Self-Care Daily Tips During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Ellen Kaufman, MSN, RN, HNB-BC 

Mary Costello, BSN, RN, HNB-BC

VA Boston Healthcare System

NOVA Chapter 226

Ellen Kaufman    Mary Costello

Ellen Kaufman and Mary Costello are NOVA Members who work at the VA Boston Healthcare System. Ellen serves as the Restorative Care Coordinator and Mary is a RN Case Manager in Primary Care. They are also the Co-Chairs of the Holistic Committee and are board certified Holistic Nurses. The Holistic Committee feels passionately that caring for ourselves is key to being able to care for others so they have been sending out daily emails during the COVID-19 pandemic. Holistic practices such as mindfulness along with proper nutrition, rest, and physical activity help us to destress and function at our greatest potential. 

Here’s an example of a Self-Care Daily Tip. 

Today’s self-care tip is a meditation called Metta Meditation or Loving Kindness meditation.   

In Buddha teachings, it can mean cultivating benevolence for self and others which is what we do as healthcare providers/in our service to Veterans. It is a nice meditation to recite when getting up to begin your day or before bed at night and is fitting for today’s environment. 

Make sure you are in a comfortable position and focus on your breath. Take a breath between each phrase.

Begin by directing your compassion towards yourself:

May I be safe,

May I be healthy,

May I be at peace

Then begin directing your compassion outward:

Think of a person who you love or mean a lot to you

May you be safe

May you be healthy

May you be at peace

Think of someone who poses a challenge to you, do not cause yourself

to become stressed but send these phrases with compassion:

May you be safe,

May you be healthy

May you be at peace,

Think about your family and friends and send your compassion out to them:

May you all be safe

May you all be healthy

May you all be at peace

Send compassion out to the people we encounter at our workplace

– Veterans, our peers, and their families:

May you all be safe

May you all be healthy

May you all be at peace

Then send compassion out to all living things:

May all living things be safe

May all living things be healthy

May all living things be at peace.

Finally, bring this back to yourself –

May I be safe,

May I be healthy,

May I be at peace

Holistic Committee