We have been living within a global pandemic for the better part of a year now, How do you find it is starting to impact you? Living within unknown circumstances without an indication of what direction things are going in the future can cause low grade chronic stress for a lot of people. Stress over the long term can really start to impact people emotionally and physically.
So how are you going with everything? Are you finding ways to keep sanity and stability within your life? When stress presents itself emotionally it can come in many forms, frustration, anger sadness, overwhelm, numbness, to name some. When stress presents itself physically, it can come in a large variety of ways. It can exaggerate whatever health conditions you are already dealing with, affect your digestion, your energy, your motivation. It can lead to a lot of different symptoms, headaches, nausea, dizziness, tension. Do you have anything in place to help counter that stress?
As it shows up not just emotionally but also physically, it is helpful to have remedies for both. Breathing techniques, meditation, laughter, companionship, taking the time to relax and do nothing. Then you have the more physical remedies, exercise, such as yoga or running, getting out into nature, taking up a hobby that gets your mind more into the creative zone. I do not find a lot of people have hobbies. I feel this has perhaps been a result of people always trying to hold themselves to perfection. If they don’t feel they are really great at something, then they do not bother to do it. However, if it is something that brings you joy and puts you in a flow state of mind, you do not have to be good at it. It is the feelings and the state of being that is generated that is important.
Perhaps you are feeling frustrated because your life just isn’t how it once was and you cannot see how it would get back there. Reflecting on this regularly and dwelling on something that is very out of your control gives room for those stress hormones to run crazy. What are you choosing to focus on? Of course, as always, feel as you need to feel, but at what point have you decided you are going to pull yourself out of stewing and move on to building something that will work?
Anyone that has dealt with a sudden change in health with a long term condition will have already done this in the past. You fall into despair of losing a life you once you knew. You go through the emotions you need to allow yourself to grieve that. Do remember that as a globe we are all grieving a life that was once very different and held a lot more freedom. Soon though, as you do with coming to realise with your health, you decide that if this is what your life looks like now, there is no point in consistently wallowing in it. As you are the only one who has the power to change how you feel about it. Once you come more to that place of acceptance, it becomes a lot easier and lot lighter to start to see things in a different way.
How are you going at the moment with hoping things will be as they were before the pandemic? How much strain are you putting on yourself through your thought patterns alone? Is there different things you can do this week, some stress relieving remedies that may help you find yourself in a better headspace? Sometimes it can be a simple as getting out 10-20 minutes a day for a walk in the sun to start to create that lift of what is weighing you down. Then once you feel a shift you have a better viewpoint to make your next move.
It is about being gentle with yourself when you need and stepping up for yourself when it is time to move forward. How are you going with the balance between the two? What is one thing you can implement this week that will make a difference to the way you are currently coping with Covid?
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