Raise Your Voice Blog | Nicole Clark Consulting

5 Jul, 2013

Self Care Corner: Identify Your “Breathe” Supports

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:13:12-04:00July 5th, 2013|Categories: Self & Community Care|Tags: Self Care Corner|0 Comments

In order to raise your voice for others, you have to take care of yourself first. That’s where self care comes in. If you like this tip, be sure to sign up for the Raise Your Voice newsletter to receive your copy of The Revolution Starts with Me! self care zine for more tips and self care resources.

Here’s a great resource from the University of Buffalo School of Social Work designed to help you identify the people in your life you can turn to in times of stress and overwhelm, and how you can check-in to see where your stress level is.

Your “Breathe” supports are people who can recognize when you are feeling worried or stressed, and who you can rely on to let you know when you need to chill out.

“Identify Your ‘Breathe’ Supports” asks five important questions:

*Who supports you, and what kind of support do they provide? (This can include physical, emotional, spiritual, etc.)

*Who is in regular contact with you to be able to notice visual signs of you becoming stressed?

*Do you feel that the people you’ve chosen as your ‘breathe’ supports are sufficient, or do you need to expand your circle of support?

*Can you recognize when you’re becoming stressed?

*What do you need to be able to recognize when you’re becoming stressed?

Having people in your corner to gently let you know when you’re becoming stressed is very beneficial. Sometimes, all we need is someone in our corner to say, “Just breathe”.

Download the “Identify Your Breathe Supports” worksheet.

RAISE YOUR VOICE: Who do you identify as your “breathe” supports? What are some ways you can identify when you’re becoming stressed?

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14 Jun, 2013

Self Care Corner: Intentional Boredom

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:13:23-04:00June 14th, 2013|Categories: Self & Community Care|Tags: self care, Self Care Corner|0 Comments

In order to raise your voice for others, you have to take care of yourself first. That’s where self care comes in. If you like this tip, be sure to sign up for the Raise Your Voice newsletter to receive your copy of The Revolution Starts with Me! self care zine for more tips and self care resources.

This is one of my favorite self care exercises (and actually one of the most difficult to do)!

Created by Christine Kane, singer/songwriter and president/founder of UpLevel You , this self care exercise drives home how we often try to keep ourselves busy, fitting in so many activities to make ourselves believe that we’re being productive. What we need to realize, however, stillness (i.e., “not doing anything”) is when things start to happen. Christine says, “[We] think it’s all about the “doing.” And yes, there is some “doing”…But just as composers believe that a great piece of music is a lot about the rests in between the notes– I believe that a creative happy life is a lot about the rests between the activities.“

Christine calls this ”intentional boredom“, a period where you allow some down time in order for ideas and thoughts to flow. It’s where things begin to build. Think about strength training. When you lift weights, you damage the muscles fibers. However, your day of rest from lifting weights is when the muscle actually repairs itself, becoming stronger.

Intentional boredom can be very uncomfortable because we feel that we have to do something with our time. However, as author Echkart Tolle writes, ”As you bring awareness to the feeling, there is suddenly some space and stillness around it. As the sense of inner space grows, the feeling of boredom will begin to diminish in intensity and significance. So even boredom can teach you who you are and who you are not.“

So, try out this self care exercise for the next 7 days:

1 – Take out your calendar.

2 – Schedule in 10-minute blocks of “Intentional Boredom” time for 7 consecutive days, starting today.

3 – Show up at your scheduled time. Turn off distractions (your phone, the TV, etc.) and be still. It will feel uncomfortable, but think to yourself, “It’s only 10 minutes!” Allow whatever comes into your mind to flow in and out effortlessly. Consider this your me-time away from the everyday distractions in life.

RAISE YOUR VOICE: After at least 3 days of intentional boredom, share 3 things you noticed as you did this exercise in the comments below.

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3 Apr, 2013

Tackling Teen Pregnancy Prevention: A Comparison of Solutions

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:08:47-04:00April 3rd, 2013|Categories: Research & Evaluation|Tags: activism, Youth|0 Comments

(Image from Teens in New York City Protection+ app, by of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene)

Since the New York City Human Resources Administration launched its “Think Being a Teen Parent Won’t Cost You?” campaign aimed at lowering the city’s teen pregnancy rates a month ago, the campaign (and its ads that are now featured at city bus stops and inside the subways) has been under fire locally and nationally. I’ve been one of those vocal opponents of the messaging of this campaign, and together with the New York Coalition for Reproductive Justice, the No Stigma! No Shame! Campaign began in response to the HRA.

This week, I happened to notice a local news report on a new phone app developed by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, aimed to not only reduce the numbers of teen pregnancy in the city (which has dropped to around 30% within the past decade) but to also show teens where to go for information on birth control, condoms, and testing.

Piquing my interest, I downloaded the app to test it out. I also signed up for the HRA’s texting game by texting “NOTNOW” to 877877 to compare the two. I don’t have to tell you that the outcomes were VERY different.

Here are my observations: (more…)

27 Mar, 2013

Is Social Media Causing Your Activist Burnout?

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:07:57-04:00March 27th, 2013|Categories: Self & Community Care|Tags: activism, self care|0 Comments

(Image source)

There are many benefits to using social media to engage in activism: there’s no cost, it’s readily accessible to many, it’s instant, and you can get the word out about what’s happening in your community.

But what about those moments when you see something on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or other networks you participate in, and you immediate react, and not in a good way? You can feel your body begin to tense up, your breathing becomes deeper, a slight headache starts to form, and your fingers start firing off status updates or tweets.

You may believe that you’re at your activist best when this happens. You’re passionate, enraged, and ready to take action. However, while using social media can be fun, educational, and a great way to mobilize others around your cause, it can also lead to feeling overwhelmed and burned out.

I’ve had multiple conversations with activist friends, spanning a wide array of social justice causes, and they tend to share the same sentiment: They want to make their voices heard to as many people as possible, but it often comes at the price of taking the time out for self care. They feel overwhelmed because they feel pressure (directly or indirectly) to have something to say in order to show their knowledge and leadership. They feel the pressure to always be on. They also feel guilt when they want to take a break from social media, especially when something crucial is happening in their movement.

Is the use of social media affecting your ability to be not only effective in your activism, but also to be mindful of your self care? Here are 4 ways to make sure you’re still socially engaged but also keeping activist burnout at bay.

You might be thinking, “Well, I know this stuff already.”

That’s good. But are you doing it?:
(more…)

20 Mar, 2013

Ask Nicole: “Is a Career as a Reproductive Justice Social Worker Possible?”

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T18:06:04-04:00March 20th, 2013|Categories: Public Health & Social Work|Tags: Ask Nicole, reproductive justice, Social Work|0 Comments

Do you have a question that other Raise Your Voice community members can benefit from? Contact me and I’ll answer it!

I recently received the following question from a young woman who is currently studying social work at an undergraduate university:

Hello! I just found your website, and I am blown away; you’re living my dream life! I’m currently one year away from graduating with my [Bachelors degree in Social Work], and am looking at different options for where to go next. Thinking about the future is scary!

Before flipping through your site, I had never heard the term “reproductive justice field”, but that’s what I want to work in, in a nutshell. But, “reproductive justice” isn’t on the list of social problems that we generally acknowledge in class, and sometimes I feel like I can’t pursue this topic that excites me so much with my social work degree.

So my question is, where do I go from here? I’ve been looking at different grad school programs, and there are so many different options! Do you think that a concentration in public policy would be more helpful than a general practice degree? Do you have any tips for actually finding employment in the “reproductive justice field”? I’ve interned with [pro choice organizations] and am looking into starting a pro choice group on my campus next year; but I’m looking for a sign that any of this can work beyond college.

Any suggestions would be appreciated! Oh, and thanks for being awesome!

Since March is National Social Work Month, I was really excited to receive this question. A degree in social work is one of the most diverse degrees one can obtain. There are many people in various social justice movements and in many career fields that are social workers. As a social worker, you use your skills of engagement to analyze, discover, and develop strategies to work with individuals, agencies, and communities in ways that are holistic and empowering.

Generally, most people are surprised to find out that I’m a social worker. When I’m asked, “What do you do?”, it’s the first thing that I mention. They’re even more surprised at the career I’ve developed and the experiences I’ve had throughout the years. Though I’ve been in the reproductive justice (RJ) field much longer compared to social work, the skills and theories I learned as a social worker student serve to enhance my work in RJ.

I’ve broken down the question above into four separate questions to tackle: (more…)

Self Care Corner: Identify Your “Breathe” Supports

RAISE YOUR VOICE: Who do you identify as your “breathe” supports? What are some ways you can identify when you’re becoming stressed?

Self Care Corner: Intentional Boredom

RAISE YOUR VOICE: After at least 3 days of intentional boredom, share 3 things you noticed as you did this exercise in the comments below.

Tackling Teen Pregnancy Prevention: A Comparison of Solutions

Is Social Media Causing Your Activist Burnout?

Ask Nicole: “Is a Career as a Reproductive Justice Social Worker Possible?”

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