Self love, me-time, mindfulness, it goes by many terms, but it’s simply making time for yourself to simply reflect on how you’re doing and to take a mental break for the stresses of life.

“Mindfulness is really just the ability to kind of stop and smell the roses,” counselor Andrea Douglas said. “So to speak, taking a minute to just being aware of where you are, and what’s going on and how you’re feeling. It’s just a way to kind of get a little more grounded throughout the day.”

Students can often be focused on their image which can sometimes limit a person.

“I think high school students are put in boxes and how they are seen by other people strongly affects how they see themselves,” senior Ashley Cook said. “People think everyone needs to fit into a box so they feel like they have to be put in a box because that’s what other people tell them.”

But taking time to yourself can have numerous benefits as research has shown that having more self-compassion can help people recover more quickly from failure or embarrassment.

For some students such as senior Sophia Garofalo, time for herself can be a simple moment before eating.

“Whenever we have our family dinners we always say grace before our meals,” Garofalo said. “Then that’s a time I guess where you can reflect on what’s good in life.”

Garofalo believes that completing the simplest of tasks can really change how one goes about their day.

“People have said it before, but take time out of your day,” Garofalo said. “Even writing if something something good happened to you that day, that’s something I do and I think it’s really nice. Just being able to express all your worries and stress that’s going on will relieve that, and it will allow you to focus on yourself.”