By Chi, Justina, and Yi Zhen
We always hear about self-care, but have you ever thought about how it applies to you? The #BPThankYouDanceChallenge is exactly the way to do this whilst having fun and raising awareness!
A “chill idea” by the BP Dance Committee – Aneesa and Edbert, this TikTok challenge involves a simple yet expressive choreography to the upbeat song “Thank You” by MKTO, leaving a five-second time frame for the dancer to showcase their self-care methods.
“Treat others the way you want to be treated” – whilst this quote is commonly used to remind people to show kindness to others, we would like to shine the spotlight onto the kindness we should show to ourselves.
More than just a social media trend, self-care is an important procedure we should consciously and consistently practice to maintain “a healthy relationship with ourselves” and a “healthy work-life balance” along with other important benefits for our bodies, according to Forbes.
Forbes aside, Aneesa [editors’ note: 10/10 more reliable] shared that “dancing is not easy and it is sometimes an uncharted territory for some, so we wanted to give the opportunity for people to try out some simple dance moves and have fun with the challenge!”
They chose to use TikTok both “because it is a rising social media platform” and “to present how social media can be used to share knowledge and positivity even if there can be multitudes of negativity and toxicity.”
We talked to a few of these “aspiring” TikTok stars shining amongst our very own USP community and asked them to share their experiences. Hear from them!
Q: Why did you decide to participate in the dance challenge? What are your thoughts on it?
Qi Xuan (Great Chief of Nyx, the hidden gem of TikTok):
"I felt that it was a short and sweet message to spread to everyone about the importance of self care. A 30s video that includes a monkey [editors’ note: noo you are beautiful] dancing and sharing her form of self care, not only it will bring joy to other people, it will also give others inspiration on what they can do to practise self-care.
I think that the [dance challenge] was an interesting concept by combining the concept of dance and self care within a [thirty-second] video with TikTok.
More often than not we do not practise self care consciously because we are 'too busy', or 'too tired to put in the effort'. Through this [dance challenge], I actually came to realise the importance of self care and that it comes in all forms. It need not be something extravagant, a simple nap can also be a form of self care, especially when you really need the rest.
[T]hrough this challenge I have also found my form of self care, something that makes me calm and stress-free – drawing. And I also got to embarrass myself by recording myself dancing for the first time."
Gail (Soluna Freshie, future TikTok superstar):
"Haha I was forced [editors’ note: encouraged] to do it! But it was fun forcing myself to step out of my comfort zone."
Q: What is the form of self-care you chose to showcase in the Dance Challenge?
Qi Xuan:
"I chose drawing as my form of self-care among the many other forms of self care that I have (sleeping, eating, hanging out with friends etc.) because it really helped me during this summer.
All my plans for summer were disrupted during the P2HA period, and the restrictions meant that I could not really hang out with my friends (1 at a time at most...) so from time to time I felt really isolated. Then one day I thought to myself: since I can't meet my friends, why not draw the memories to commemorate the good times we've had? And so I decided to experiment and draw on my iPad and was really satisfied with what I have come up with (especially with the timelapse of the drawings).
Looking back, I remember feeling a sense of calmness and peace, where time just slips past without you knowing (in a good way). It also acted as a token of appreciation to my friends whom I've shared these memories with."
Gail:
"I sleep, eat and binge watch my fav kdramas / movies! It helps me to relieve stress and somehow after watching movies / kdramas after some long hours, I sleep really well."
Source: https://jamaica.loopnews.com/content/wellness-wednesday-self-care-tips-help-you-over-hump-day
After hearing these stars share, are you curious about what your form of self-care is? Take a moment now to think about it, and even better if you already know it.
Got it? Great! But don’t stop reading just yet, just two more paragraphs left.
Aneesa emphasises the importance of getting in touch with ourselves, “We are simply aiming for people to ease out of their comfort zones and learn from one another in terms of their self care methods.” [She also added: “If USP produces the next TikTok star that wouldn’t be too bad also!”]
You definitely don’t want to miss what our budding TikTok stars have posted online! Don’t wait any longer and check out their videos now!