February 2021
Hello everyone!! I am a bit late with this month’s blog due to being a bit busy. However, here I am. I’m hoping you are all doing well despite the current climate. We are really being challenged by the virus and it is a worry. However, we are a resilient lot.
Today I want to talk about mindset. Most of you may know I am also a qualified counsellor and that it complements my niche in naturopathy. During this tough time, a lot of you are dealing with the psychological fallout of the pandemic and our routines have been affected. There are financial and work-related stressors. You may be a front-line worker and what a great job you are doing in the face of this virus.
We have the need to feel safe and secure and this current time has put some of us in a difficult position. Financial stress and our base needs for safety are prevalent. This is real and NOT imagined. So, how do you handle the stress?
To some degree letting go of worry because we have no choice but to let go and wait for things to work through. I am not addressing the infectious side of the virus but the psychological impact. Our bodies do get affected by stress, but it starts in the mind most times. Watching the news for updates can cause a lot of stress and even subconsciously affect us.
So, what to do? Well, first thing I would suggest is to minimise the amount of news you watch. Maybe try to watch only at the end of each day as that is when things through the day have culminated into most recent and updated information. As we go through the day news reports can change. Either that, or, they say the same thing all day and it makes no difference than if you just watched it at night.
Yes, some of you may need to keep abreast of information but just minimise it so that it does not fill your head or mind all day. The constant low hum of information going into our heads eventually takes its toll.
The other thing is for you to focus on your health as a positive thing. This is a time to go within and heal yourself from inside to out. Journal, do yoga, meditation, read books, exercise, have down time with the kids. As horrific as this virus is it has forced the world to nurture itself and for you to delve deep into that which you have buried in order to just get on with things.
Maybe a chance to re-evaluate your career choices? Study? This, I know, is no laughing matter. I am not taking this lightly. It has affected me also. However, strategies to get past this are foremost in our minds. We are being forced to live in the moment and not headlong into the future. We are learning to be adaptable and resourceful and many have ‘pivoted’.
Be kind to yourself and don’t see yourself as faltering. This is something we are all experiencing (pandemic) and together we will grow stronger. The main mindset we should have is determination. To be determined to stay positive and hopeful. Look after yourselves and your loved ones and invest in resting and reenergising. Heal and regroup. Try not to over worry and trust yourself to handle life as it slowly gets back to relative normal. Especially if you need to look at work or finding a new job. Right now, we are all in limbo and it is pointless to thrash against it. Maybe bullet point ideas of what you can do into your journal and then walk away from it for a bit as if leaving your worries on the page instead of in your mind.
This is all an existential crisis, and we are being forced to deal with the here and now. It is something we will get through together. It truly has been a levelling exercise. No matter the socioeconomic bracket you are in we are all essentially the same and in the same boat.
On that note take care and I shall see you next month.
Lisa
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