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What a great example of what so many of us are experiencing right now, and what a perfect description, the monkey mind.
It is said that we have, on average, 80 thousand thoughts per day! And we experience them like a restless monkey jumping from branch to branch, from one thought to one feeling to another in a half-hazard and distracted way.
Pile on the uncertainty and worry of our political landscape, financial instability, the wellbeing of ourselves and our family members, world affairs and watch that monkey go at 2x and 3x speed.
I get it!
However, there are strategies we can use to cultivate calm even during the storm. I have personally created a curated group that will teach you evidence-based skills transforming how you interact and respond to life’s challenges and demands.
And offer some additional thoughts on this week’s HealthBite.
1. Allow yourself to feel. The reality is that there is a lot going on right now, and it does bring up difficult emotions, and we cannot get away from them by just suppressing them. As they say, the only way out is through. So don’t be afraid of feelings, of sadness, of grief, of anger, of distress. Allow yourself to experience them knowing that you have the ability, the capacity, and the resilience to endure difficult emotions and to endure hard things without breaking.
2. Bring yourself to the Body. We experience stress, worry and anxiety in our bodies. Start to notice where you hold this tension. Do you feel it as a lump in your throat? A fluttering in your chest? Do you feel it in the pit of your stomach? Do your jaws clench? Do your shoulders get tight? Once you identify the area, actively loosen that area. Very specifically, tell yourself to relax your facial muscles, that sphincter in your pelvis, drop down your shoulders. You will notice just that will loosen the reactivity of your mind.
3. Regulate your Nervous System. There are many evidence based practices that have been shown to regulate your nervous system. Deep breathing, meditation, shaking practice, guided imagery, autogenic phrases. I will be teaching these practices in our Resilient Mind’s course. But for now, just a breath can help you dial back that sympathetic response, reduce your heart rate, your blood pressure, upregulate the parasympathetic nervous system and help you feel a greater sense of ease.
4. Stay present and don’t Catastrophize. Often when we zoom into the future, we tend to think of the worst case scenario, we catastrophize. The reality is that we never know what will come and the anticipation is harder than dealing with what is, in the present. So shift your focus on right now, this very moment. By doing so, you clear your head so that you can act from a place of grounded intention, not impulsive reactivity. Your best ideas and solutions come from this grounded place.
5. Lean into gratitude. Like our listener mentioned, life is good, your children, your grandchildren, your husband, your work, your health. When we lean into and give gratitude for what is good in our life, we are better able to tolerate what is difficult. Maybe it’s good weather, an interaction that you had with a friend or a loved one this past week. Maybe it’s a flower that’s sitting on your desk. It doesn’t matter how small or trivial. Think of three things that you appreciate and give gratitude for. When we lean into the gratitude for what we do have, it takes us out of the worrying and fear for what we don’t have or cannot control.
6. Give yourself some love. There was actually a study that was published this week showing that 20 seconds of physical self-touch can be as effective as going to therapy on regular basis. So that means putting your two hands over your heart or around your body and giving yourself a hug. In doing so we release the very hormones and neurotransmitters that get released when we give love or affection to another.
7. Manage our consumption and set some boundaries around your news, your feeds and your devices. Enough said!
8. Have Faith and Surrender – whether you have a religious or spiritual practice or not, understand that as much as we wish to be, we are not in control of anything and really we never were. For some people this can make them feel distressed and more anxious, but I encourage you to actually lean into the feeling of relief that surrender can bring. Surrender allows you to acknowledge that you personally are not responsible for everything. Loosen the reins, let go of the responsibility of trying to control and have faith in the universe or god or just the natural order and cycle of life.
I hope that this offers you, dear F, and all the other readers some nourishing food for thought. You can listen to the entire episode here. And if you are interested in taking a deep dive into tangible skills that can help you navigate these challenging times and life’s demands, join me for Resilient Minds. I promise you it will be a life-changing experience.
Wishing you a happy and healthy week!
Xx,
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