With February drawing to a close, we find ourselves inching closer to the one-year mark. The pandemic has brought isolation, levels of stress and feelings of burnout to all-time highs — and many of us are struggling to steel ourselves for yet another year of times without precedent.

As we scrape against the very bottom of our depleted reserves, it's natural to look for the strategies that will help us cope, the habits that might help put our minds at ease — in other words, how to practice self-care.

Here on The Review, we’ve had our editorial eyes on a detailed guide to self-care for many months now, but truth be told, we’ve struggled to find a fresh angle that would add value and dive deeper. While the meteoric rise and coverage of self-care has advanced discussions around mental health and wellness, the conversation often stays in shallow waters and recirculates commonly-heard tips. Luckily, we got connected with an expert who immediately grabbed our attention.

Making Self-Care Tactical — Why You Should Focus on Boundaries, Not Just Bubble Baths

“By recycling the same advice, many people don’t recognize that they're creating a box and saying, ‘This is what self-care looks like.’ And that plays a role in why some people feel stuck — they think, ‘Well, I don't like these things,’ or ‘This doesn’t really seem to be helping my anxiety,’” says Jessmina Archbold, a licensed psychotherapist, wellness coach and mental health advocate who is publicly known as Minaa B.. “So I started pushing out my own experiences and sharing what I do to take care of myself, while also talking about race and incorporating frameworks from therapy.”

That attempt to open up and change the narrative struck a chord. In addition to her private practice where she specializes in treating trauma, depression, and anxiety, Archbold has cultivated a thriving Instagram community with over 100K followers, where she shares helpful explainers on mental health topics. (She's also penned a book of essays and poems, puts together prints of handwritten affirmations, and leads workshops at companies like Slack, on topics including building resistance to racism and sustaining work-life balance.)

In this exclusive interview, Archbold challenges us to reexamine the buzzy, yet vague term of self-care and imbue it with deeper meaning. In addition to busting myths, she shares frameworks and practical pieces of advice that probe more deeply beyond commonly cited tactics.

Here's a preview of what's in store:

• An inventory and tier-system to more thoroughly assess where you're depleted.
• Why we need to put boundary work at the center of self-care.
• The 4 archetypes of how folks tend to approach boundaries.
• Tactics for drawing boundaries with yourself and others — and advice for how leaders can respect boundaries on their teams.

As always, thank you for reading and sharing!

-The Review Editors

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