Some words of wisdom from my dear friend and owner at MindBody Therapy Karen Burke. Karen is a Certified Personal Performance Life Coach, Stress Management Consultant, Mentor, Study Coach, Accountant.
How have you been? What’s been happening in your household? Are you coping or do you feel that wave of panic and fear overtaking your everyday thoughts?
We just closed up shop on a 10-year-old business that we somehow still need to keep ‘alive’ during the shutdown, so quite surreal times. I’m sure many of you are going through all sorts of money; family; work; health issues right now as we all try to navigate this new path.
One thing that’s certain during these unprecedented circumstances is the need to join together as a strong community and support one another in any way possible. These times can bring out the worst or the best in people and it will be down to each of us to manage our own emotions so that your family, community and world takes on a different energy to get through this unimaginable time.
As the threats related to a pandemic, as well as other potential crises begin to appear more immediate and personal to us, it’s okay to feel more afraid and overwhelmed, it is natural. We forget that we are mortal beings and death can hit us at any time. The more we go deeper into worry, shame, anger or fear it makes our inner state worse, not better, what says our immune system. Own the feelings, recognise them but how do we move through that, breathe and garner the courage to move forward without panicking?
We can try to shift our focus. We can take this time as an opportunity to feel grateful for whatever good we have in our lives. No matter the circumstances, we have the power to choose how we want to live right now; how we want to ‘BE’ in our homes; how we want to treat work colleagues or even drivers on the road. Every time the wave hits us…take a deep breath and repeat something uplifting to yourself.
Some helpful ones may be:
- It’s going to be all okay
- Come on…I got this
- Stop it…breathe…concentrate
- It’s all happening perfectly
- I have family, friends, food, water, shelter…it’s going to be okay
- I have….X
- ·Thank you for my health and strength, help me to help others
Once you pause (honestly this is a pause for all of us from all walks of life) and take a long deep breath, we can then decide what is best for our life; work; family; keeping children occupied; schooling; studying; money stuff; health; exercise and so on. Wise decisions made are always better than rash ones made in fear. Summon ‘Courage’ to come forward and do what you have to, to keep yourself, family and friends uplifted.
Further tips to help us all during this time:
- Cook nutritious meals, get those recipe books out and experiment with what food you have in your cupboard
- Daily movement: indoor or outdoor exercises (I need to find my skipping rope); do walking phone calls in the garden; move from your seat every 30 minutes even if it’s just a stretch; turn the music up! Yes! Be mindful of neighbours though
- Plan a daily routine for yourself and your household to minimise the chaos; quarrels and usage of the kitchen
- Maximise the usage of the space at home by rearranging furniture for home working or schooling if you have to, nothing will ever be the same again anyway so what does it matter
- Set yourself a challenge to achieve and/or a skill to master
- Continue to connect with people via online or telephone as we still need human interaction
- Make a start on things you’ve been putting off e.g. looking at your finances; reading those books; gardening; painting; de-clutter and spring clean giving away to others what you no longer use, getting the whole family involved (let’s face it, no more sporting weekends on TV, so get off the sofa!)
May we find something ethereal within this unprecedented season, get along with others finding new ways to live and refuse to sweat the small stuff. May we know moments of true happiness in the NOW where we are thankful for all we have and not what we don’t, inner peace throughout any outward turmoil and an inner knowing that faith means it’s going to be alright even when we can’t see, feel or touch it. May we let go and set free, old dreams, old hurts and old pains, allowing ourselves to create new feelings and new dreams even greater than the original. Breathe… and stay strong.
TOMORROW WILL BE THE OUTCOME OF TODAY. You choose.
Struggling to keep your mind right? Find more tools and tips at http://www.therapy4life.net
