Self-Care: How to Create Your Coping Kit

When you think of self-care, do you often think of massages, manicures, pedicures weekend getaways and nice, hot baths with no interruptions? Those are all great forms of self-care and until I was in my late 20s, I hadn’t thought about, or didn’t know about the many other self-care practices I could use to pour into and empower myself. Since then, I’ve discovered therapy, gratitude journaling, exercising and creating and using a coping kit, among many other tools, for self-care.

What is a Coping Kit?

I first heard about coping kits earlier this year while listening to the Therapy for Black Girls podcast (episode 152). I am passionate about self-care and the quick 8-minute episode by Dr. Joy Harden-Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia and creator of Therapy for Black Girls, was exactly what I needed to hear for a strategy to quell my anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine.

Dr. Harden-Bradford describes the coping kit as a “collection of things, all together in one place, that can be useful to you when you’re feeling overwhelmed by emotions and need some ways to distract yourself.” She also gives details about how to create and decorate a box and what you may consider putting in it.

Although I am crafty and love to create, I knew I wanted a box that was accessible at any time so I decided to make my coping kit mostly virtual.

How to Create Your Coping Kit

1. Think about and write down items and activities that soothe, distract and/or lift you when you feel overwhelmed (do this while you’re not in that state).

2. Gather them.

3. Place them in your box (an actual box, virtual box or a mixture of both).

I created a mixture of virtual and actual items for my coping kit. I used the notes app on my phone to create my virtual collection and named it “My Lift Kit.” I made a list of the six things I know lift me. I copied and pasted links to my favorite podcast episodes, pins from Pinterest with affirmations and quotes that empower me and links from sermons on YouTube that ground me through the Word of God. I didn’t want the coping kit to overwhelm me, so I only have a few songs in my playlist and one or two affirmations, quotes and links to sermons.

What’s in my Coping Kit

1. Playlist - When I am anxious or fearful “Make it Happen” by Mariah Carey and “Smile” by Kirk Franklin are some of the songs on my playlist that empower me.

2. Words - Uplifting affirmations, quotes & sermons.

3. CBD Oil - Helps calm me. I place 2-3 drops under my tongue for 10 seconds before ingesting it.

4. Meditation - I have a subscription to Calm (app on my phone). I choose meditations about working through anxiety and fear.

5. Gratitude Journal - I’ve journaled since I was in middle school, but I now have a separate journal to practice gratitude through writing. It shifts my focus and energy to the positive.

6. Podcasts - Therapy for Black Girls, Dropping Gems with Devi Brown, and Super Soul Sunday are some of my favs.

I think it is important to feel your feelings, examine them and let them flow through you, but we also don’t want to let them consistently overwhelm us and stop us from being present for ourselves and our loved ones, so we have to take care of ourselves by using strategies to prevent that from happening. “The Lift Kit” as I call it, has been good to me by helping me to cope and to be present for the joy, peace and happiness in my life.