Treat Your Health is a social media campaign where we ask UC Berkeley students how they treat their mental, emotional, and physical health.
Treat Your Health - Jenisha Sabaratnam
How do you take care of your health - mental, emotional, and physical?
What resources on campus do you use in your wellness journey?
What a shock, the RSF is by far the biggest resource I use! I am there quite a lot, and I especially love trying out the group exercise classes. I'm more of a fast-paced, strength-training kind of girl, so I never thought I would enjoy yoga. Just this week my sister told me to go since I called her and mentioned how stressed out I was. I went to Gentle Yoga and it was so amazing! (And also a lot more difficult than I thought!) I've also gone to the Tang Center a few times when I wasn't feeling so well or was sick, and everyone I meet there is always so nice and welcoming.
Treat Your Health - Nina Parks
How do you take care of your health - mental, emotional, and physical?
I try to plan out my schedule in a way that doesn't overwhelm me in the future. I also am a huge advocate for practical self-care like taking a shower or eating a balanced meal. I sometimes overlook these small victories in a day. I know that I personally really need to be in nature so to support my mental, physical, and emotional health I like to exercise outside, anything from walks to extensive hikes.
What do you do to recharge when you're feeling overwhelmed?
I love Netflix. I like to take a little mental break from life and watch an episode of something like Bob's Burgers. I also really like to bake and cook.
What resources on campus do you use in your wellness journey?
PATH to Care is my favorite place on campus. All of the staff has been very supportive of me and my healing journey. They also connected me to the Social Services at Tang, the counselors have been a great resource for me. Because of my experience with PATH to Care, I became a peer educator for the office and now work with them to do prevention work around sexual violence and sexual harassment.
Treat Your Health - Alex Rodriguez
How do you take care of your health - mental, emotional, and physical?
- Mentally, I'm constantly checking in with myself and making sure that I'm not starting to feel burnt out or see myself getting on that path, as I have done before. If my academics are mentally exhausting and draining me, I try to re-evaluate my plans for the future and see where I can readjust my class schedule. Additionally, I also look at my extra-curricular and work commitments and ensure that I can still balance all of my academic commitments. Essentially, I'm always asking myself - "Do I feel okay with everything I'm doing? Do I have to be doing this right now with everything else I have going on? How happy will I be in the long term?"
- Emotionally, I allow myself to feel whatever I'm feeling - happy, sad, angry, etc. - and I make sure to express those sentiments through some medium. Either I call my friends on the phone, make a sentimental 2 am post, or write down my thoughts. Thereafter, I try my best to move on and if my emotions are still affecting me, I try to set a later time for myself to evaluate them.
- Physically, I dance! My life outside of class is all AFX / dance and although it's stressful at times, it helps me stay in shape and helps me dance out the stress I encounter daily in my life. Dancing is a big time commitment, but I honestly would not be able to manage all my other commitments without having this to look forward to every other day.
- I disconnect from social media and my phone often. I used to go off the grid for up to 24 hours, but now I'll usually do 6-8 hour bursts of no phone or social media to finish all of my work for the night. Also, it's nice just to get a break from the drama I usually encounter in my life.
- I also like to disconnect whenever I'm watching Netflix. If I need a break, I usually turn my phone off, lock my door, turn on my string lights, and watch the latest episode of Jane the Virgin. Immersing myself completely in a TV show helps me just catch a break in general and I feel more equipped to handle all the other stressors in my life once I'm back from my Netflix break.
- Go get boba.
- Dance!!
- Lastly, I always try reaching out to my friends from home through a phone call or a spontaneous trip to UC Davis to visit my best friend from home. I usually can't go home because of my busy schedule, but having short bursts of home through a phone call or visit to my friends from home helps me recenter.
- I usually see a counselor at Tang through Social Services once or twice a month. I started going to therapy my freshman year - I went to the drop-in counseling at Chavez and I am so thankful I did. I still go to drop-ins every once in a while when I just need to vent quickly before my upcoming session. I try to get my friends to visit CAPS and make an appointment because I know that regular therapy through Tang has played a big role in my healing process.