For Olympian Simone Manuel, Self-Care Is Journaling and Activism
Simone Manuel is the first Black woman to win an individual Olympic medal in swimming. Like Serena Williams and Misty Copeland before her, she took a predominantly white sport and made it her own. “As a Black woman in swimming, I want to inspire people to dream and believe beyond traditional stereotypes—there are no boxes that people need to fit in,” she says. “I’m hoping my platform can help drive that change.” The 2020 Olympics may have been postponed, but that’s not stopping her from using her platform to help shape history.
In the run up to Manuel’s gold medal-winning 100-meter freestyle at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the United States was reckoning with police brutality following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. “I had multiple conversations with my mother and a couple of my close teammates on the U.S. National Team before getting to Rio, after watching the news and seeing police brutality, and feeling like, ‘Oh my goodness, I'm about to compete for my country,’” she says. “Competing as a Black woman in a minority sport I felt a ton of pressure on my shoulders and get out and win.” Once she did, reporters couldn’t help but ask: What did her victory mean in the context of what was happening in the world?
Four years later as she trains for the Tokyo Olympics, she’s still being asked. “It's awesome to see that people are listening and wanting to make change, but it's also sad that after four years, it's something we're still talking about,” she says. Instead of going for another gold this year, Manuel is using the Olympic postponement to help drive the conversation forward. “We’ve all had something that has been postponed or cancelled this year, but we cannot cancel humanity,” she says. “I think that in this time it's so important for all of us to step up and create a better world for each other. I'm excited to hopefully be a voice to help others understand what's going on, but also be a voice that inspires them to make a positive impact in their community and the world.”
We asked Manuel about why mental health is so important to her, how she’s practicing self-care right now and how she’s staying motivated in a year filled with cancellations.
Obviously physical health is super important to your job. Why is it just as important for you to prioritize your mental health?
Mental health is so crucial because it contributes to how you navigate through this world and what you think of yourself. I've been seeing a sports psychologist since I was 15 and I use that to talk about my experiences as a Black swimmer and a Black woman in this world. I think that it genuinely has helped me be able to handle some of the hardships or the experiences that I've dealt with in my life. It’s such a powerful, powerful tool to be able to exercise your mind and strengthen your mind.
What does self care look like for you?
Typically self-care for me would be going get my nails done or going out to a nice restaurant—I like to call myself a foodie. Since I can’t really do those things now, I've been watching movies, but also I have been spending time writing and meditating, which are big. I'm really enjoying writing and putting all my feelings down on paper and using it as a means to get everything out. It’s a means to “fill your emotional tank,” as my sports psychologist says. I feel like when I'm able to write, I'm able to let all that weight off my shoulders and feel refreshed once I get all of what I'm feeling out on paper.
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What’s the best self-care advice you have?
Number one for me would have to be don't numb your feelings. It's okay to feel what you feel, it’s okay to talk about it. I think it's really important to listen to your body and listen to your feelings and give yourself permission to feel the feelings that you have, but also find ways to fill your emotional tank. For me, especially with this uncertain time, it's easy to feel anxious or overwhelmed by what's going to happen the next day. It’s really important for me to just take it one day at a time and focus on my feelings that day.
What is keeping you motivated right now through all of this?
One is that I've been able to swim. Everyday I'm able to go to practice to still work towards my goals. That keeps me motivated.
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But secondly, it’s the work that needs to be done—this is a marathon, it's not a sprint. We have to continue to get up every day and fight for what's right. I hope that when I'm gone the work that I've done will leave a legacy for others to feel like it's easier for them. That's what keeps me motivated—hopefully making the path easier for the person that comes behind me.
Originally Appeared on Glamour
