By Matisse Sanchez and Jessica Cuevas, Mar. 1, 2022
The Love Button club hosted a virtual self-love and self-care event on Feb. 14. This event was open to members of the Cal Poly Pomona community who needed some affirmations and Love Button wanted to be the one to do it.
Love Button is a program derived from Love Button Global Movement with the purpose of being to collaborate with organizations and individuals to create initiatives to promote healing and well-being. Learning that self-love is an important aspect to grow and build relationships within the individual and the community is not only healthy, but it allows others to empower those who are closest to one another.
The Love Button club opened the event with an icebreaker to get students more comfortable. The club president Jessica Rios discussed the importance of what self-care looks like when difficult times arise and what to do when someone has no one to lean on.
“I wanted to put together this information so people can have it and understand that it is perfectly normal,” said Rios.
They recognized that with COVID-19 limiting students’ social lives and now returning to campus, socializing has been more of a struggle due to the fear of contracting and spreading it further.
“While there was an expression of these fears, it felt like people may not have been processing why they felt that way,” Rios said.
Rios stated that self-care is important especially during the pandemic, and when is a better time to focus on self-care than on Valentine’s Day?
The event covered and raised awareness on post-traumatic stress disorder and how it can affect people’s lives, especially the ones who have experience with PTSD. Love Button wanted students to realize it is important to talk about PTSD and be open to knowing the symptoms and signs of dealing with it.
PTSD does not only affect one’s mental health but also your behavioral and physical state. Rios addressed the importance of noticing signs that could affect one’s behavior such as lack of socializing, changes in sleeping and eating patterns, detachment from other people and depression.
There are different ways in which students can practice self-care during these times. Fifth year computer information systems major, Mercedes Wendy Gonzalez, shared some of the ways that she practices self-care.
“I do believe in meditation and practicing mindfulness. There are a lot of moments when I’ll feel burned out and I’ll try to not be so judgmental on myself and take a rest.”
Since the pandemic has forced people to stay indoors, focusing on being positive and taking care of one’s self has never been more important. Not only is finding a hobby important but it enables the mind to focus on a different activity that might uplift and enlighten the mood.
“I know what helped me a lot through the pandemic was finding a hobby. I know that it’s difficult to constantly have it as a routine every day because people are busy or they tend to forget,” psychology student Nicole Moreno said.
Students expressed how they felt about the event and how it brightened up their day. Gonzalez said she felt validated, happy and a little more positive after attending.
Love Button wanted to help remind students that spreading kindness is important but so is being kind and patient with each other during these harsh times. Teaching one’s mind to take a break from the world can help get one’s mental health back to center. Although the pandemic has increased the number of hours that people have spent alone, being around positive peers can help influence the way we think about being around others once again.
LoveButton is welcoming students of all majors and backgrounds to come and participate in their weekly Monday meetings to help destress or voice out their feelings.
For more information about the club, you can find them on myBAR.