vicarious traumatization. In its pilot phase, the project served domestic violence workers in DV shelters in the NYC metropolitan area. In four years  400 workers participated. The trainings consisted of a educational module on vicarious traumatization, as well as various contemplative practices, including mindfulness meditation and yoga, as well as expressive arts activities, with special care to building a strong sense of community (e.g. group exercises, rituals, group discussions). The project uses Laurie Ann Pearlman's core structure of the ABC's (awareness, balance, connection); and the core skill and practice introduced to participants is mindfulness. Recently, we adapted the curriculum for use with human rights activists. The trainings come in the form of day long workshops near the shelters; trainings in the shelters themselves; and at Garrison Institute for a 3-4 day residential retreat. Participants in the project attended a combination of these kinds of trainings over several months. A reference manual was written on the model; and the Garrison Institute is currentlly exploring how to scale the Wellness Project up for use in international humanitarian aid settings. (In fact, Amber, do you have anything to share regarding this?!)

The practices included in the Wellness project curriculum are simple and accessible. This was critical for the participants because it made it possible to practice them at home and at work. For instance, we taught simple yoga stretches that can be done sitting in a chair; breathing meditations; loving kindness meditations; open-ended, theme-based art activities; journaling; rituals such as giving and receiving; guided visualization exercises; and so on. The goal was to invite people to experiment with different contemplative practices, and then to build their own set of culturally relevant wellness activities.

Jane and Patricia, you both mention the necessity of experiencing pleasure. I often speak of the importance of pursuing and celebrating joy as an essential means for staying well. One of human rights workers we met in Dublin at FrontLine's bi-annual conference, shared with us at the end of our day long workshop, how he had been focused on creating joy for his community. What he had not realized until he attended our training, was that he needed and wanted to pursue joy for himself as well! With that realization, he spoke about resuming his old love of playing music.

 

Great post and thinking longterm

I really like all of Patrice's suggestions, they are clear, concise and achievable. I particularly like her point about seizing pleasure however you can:

pattricejones wrote:

  • Seize pleasure however you can. When you are happy or experience pleasure of any kind, you body releases hormones that not only feel good but also help to protect you against stress and depression. So, seize any opportunity you find to feel pleasure, whether that is by listening to music, tasting something delicious, seeing something beautiful, or engaging in consensual pleasurable activities with another person. When you catch yourself feeling happy, consciously savor the experience, drawing it out as long as possible.

I think this is so important when we talk about self-care -- for activists who are constantly taking on daunting tasks at full speed, we've found that the thought of working on self-care itself is intimidating, because we approach it in the same way as we approach our activism.

That typically means thinking in terms of extremes, and massive change, rather than taking little steps and looking to make sustainable changes within ourselves over the long term. So when we talk to activists about making change, often it immediately conjures up the specter of taking on yet another challenge. That can seem scary and unachievable.

But when we start talking about all the ways we are already taking care of ourselves, we start to uncover all the seemingly small and wonderful strategies that every activist uses to stay sane and healthy. Its so important to share these, to realize that not only are these strategies possible, they are real and they work.

Activists are resilient, and we need to build on this resilience to make these changes together in the long term.

Thanks Patrice -- I caught myself in a moment of pleasure with my daughter today and remembered your point that it is seemingly small steps that add up to taking care of ourselves -- so I took time to enjoy it fully!

take care of your body - why stress can hurt you

I agree with Patrice: we must take care of our body. Furthermore Patrice said:"As an activist, your body is your toolkit. No mechanic would boast about letting his or her tools get rusty. It's not a virtue to run your body into the ground. Do what you can to take care of your body, and your body will take care of you." Right on the dot!

We often talk about stress but don't really understand what stress means and what it does to our bodies. I found the book " Stress Management Plain and Simple" by Jacquelyn Ferguson is really helpfull in make me understand what is going on in my body when I am stressed and how it affect my health. Jacquelyn Ferguson's book explains beyond the fight and flight responses, breaking it down to what cortisol does to your body in a very simple and easy to understand way.

The book has Stress Symptom Assessment and tips & tools on how to manage your stress.

I personally like her "reminder" that we have a choice whether: "I choose to send cortisol coursing through my system" or "I choose to balance cortisol in my body"

I highly recommend this book.

 

 

 

Self-Care and Self-Defense Manual for Feminist Activists

Hi everyone,

I would like to share an excellent resource with you, called the "Self-Care and Self-Defense Manual for Feminist Activists" by Marina Bernal, Elige and Artemisa. I wrote a brief review of the article back in July and I thought this resource would be helpful for many of you! 

The manual is broken down into several sections. "Recognizing Who I Am" encourages readers to examine the many identities that we each hold, as well as what it means to be an activist. "Recognizing the Violence That We Face" helps readers observe the violence surrounding us and gain insight into how to deal with it. "Self-Inflicted Violence" deals with an activist's tendency to put others' needs before their own. "Optimizing Our Vital Strengths" teaches how to identify what elements give one inner strength, and how to nurture these qualities. Lastly, there is a section on self-defense that teaches psychological, physical, and legal defense. The author includes exercises in every section to help the reader apply the theories and principles to their particular situation.

I would highly recommend this manual for any activist. The combination of self-exploration, self-care, and self-defense that is taught in this manual is absolutely essential knowledge for any human rights defender in their work.

Great resource!

Thanks Ali, 

I am a huge fan of Self Care and Self Defence for Women Activists, it is a brilliant resource. One of the many aspects I love about it is that it is deeply connected to the realities of activist lives -- it was developed by and with activists, and this is one of its great strengths. I've adapted and incorporated several exercises from the manual for our upcoming Integrated Security manual (Kvinna till Kvinna and Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights, forthcoming 2010). A must read.

I also really like Capacitar's work (thanks Nina!), it is similarly grounded in the communities where it was developed, and their exercises are easy to learn and yours for a lifetime.

I have recently been looking at the work of the Headington Institute (http://www.headington-institute.org/) resources on stress, trauma and resilience, and they seem very comprehensive -- I would love to hear feedback from others on the dialogue on their thoughts if they are familiar with this work?

Also, I really like Charles Figley's work and am curious to hear if anyone has experience with the Figley Institute?

Thanks!

Headington and Figley

Hi Jane,

Yes, the Headington Institute is doing some very useful work. Their online information is very useful. Laurie Ann Pearlman has been a huge resource fand contributor for them.

I have not had contact with Figley's Institute, but reviewed his work when I was writing my dissertation on vicarious traumatization. His manner is very approachable!

As faculty for the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy in Boston, USA, I have had some interesting conversations about Figley's concept of "compassion fatigue." Some hesitate to see "compassion" as potentially problematic. From a Buddhist psychology perspective, love and compassion are seen as part of human being's inherent nature and right, as well as a skill that can be developed. So, having experiences of burn out, fatigue, cynacism, voyeurism, etc. might suggest that we are experiencing the result of a kind of underdeveloped skill in this area.

What's the Point of the Revolution if We Can't Dance?

Jane Barry, human rights activist and co-facilitator of this dialogue, authored an article entitled "What's the Point of the Revolution if We Can't Dance?". In her article, Jane proposes several strategies to improve activist sustainability:

1. Join forces with fellow activists

Comfort, safety, and healing lies in our relationships with other activists. Our common experiences allow us to share our painful stories, stressors, and exhaustion with others who understand what we are going through. It is crucial that we set aside time to talk, listen, and respond to each others' needs.

2. Cry

Hope Chigudu, a Zimbabwean activist, explained how one organization that deals with HIV/AIDS issues has a special "crying room" set aside for members to process the horrors they experience on a daily basis. We need to give ourselve permission to feel the sorrow and pain that comes with our work. Set aside some time for yourself to cry, process your emotions, and then let go. It can make a world of difference.

3. Spirituality

Whether it is spending time in nature, meditating, or attending a place of worship, spirituality can renew and recharge. Spirituality, in whatever form, takes us back to our deepest values and beliefs, reminding us of our passion and commitment to justice. It can bring peace, calm, and help to make sense of what is happening around us. Find whatever it is that centers you and brings you spiritual peace, even if it's just planting a flower garden. The goal is to find a way to center yourself, be reminded of your core values, and return to a loving world.

4. Incorporate sustainable practices into your daily schedule

  • Take frequent breaks to stretch, drink some tea, or meditate.
  • Keep work at the workplace.
  • Budget time for reflection during the work week.
  • If you are able to afford it, schedule a massage, reiki, Thai bodywork, pilates, yoga, or talk therapy.

5. Make the change

Take the time to contemplate what keeps you in balance. What brings you peace, tranquility, well-being, and renewal? Listen to your needs! We must challenge beliefs about what it means to be a "good" activist in the movement. It is time to start taking care of ourselves as much as we care for others. We cannot heal others until we have taken the time to heal ourselves.

Mindfulness practice and self-care

Dr. Dan Siegel is a child psychiatrist and researcher at UCLA who describes himself as an "interpersonal neurobiologist". His 2010 book "Mindsight" explains his research on brain structure and function including a focus on mindfulness practice and its benefits for mental, emotional and interpersonal well-being. He discusses brain plasticity, or neuroplasticity, the phenomenon whereby experience can alter the physical structure of the brain, growing new neurons and forming new connections. Research demonstrates that the regular practice of mindfulness meditation can physically strengthen areas of the brain that control regulation of emotions and other important functions. Understanding this reality can provide incentive to activists to explore mindfulness meditation or other approaches to mindfulness as part of a self-care program, in the same way that understanding the physiological benefits of healthy diet, aerobic exercise and adequate sleep can reinforce motivation to do those things. You can google "Daniel Siegel" and/or "mindfulness" for more information and follow the links. Of course, there are many routes into exploring the benefits of mindfulness practice for well-being.

Its not only about maintaining health

I know this has been mentioned before but I've been concerned with some of the employer-related self care 'speak' that tends to imply that the best result for self care is to minimize damage and maintain a steady state system. This is a kind of 'containment' model of health care where we are encouraged to check ourselves regularly for damage and take time and/or action to allow and encourage healing. Of itself this is a fine model and has a lot to commend it. But I've become less satisified with this model. It seems somewhat 'tame' and almost too safe. I have become more of a proponent of 'thriving' rather than just surviving. It seems to me that there are certain environmental conditions that create increased changes for thriving and growing. There are other environments that wear away health and degrade life. And there are other environments when life just trucks along OK. But self care has to be more than merely maintaining my present wellbeing. I want to see growth. I want to thrive, grow and develop because I believe that my self care activities must also influence my ability to thrive and grow. So an individual self care plan needs to include indicators of growth as well as indicators or prevention of damage. To be comprehensive and sustainable a self care plan needs to include indicators of increased growth and enhanced thriving, or improved ability to cope and live. So, if we consider the role of employers in this process a truly healthy employment context will be one that clearly identifies individual growth and enhanced thriving. Most organizations measure staff wellbeing through the mechanism of health plans, EAP's, security processes, professional development plans, etc. But the majority of these processes have containment and mitigation as their major objectives. There are very few care prorgams that expect people to actually grow and thrive. So, for me, evidence of both self care and care for others must include clear reference to not only mitigation but also to growth.

HOW do we grow and thrive?

Dear John, 

I am absolutely in agreement with your comment above - do you already have some indicators of growth and thriving and enhanced living (agreed, we have to agree what all that means)? are you working on them? 

And then, how do we go about introducing processes that will achieve these... perhaps I am too fast in this dialogue to want to talk about 'solutions' ... one of my BAD activist traits...  but I hope we will get to such discussions.  I believe that it is in the process of doing - of striving to achieve our visions - that we grow and thrive.  So I am looking forward to more ideas on the HOW...

Indicators of Growth

linchew wrote:

do you already have some indicators of growth and thriving and enhanced living (agreed, we have to agree what all that means)? are you working on them? 

 

Straight to the hard questions! Love it! :) And, I'm with you on the HOW of it all. One of biggest personal challenges is my procrastination about most things. So I can have a great conversation about what needs to be done but not get round to doing it (like mowing the lawns, for example). My first source would be to look at the developing post-traumatic growth literature because it directly relates to the conversations we are having. But then I think we need to broaden our view quite a lot and think laterally. Education, for example, has a massive literature on how 'growth' and 'thriving' can be enhanced through excellent educational processes. When we look at pre-school or early childhood education there may be clues as to how to create positive environments, how teachers know when a child is thriving, what are the indicators of growth (social, psychological, physical, ethical, spritual) and how is 'success' assessed objectively. Organizational Psych has measures for organizational culture, context, climate, loyalty and morale which may be indicators of thriving. The whole environmental movement can clearly describe the difference between contexts where life thrives or dies. The significance of Colony Collapse Disorder for bees is just now being understood in terms of thriving versus surviving. The broader 'green movement" with connections to "slow living" might have data that supports an ecological approach to how organisms and cultures thrive. Moving right back into org-speak, most HR departments have personal develoment plans for staff. Why? Employee perks? Increased skills? Reduce turnover? Or, maybe, to create an environment that encourages thriving and growth. I wonder if we could take measurements already being collated and assign them to the category of "growth" and/or "thriving"? Just a thought!

Vicarious Resilience

Among John's useful suggestions for how to understand and enhance growth and thriving in the context of activism, he suggests looking at the post-traumatic growth literature. In a related theme, my colleagues Pilar Hernandez, David Engstrom and I have investigated the phenomenon that we observed among therapists working with survivors of torture. We call it vicarious resiience, referring to the way that exposure to the resilience of the survivors we work with has a positive impact on our experience and understanding of ourselves and our own lives. As with vicarious trauma, conscious awareness of vicarious resilience increases our ability to recognize it when it's happening and respond intentionally. We studied mental health professionals in Colombia who were providing care to individuals and family members of those who had been kidnapped, disappeared and/or tortured. Some of the vicarious resilience factors we observed were increased awareness of the human capacity for healing, a more tolerant perspective on our own problems, an increased appreciation for spirituality as a healing resource, and reaffirmation of the value of our own work and our ability to sustain engagement with it. Our publications are in Family Process, 2007 and Traumatology, 2008.

Vicarious Resilience

dgangsei wrote:
Our publications are in Family Process, 2007 and Traumatology, 2008.

This is great, David. Thanks for sharing it. How can we have access to the publications?

YOU know what thriving and growing looks like!

Thank you all so much. I am loving the deep insight combined with practical resources in this dialogue.

I'd like to suggest that we may know a whole lot more about what growing and thriving looks like than we think. Perhaps we do not need to survey the literature and etc. 

A few years ago I started talking to long-time community activsts in the Denver area about why, when so many of us are so frustrated with the way the world is, do we seem so stuck?! We came up with quite a comprehensive critique of activism itself, which includes some of the issues that have already been discussed here, such as burn-out, people consumed with anger or hopelessness, trauma, and so on. But another strong theme was this: we are very good at identifying and going on in detailed length about what's wrong, but when asked, "well, what kind of world or community (or activist organization) do you want to see?", we fall short. We can make broad statements about peace and justice and equality and human rights. But what does that actually look like? And, if we could articulate a clear vision for what that looked like, would it likely not be far more compelling to all the "ordinary folks" (non-activists) out there - wouldn't it provide a stronger call to get involved than our critiques born of frustration and anger - no matter how legitimate or righteous? 

What came of all of this was the launch of a grassroots effort to engage activists, non-profit workers, churches and other religious groups, and any other grouping of people for that matter, in visioning.

I have found that when a group of people sets aside time to envision the world or community or organization they are yearning to create, they can see it. They come up with the most amazing things! They don't need a whole lot of literature from experts. And so when faced with the question, "well, what does it look like, organizationally, to support growing and thriving?", I would ask you exactly that - what does it look like to you, given your own organizational context, or remembering organizations you have worked for? Give yourself the freedom to really get out of the box, to dream. That's what I would find not only the most convincing, but the most inspiring.

For example, some initial little dreams that come to my mind:

  • The organization ensures that each person is playing to her strengths in her work, and enjoys her work. The organization also works with each person to ensure she is growing in her "career path", if she so desires.
  • The organization lets the values of growth and thriving guide the construction/lay-out of the office, including: open spaces full of light; a nap/meditation room; easy access to nature. 
  • The organization has a health-care plan which pays for or subsidizes therapy.
  • The organization supports people taking breaks, taking walks, having lunch together, and does not subtract this from legitimate work time but rather views this as contributing to organizational effectiveness
  • The organization sets aside time for staff people to contribute something of personal meaning every so often (such as offering a spiritual reading, guiding an arts workshop for the staff, playing an instrument, or...)
  • Staff work no more than 32 hours/week, so they can contribute time to their communities, or spiritual growth, or gardens, or...
  • Rather than "supervision" there is shared mentorship with very clear understanding of the enormously beneficial role of both appreciation and constructive feedback, where we regularly provide both to each other.   
  • and on and on...

So let's hear it! What does growing and thriving look like to you, in an activist organizational context? 

-Kris

Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights

...envisioning, growing and thriving...

Dear Kris,

thank you for sharing "Let Us Rise"  - a great initiative!  Taking up your challenge,  for me, "growing and thriving" is:

  • having the will-power to get up and take that early morning swim that I know will be such a good start to my (work) day
  • having the courage to ut loose and start working full time on what I really want to do - organising and putting in place ways to facilitate organisations in Asia to start thinking of the possibility of instituting all the sustaining measures you - and others in this dialogue - have listed
  • striking lucky and finding the resources to really set this up: the blueprint is ready and waiting..
  • patiently working on step-by-step to build the network of people and organisations that will support and collaborate to make this come true....

Thanks again, Kris.

having a vision

Actually exploring the vision of what we would like to see in the world is important. Someone told me that 'worrying is praying for what you don't want to happen!' Too often we focus on what we don't want rather than what we do. This can lead to a loss of focus and direction, running around fire fighting rather than working towards a vision. A sense that the work will never be done can lead to burnout.

What would this world you are trying to create with your activism actually look like, sound like, smell like, taste like! How mush more inspiring would it be if our vision of another world actually became a shared one. This shared vision could become infectious and something tangible for those involved to aspire to, and even for those not involved to have a clear sense of what you are about and how they might participate. Martin Luther's 'I had a dream' would not have resonated down the years if instead he had said 'I have a nightmare' or 'I have a long list of problems'. 

Having a clear vision is a first step towards it becoming reality. As Arundhati Roy said "Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing."

For the Transition Network, creating a shared community vision is a key part of the approach to helping communities face up to the issues. From the vision it can then look at how to join the dots between where it is now and how to connect to the vision of how they would like the future to turnout. 

This is a useful exercise for any group to do - establish a shared vision of what it looks like when it is done, and then work back to see what steps would get you there. That way the activity becomes less overwhelming as it is clear where it fits on the map of making the whole.

 

 

 

How to create a shared vision

Oh... I do agree so entirely in the importance of creating a shared vision! If you need a process by which to do this, Let Us Rise offers a facilitation guide here.

Then -- and this is important!-- you can submit your group's vision, and view other groups' visions, here.

I have found that, while individual non-profits or groups of activists may appreciate doing the visioning and see how it will benefit their group, there is reluctance at "wasting time" to post their visions so that they may be shared beyond the broader group. This is sad to me, because one of the most powerful parts of this visioning process is looking at what other groups came up with, and finding the commonality.

Hope this is useful!

Kris

Its not only about maintaining health...

This is so important! Thanks for reminding us, John.

I fully agree that many forums related to staff-care are focused on the “containment” model. Would you give some examples of the few programs you know of, that refer not only to mitigation but also to growth?

Linking what you said to my last note in another thread of this dialogue, I’m also wondering how much of the organizational culture model, that humanitarian organizations use, is responsible and conducive or not for what you are saying. Furthermore, should we have a critical view of the “business model” that humanitarian NGOs have a tendency to follow?

When humanitarian organisations incorporate values and practices from the private sector, without criticizing or even challenging other things they may be taking on or incorporating  (especially when we talk about result-oriented practices/models that are full of ideology and subjectivity  which  is incompatible with humanitarian principles),  I wonder how this adds more on to the staff-care struggle.

Marcio Gagliato

NGO Business Model

marcioscj wrote:

 I’m also wondering how much of the organizational culture model, that humanitarian organizations use, is responsible and conducive or not for what you are saying. Furthermore, should we have a critical view of the “business model” that humanitarian NGOs have a tendency to follow?

Marcio Gagliato

I think we have to take this into account. Humanitarian work began in a somewhat paternalistic and colonizing context. Part of the fruits of empire, if you like. It also has been interwoven with mission, military objectives and economic imperatives. Although much has changed the basic model of diagnosis followed by intervention still underpins a lot of program design. As the years have gone by aid work has become more corporate in structure and process with, I believe, a loss of 'soul'.  The Western Corporate model is dominated by male, heirachical processes and rewards over-involvement and power. Somewhat disingeniously aid agencies claim to not be interested in 'regime change" whereas, in fact, their whole existence is based precisely on that premise. The regime may not be political or economic or military, but it certainly is about change. I've seen this most obviously where western orgnizational structures set themselves up in places where cultures are run along kinship group relationships and where web-like networks hold cultures together. The strict, vertical model of many aid agencies, with the power centered in Western locations, can cut across local contexts, with consequent damage to social support processes. So many locally employed staff find themselves potentially traumatized by the crisis and then cut off from their local support networks by strict adherence to Western "objective" management processes. While international staff certainly experince degrees of culture shock when responding to humanitarian emergencies, locally employed staff can first be swamped by the water-tsunami and then further battered by the western-tsunami as the aid agencies arrive. I now have a rule of thumb as to the survival prospects of a local branch of an INGO following a major catastrophe. I predict that within 12 months of a major environmental crisis (asian tsunami, Haitian earthquake) the leadership of the local branch of the INGO will be replaced, along with much of the previous management team. What happens is that over many years a local branch of an INGO will develop a culturally appropriate process for engaging with the local community. As time goes by the central power HQ (in Europe or America) will express disattisfaction with local leadership as they "move away from the overarching organizational culture". They would like to replace the leadership but cannot easily do so. The emergency crisis provides a relatively easy way to "renew the leadership team to meet the new challenges" and thus re-exert the organizational culture. In other words, where the power to take my job away lies in another country amongst people I will never meet or understand, my wellbeing is compromised.

Growth, not safety

John Fawcett wrote:

Self care has to be more than merely maintaining my present wellbeing. I want to see growth. I want to thrive, grow and develop because I believe that my self care activities must also influence my ability to thrive and grow.

Thanks John, this is a great observation. In my activist development work I'm seeking to support people to become increasingly powerful and effective. This means pushing up against constraints, either personal patterns that undermine effectiveness, or powerful entrenched interests in society. Playing safe or staying within a comfort-zone aren't likely to get the kind of results we're really after.

In another thread someone talked about avoiding burnout being about finding a balance between energy going out and energy coming in. Sometimes it makes sense for activists to do less - but the other option is to get more support and resources to enable a heavy workload or very challenging project. Sometimes the things that seem most terrifying or impossible actually facilitate a lot of personal growth.

Not sure if this fits with what you are saying, but it's what came to mind when reading your post.

post traumatic growth and flourishing

Well said, John.Thank you.

In the current psychological literature, writers such as Alan Wallance and Shawna Shapiro are speaking eloquently of the necessity of building a body of knowledge around this topic, and how to promote this. In the face of trauma, the challenge is even more compelling and complex. Naming this as a goal, beyond containment or mitigation in the institutional context, or beyond symptom reduction in the cllinical context, is on the cutting edge of current thinking within the fields of psychology, science, and in the human services. The surge of interest in "neuroplasticity" in neuroscientific circles is a case in point; as is the Dalai Lama's profound and yet simple message about engaging in life with a "good heart" focused on reducing suffering and increasing happiness; as is the notion of "open systems" in physics. It seems to be that claiming this as a conscious goal is the first and very important step toward facilitating well being.

Habitual Patterns

Thanks for this important discussion. I love hearing about the many new (and historical) practices for sustainability. I worked for many years with Urgent Action Fund for Women's Human Rights and had the privilege of spending a lot of time with fellow activists from around the world. One of my concerns when it comes to self care is deep-rooted habitual patterns in activist movements. For example, during one of my visits with a group in the Balkans, I sat with women who had been in the movement their whole lives. The level of burn out was palpable. The idea of security/safety was scoffed at as a symbol of weakness. All involved were exhausted, running on little sleep and eating only when food was passed around. They were experiencing constant threats and violence. There had also been cancer-related deaths within the community and no resources to support either the cancer patient or her organization. When we discussed sustaining activism/activists, there was resonance and interest. However, many of the resources (even eating well or sleeping) seemed unfathomable to many of the activists I spoke with.

Another example was in the Philippines where I met with activists who moved from house to house to stay safe from threats to their lives. The concept of caring for oneself seems to have multiple layers, for many activists it means staying alive, for many it means working with secondary trauma, and for many it means having the time to have a relationship etc. 

I was particularly concerned when discussing the sustainability concept with activists who had been involved for their whole life in movements that had definitive unsustainable/unhealthy structures and norms. It seemed almost impossible to penetrate the survival mode they had developed. And, when we did begin to talk, the dams broke open and what came out had no real container. Many activists felt that if they actually began to address the issues preventing their sustainability they would loose the strength they needed to be 'fearless'. 

Of course we had many successes with the sustainability work we were engaging in. However, lack of resources always came up. Often the feedback we received was: 'So we've opened this pandora's box. Now what?" There are still very few resources for activists who want to engage in this. In the end though, even with the resources, how do we support a change in habitual patterns in activism. And how do activists who are living in life or death situations find the time, energy, resources, or support to engage in their own sustainability? 

'Breaking the dam' & providing stories of alternatives

Ariella - thank you for sharing your experience with this topic and these thought-provoking questions. I have been thinking about these questions for days - and well, these questions were the inspiration for this dialogue.

Ariella Lindström Futral wrote:

And, when we did begin to talk, the dams broke open and what came out had no real container.

This lack of container may be the reason why this topic is not often addressed in activist circles. We were also worried about 'breaking the dam' with this dialogue. I'm really not sure what the answer is to this, but I think bringing together a group of practitioners to talk about how to address this is the first step. How else can this be addressed if not through a strong network of activists dedicated to self-care? I can image having an online space / online community of practitioners on alert ready to respond to activists' concerns. Frontline Defenders has an emergency phone line - can we have that for well-being support? And how will activists know that this resource exists? Only through a strong network. Do you think something like this might be possible?

I found this other point you raised very interesting:

Ariella Lindström Futral wrote:

Many activists felt that if they actually began to address the issues preventing their sustainability they would loose the strength they needed to be 'fearless'. 

Do you think that there might be some truth to this? That once these issues are addressed - they are also activated? It's a scary scenario.  If this is the belief - what is basically a lose-lose situation - then there's no getting out of it unless the alternative is communicated in a way that can be heard. We need many many stories of activists that DO take care of themselves! We need to translate Jane Barry's book What's the Point of a Revolution if we can't Dance into every language and then make a movie out of it.  What do you think? How can we document and share the stories of an alternative in a meaningful way?

The Work That Reconects

A few years ago I was preparing a workshop on Avoiding Activist Burnout and I was at a week long conference with some great activist speakers. So I thought I would go and ask them what their tips were for avoiding burnout. One of the first that I approached was Joanna Macy. She is an eco-philosopher, scholar of Buddhism, general systems theory, and deep ecology and has been an activist for over four decades. She simply said that 'all her work was about avoiding activist burnout.' Hmm  - I thought, this dosn't give me the tips I need for my workshop so later in the week I asked again, but got the same answer! Her work has become known as 'the Work That Reconnects' . The source book for the work is 'Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World' and it is an invaluable tool - it is an open source guide with lots of group exercises. 

One that I would like to point to here is called Breathing Through:

Basic to most spiritual traditions, as well as to the systems view of the world, is the recognition that we are not separate, isolated entities, but integral and organic parts of the vast web of life. As such, we are like neurons in a neural net, through which flow currents of awareness of what is happening to us, as a species and as a planet. In that context, the pain we feel for our world is a living testimony to our interconnectedness with it. If we deny this pain, we become like blocked and atrophied neurons, deprived of life's flow and weakening the larger body in which we take being. But if we let it move through us, we affirm our belonging; our collective awareness increases. We can open to the pain of the world in confidence that it can neither shatter nor isolate us, for we are not objects that can break. We are resilient patterns within a vaster web of knowing.

Because we have been conditioned to view ourselves as separate, competitive and thus fragile entities, it takes practice to relearn this kind of resilience. A good way to begin is by practicing simple openness, as in the exercise of "breathing through," adapted from an ancient Buddhist meditation for the development of compassion.

Closing your eyes, focus attention on your breathing. Don't try to breathe any special way, slow or long. Just watch the breathing as it happens in and out. Note the accompanying sensations at the nostrils or upper lip, in the chest or abdomen. Stay passive and alert, like a cat by a mouse hole......

As you watch the breath, you note that it happens by itself; without your will, without your deciding each time to inhale or exhale...It's as though you're being breathed--being breathed by life...Just as everyone in this room, in this city, in this planet now, is being breathed, sustained in a vast, breathing web of life
......

Now visualize your breath as a stream or ribbon of air passing through you. See it flow up through your nose, down through your windpipe and into your lungs. Now from your lungs take it through your heart. Picture it flowing through your heart and out through an opening there to recon-nect with the larger web of life. Let the breath-stream, as it passes through you, appear as one loop within that vast web, connecting you with it
......

Now open your awareness to the suffering that is present in the world. Drop for now all defenses and open to your knowledge of that suffering. Let it come as concretely as you can...concrete images of your fellow beings in pain and need, in fear and isolation, in prisons, hospitals, tenements, hunger camps...no need to strain for these images, they are present to you by virtue of our interexistence. Relax and just let them surface...the vast and countless hardships of our fellow humans, and of our animal brothers and sisters as well, as they swim the seas and fly the air of this ailing planet...Now breathe in the pain like dark granules on the stream of air; up through your nose, down through your trachea, lungs and heart, and out again into the world net...You are asked to do nothing for now, but let it pass through your heart......Be sure that stream flows through and out again; don't hang on to the pain...surrender it for now to the healing resources of life's vast web......

With Shantideva, the Buddhist saint, we can say, "Let all sorrows ripen in me." We help them ripen by passing them through our hearts...making good rich compost out of all that grief...so we can learn from it, enhancing our larger, collective knowing
......

If no images or feelings arise and there is only blankness, grey and numb, breathe that through. The numbness itself is a very real part of our world...

And if what surfaces for you is not the pain of other beings so much as your own personal suffering, breathe that through, too. Your own anguish is an integral part of the grief of our world, and arises with it
......

Should you feel an ache in the chest, a pressure in the rib cage, as if the heart would break, that is all right. Your heart is not an object that can break...But if it were, they say the heart that breaks open can hold the whole universe. Your heart is that large. Trust it. Keep breathing......

This guided meditation serves to introduce the process of breathing through, which, once familiar, becomes useful in daily life in the many situations that confront us with painful information. By breathing through the bad news, rather than bracing ourselves against it, we can let it strengthen our sense of belonging in the larger web of being. It helps us remain alert and open, whether reading the newspaper, receiving criticism, or simply being present to a person who suffers.

For activists working for peace and justice, and those dealing most directly with the griefs of our time, the practice helps prevent burnout. Reminding us of the collective nature of both our prob-lems and our power, it offers a healing measure of humility. It can save us from self-righteousness. For when we can take in our world's pain, accepting it as the price of our caring, we let it inform our acts without needing to inflict it as a punishment on others who are, at the present moment, less involved.

-----

There are some practices on the website not in the book here:
http://joannamacy.net/newpractices.html

 

 

Emotional self-management for activists

"Emotional self-management for activists" is an article published in the journal Reflective Practice in 2008. It is available at http://www.bmartin.cc/pubs/08rp.html

Here's the abstract: It is important for activists to be able to deal skillfully with their emotions, a process we call emotional self-management. Done both individually and collectively, this can help activists to be more effective and to help create the sort of society they believe is desirable. One approach to skillful management of emotions is through the concept of mindfulness, which involves paying attention to one's state of being. Activists have much to gain by moving from negative emotions to ones such as "joyful hope."

Emotional expression or self-management?

Thanks Brian for posting this article. I appreciate the focus on a topic that doesn't get much attention: tools for activists to cultivate desirable emotional states.

However, I'd like to share some concerns with the perspective that comes across in this article. As someone who is committed to liberation and transformation, I find myself bristling at terms like 'self-management' and regulation. I wonder if some old prejudices are in place in assumptions around 'negative' versus 'desirable' emotions. There's a sense that feelings are unruly, dangerous, and need to be contained.

You mention Reevaluation Counselling in the article. I have practiced RC (or co-counselling) for many years and found it a very valuable resource for recovering intelligence and decoupling thinking from past distressing experiences. Some assumptions of RC:

  1. People are inherently good and have always tried their best. Any mistreatment of any person, or perpetration of oppression, is a result of experiencing mistreatment or oppression.
  2. People are capable of healing from hurtful experiences through the aware release of emotions (for example crying, shaking, yawning, expressing anger). Oppressive societies suppress this natural process (don't cry, be a big boy, toughen up, keep it together, take antidepressants etc).
  3. Closeness between people is key to emotional healing, countering oppression, and organising to change society.
  4. The 'desirable emotional state' is being present: thinking clearly in the present time, without reacting from a place of painful past experiences.Time is spent at the end of counselling session to 'get people present', rather than dwelling on the past.

The main method of RC is one-to-one peer counselling, where two people exchange listening time, each getting a turn to talk and express feelings. In addition there are classes, workshops and support groups (often based on constituency eg class-based groups, men and women, white people and people of colour).

I see some similarities between RC's notion of present time and mindfulness:

bmartin wrote:

Mindfulness involves "paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally" (Kabat-Zinn, 1990, p. 4).

I have recommended mindfulness practice to activists I mentor. I do wonder about it though as a sole practice. There doesn't seem to be space made for the expression of feelings. In the list of 'Emotion Regulation Skills' there is observation of emotion, but it sounds a bit distant. 'Distress tolerance techniques' involve lots of different ways to avoid emotions.

I think expressing feelings is a healthy response to personal struggles and the state of the world. There is a lot of pressure on people to be numb (overwork, distracting media, use of substances etc). It looks to me that this numbness is contrary to building a better society. Being able to feel is a very human attribute. Having capacity to listen to other people's feelings is a valuable activist skill. I think making space for activists to express emotions, rather than simply manage them, could have a powerful impact on reducing burnout and increasing activist effectiveness.

I'm interested to hear from others on this point. I'm conscious that other approaches besides RC emphasise emotional release - such as art therapy and the Work that Reconnects.

Over farmed land become deserts

 

There was an article in Permaculture magazine a few years ago on burnout written by addictions specialist and empowerment coach Chris Johnstone. He says that when land is over-farmed, areas once fertile may turn into deserts. In humans, a similar process can occur. It is called Burnout. In the article he comes up with 10 points inspired by permaculture principles:
1. VALUE YOURSELF AS A RESOURCE

2. RECOGNISE THE RISK

3. SELF-MONITORING

4. IDENTIFYING HOT-SPOTS

5. COMMITMENT CROPPING

6. FEED THE SOIL (OR EMOTIONAL BANK BALANCE)

7. COMPANION PLANTING

8. REVIEW YOUR EXPERIENCE OF SUCCESS & FAILURE

9. CROP ROTATION WITH FALLOW PERIODS

10. GROW THE CROPS YOU MOST WANT TO GROW

Read the full article here http://www.chrisjohnstone.info/PDF/Burnout.pdf

Some personal 'traps' that contribute to burn-out

Here are some 'traps' I've noticed activists can fall into - many of which I'm familiar with from my own experience! These attitudes or practices can contribute to activist burn-out. They can reduce our enjoyment of life and the effectiveness of our actions. Happily, these traps can be challenged or avoided. I'd loved to hear people's thoughts on these.

Scale: Always focusing on the enormity of the problem wears us down! It’s very valuable to be able to focus attention on big problems (more people would be activists if they could) but we need techniques to handle despair and avoid being overwhelmed. Some approaches that may be helpful are: noticing what is going well, getting support with our feelings, breaking our campaigns/projects into smaller scale measurable steps, and celebrating the steps along the way.

Boundaries: Being open to taking on everything is the fast road to burn-out. We can set realistic boundaries – around the amount of time we devote to activism, when and where we work, and what kinds of work we do. We can prioritise. Doing this means we are more likely to be able to perform well and not spread ourselves too thin. We can practice saying ‘No’ and face the feelings that come up.

Monopolies: If we take on heavy workloads alone we can trap ourselves into believing we’re indispensable – ‘no-one else can do it’. Sharing information, workloads, networks and decision making may mean we feel less special and crucial, but is far healthier and sustainable. To stop monopolising work means trusting others, delegating, and investing time in other people’s development. It can also mean being prepared to let things not happen.

Isolation: Activism can be isolating. Building closeness in our lives can seem like a lower priority than the activist tasks we’ve set ourselves. But working for change shouldn’t be a lonely project. Investing in building relationships, letting people in, and asking for help can make a big difference to our activist experience – and our whole lives.

Responsibility and Guilt: Activists take responsibility for addressing social and ecological problems. The decision to stand up against oppression or take action for change is incredibly valuable. However some activists can over-personalise this responsibility so that if they’re not doing their utmost they can feel like the problem is their fault. We need to keep it in context. For example, we did not start the oppression, we are not actually cutting down trees etc. Feeling guilty doesn’t help anyone.

Perfectionism: This is another scale issue – it’s difficult to feel pleased with anything you do if you are focused on every tiny mistake. Changing the world involves making mistakes, being experimental, being bold. Perfectionism holds us back.

Motivations: Some activists and community workers are motivated to do good deeds by feeling better about ourselves. This traps us because when we need to stop or take a holiday we can hit feelings of being bad and worthless. With stronger self-esteem we can change our emotional relationship with our activism, and work from more sustainable motivations.

Skills Gaps: Very few activists have access to the training they need to tackle the tasks they take on. Being continually stretched outside our capabilities can be exhausting and demoralising, and we can feel like there is something wrong with us. It is also pretty amazing how much we figure out on the fly! Having access to training and mentoring is an investment in preventing burn-out, and will increase effectiveness. Planning to work a mix of competence and challenge can help us keep our heads above water.

Lack of systemic analysis: If we don’t have a big picture of the situation we can be devastated by every little set back. Understanding the power relationships in society, and what stage our movement is at, helps us keep perspective. It also means we channel our efforts more effectively, for example we don’t try to build a mass rally when we still need to do awareness raising about a problem.

On the other hand…Self-care is a Political Project

  • Having a good life and being happy challenges oppression and contributes to a better future.
  • It makes activism more attractive to others.
  • It enables you to be active for a long time and enjoy it!
Three great resources

Here are three books I've found useful:

The links take you to short reviews.

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