Since March, the world has been in a state of fear and panic... rightfully so, if you ask me. The media is having a hay day, politicians are being well... politicians, kids are home, parents are now the teachers, and to top it off we have to worry about murder hornets. Excuse my language, but what in the F**K is going on around here. Now... What are we supposed to do with all of this?
My first tip is this... Get it OUT.... Get it all out. What do I mean? Feel it! Cry, scream, sleep, go for a run, blast the music, do what you have to do to feel the feelings, let them run through you and release them. I have personally bounced from fear, to anger, to sadness, to frustrated, to amused, to pissed, to calm, and back around again. It's ok. Emotions are just indicators to what we are feeling, and they are ok! They are normal. When we hold emotions in, we get ourselves into all sorts of angst, so try not to do that.
When you feel these emotions rise up inside of you there are ways you can shift. Here are a few things I do... I feel my body tighten, get hot, or that I am holding my breath... I ask myself... what am I feeling? What is causing this? Where do I feel it physically in my body? Take a deep breathe and let that feeling move through your body (this will take 30-90 seconds). Keep taking deep breaths and release the feeling by breathing into the place that you feel it physically. For example, fear is usually in your throat. You may feel it tighten, constrict, and breathing may become shallow... identify it, take some deep breaths and release it.
Once you have come to the conclusion that emotions are just emotions and that they do not have to control you, you can decide how you want to respond to the current environment. Here are my top tips for navigating this tricky time...
1. Turn off the news and limit your time on social media. This is important because wherever your focus goes, energy flows! I find the more time I spend watching the news (which is a business, they want to keep you coming back) or reading FB posts, the more depressed and fearful I become. So limit your time! I promise... this will greatly help you!
2. Move your body everyday! Walking, stretching, or whatever movement you enjoy will give you a mood boost and release endorphins!
3. Put the sugar away! Quit using food and alcohol to cope with. We abuse food and drinks this way. We eat for comfort, boredom, stress, etc. However, when we eat sugar it affects our mood and blood sugars in a negative way.
4. When you feel something rattling you, ask yourself, Can I control this? Most of the time the answer is NO. So if you cannot control it, then what good will worrying about it do?
5. Lastly, get into gratitude! Even in the midst of this storm, there is good, God is everywhere, and there is a plan. I have to remind myself of who is in control, and let me tell you this, it's not the politicians.
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