Resources for the global digital safety training community.
Supporting Self-Care
Our work is never easy – but before we can truly take care of others, we must first learn to take care of ourselves.
Self-care is an essential part of a holistic digital security practice, and is important to consistently reinforce and encourage – it is highly recommended that you distribute exercises related to self-care throughout your training.
Trainer’s Note
For this and all sessions in your training, always be aware of participants’ different physical abilities and limitations. Some of the above exercises involve physical contact between individuals - both you and other participants must be conscious of and sensitive to those who may not be comfortable with being touched by others (this is especially true of certain cultures over others)
For this reason, these exercises are best suited for groups of who already know and trust one another quite well. If some participants prefer not to participate in these activities, let them know that this is completely acceptable and that they will not be made to feel uncomfortable.
Building Feminist Self-Care
This exercise gives participants an opportunity to reflect on the importance of self-care in their daily lives, allowing them to build a definition of self-care in a judgement-free environment.
The Loving Touch
In this relaxing exercise, participants will connect with each other through touch and bodily contact, reflecting on the acts of giving and receiving love, care and affection.
Look
In this exercise, participants will push back on any feelings of monotony, disenchantment, sadness and disconnection by activating their desire to dream and rejoice with life.
Our Reflection
This exercise gives participants an opportunity to think about their own self-care practices – specifically, which ones they already do well, which ones they could improve, and which ones they might want to adopt.
The Act of NO
This exercise is a reflection opportunity for participants - in particular human rights defenders - to think about on the burdens placed on them, and how they can better justify for themselves the need for self-care.
Love Letter to Myself
This exercise is meant to provide space and time for human right defenders to think about themselves, their concerns, and the actions they can take to relieve the pressures they face.