Mindfulness and Yoga in Schools A Guide for Teachers and Practitioners

CHaPtEr 14: MINDFUL SELF-CarE • 325

beyond a basic assessment of and engagement in self-care behaviors. It is the integration

of the practice of mindful awareness and self-care. Mindful self-care is the closing aspect

of embodied self-regulation designed to help both students and school personnel negoti-

ate personal needs and challenges and external demands (see Figure 14.1 and Chapter  3,

Principle of Embodied Growth and Learning 1, Worth: I am worth the effort). Mindful self-

care begins with self-awareness and self-monitoring (Cook-Cottone, 2015; Norcross & Guy,

2007).

The Mindful Self-Care Scale–Long (MSCS–L) is an 84-item scale that measures the

self-reported frequency of self-care behaviors (Cook-Cottone, 2015). This scale is intended

to help individuals identify areas of strength and weakness in self-care behavior, as well

as assess interventions that serve to improve self-care. The scale addresses 10 domains of

self-care: nutrition/hydration, exercise, soothing strategies, self-awareness/mindfulness,

rest, relationships, physical and medical practices, environmental factors, self- compassion,

and spiritual practices (see Figure 14.3). There are also three general items assessing the

individual’s general or more global practices of self-care. Research is currently being

conducted on this specific self-care scale to evaluate psychometric properties and associ-

ation of the scale with self-regulation. See gse.buffalo.edu/about/directory/faculty/ cook-

cottone for a full version of the scale with formatting instructions and updates of research

outcomes.

Self-

Regulation

(Emotional, Cognitive,

and Behavioral)

Mindful and

Yogic Practices

Self-Care

Practices

FIGUrE 14.2 Self-care and self-regulation

Source: Cook-Cottone, 2015; used with permission.

Mindful

Self-Care

HydrationNutrition/ Exercise Self-Soothing Rest Relationships EnvirFactorsonmental CompassionSelf- PracticeSpiritual

General

Items

Self-

Awareness/

Mindfulness

FIGUrE 14.3 Domains of mindful self-care.