You already KNOW the importance of downtime and regular rest for anxiety, stress, trauma, sleep and general health and wellbeing.
I know I know.
And STILL (usually when I need it most), I sometimes resist.
We’re conditioned to attempt to be ON all the time – even when we’re actively working to retrain the nervous system
As “normal” life resumes more and we emerge from lockdowns, maybe think about what was most beneficial during the times you were able to do what felt good:
- naps?
- getting out each day for a walk because it was the only place you were allowed out?
- saying no to all but the most essential of commitments?
- spending more quality (even if it felt like the briefest of moments where you enjoyed yourselves) time with your lockdown inmates?
What else springs to mind for you right now?
What will you miss?
What do you already miss?
Maybe you don’t miss anything! That’s information too.
As you schedule more in, start by scheduling times for your new wellbeing essentials.
Add other commitments around what you need to support yourself as much as possible.
Emergence isn’t as sudden as lockdown was but, in many ways, it’s harder as we’re navigating so much new information.
Give yourself a break.
When we were babies, we had to learn everything for the first time and over time, we learned to, in NLP terms, to delete, distort and generalise (to enable us to have a little headspace for things other than every day essentials).
Right now, we’re all having to learn completely new ways of doing things.
Pandemic brain simply means we’re creating A LOT of new neural pathways – this takes energy and concentration we might not even have.
The first time I went into a shop wearing a mask (a few months ago now), it freaked me out so much that I got distracted and lost my bank card!
Be as kind to yourself as possible.
And when you get back home again, allow yourself a giant exhalation and a bit of time and space to do whatever helps you feel good.
With love,
