However long your SCA journey has been so far, you must have heard and experienced the importance of writing SCABs. And you must have felt worn down by the end of the term.

To help out with that, I’m going to encourage you, during this Christmas break, to do some SCABs for mental health… but differently.

Let’s S.C.A.B. – (Scream. Cry. Ache. Breathe.)

Scream

The SCA is a home for both introverts and extroverts. One is bottling things up more than the other, but both are guilty of it.

Juggling many briefs at the same time, while constantly swapping partners can cause a lot of stress and frustration.

Your partner didn’t do any work even though they swore by it? There’s a new brief scheduled for days when you’re working?

You followed one mentor’s advice, and then right before the deadline, another mentor hates it?

We’ve all experienced this or something similar. Going forwards, it can eat away at you from the inside. There’s way more coming and we need to let this bunch out.

I encourage you to go someplace where you won’t disturb anyone and take a few minutes to SCREAM. Rage all over! Marc won’t hear you!

Cry

It’s about all the good and all the bad. The SCA can take over your mind very quickly, and suddenly it’s all about survival. It’s all about now, this new brief and that. It’s easy to forget about the bigger picture. Think about your goals, about why you wanted to get here, how happy you were when it happened, how big of a job Marc’s 11 tasks were, how you didn’t know how to make a video, how now it’s still hard but you know you can do it, how much things you’ve created since the very start, how your perception changed and your gut sense heightened. Reflect on your reflections, how they’ve changed.

We’ve just started our journey, but we’ve already come a long way. So many times you felt like it’s too much, like you don’t belong, like an imposter. Think about all the achievements and all the things that keep haunting you at night. Release them. Let them go.

Ache

The SCA is a great gym. For your brain. Not body. How many hours a day do you spend sitting? Probably close to 9.  Or more, especially if you’re online. Global studies show we sit for 7.7 hours per day on average, and some estimate people sit for up to 15 hours per day.

It’s hard to stop working when you’re feeling the pressure. Many of us had a gym schedule that got ruined. But it’s important to move our wrecked bodies! Even a little!

You don’t have to be an athlete to put on some comfortable clothes and run in any direction for the next 15 minutes. It will be hard at the start, so don’t focus on speed. Just make sure you’re moving forwards.

The SCA stimulates our intellectual side. It brings up emotions. But it doesn’t make us feel anything but sore buttocks physically.

A quick run as many times a week as you can will make you feel your muscles, leaving your body aching in a good way.

Breathe

The SCA feels a lot like a race. A fast-paced environment makes us stressed, agitated, and anxious. I cannot count how many times I felt overwhelmed, and probably you have too. What is important to understand is that, although the SCA moves fast, there’s still miles and miles to go. It’s a marathon. We need to make sure that we can take it all for the long run. Meditation and other mindfulness exercises are great and work for some people. But if you don’t like them, or you’re struggling for time, small things can help too. Just take a deep breath when things are heating up, after a long day of work, before a big presentation. Also, make sure to ventilate the room that you work in to air your head better.

The average person can hold their breath for

30…29…28…27…26…25…24…23…22…21…20…19…18…17…16…15…14…13…12…11…10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…

By practicing those out throughout the Christmas break, you’ll clean your plate, get ready and excited for the next round.

@KlaudiaMrz11