There are a few key skills for staying positive and healthy during this crisis. The following attributes/actions are a solid foundation with which to approach your life during this pandemic.
BEING ADAPTABLE
Obviously, we have had to figure out how to adapt. How to deal with changes at work (or no work), how to navigate a new schedule for yourself and those in your living space. How to eat, cook, shop for groceries. An unprecedented time for sure. This is when we must step outside our normal routines and get a sound check. It is a time for reflection, patience and finding the silver lining in the moment. We have been forced to change how we socialize, create new daily habits and how to confront loneliness. It’s a time of having to deal with domestic affairs in a new, clustered way.
It is important that we try to be adaptable. Being adaptable comes with a certain amount of letting go. Letting go of the habits we are used to. This can be super hard for many of us who use habits to get through the workweek. Creating new habits requires more mindfulness, change and perspective. Adapting is most effectively done when thinking mostly about the positive aspects of what the changes can entail. For example, instead of me thinking that I might go crazy trying to homeschool two children of varying ages, run a business and keep my marriage and self healthy might be overwhelming on most days. But, hey – I get to learn how to better take care of myself and my family at home. I get to practice cooking more and I’ve gotten better at it! I’m focusing on what makes me smile even more now than what makes me frown.
I always associate adaptability with the notion and action of flexibility. Working on your body’s flexibility helps your mind and body stay neutral or centered. Our body is a reflection of our mind. If we PHYSICALLY stretch ourselves on a regular basis, we have already become accustomed to being adaptable – a characteristic essential for survival.
BOUNDARIES
Setting Your Limits:
I can’t say how much I’ve thought about the notion of boundaries in these past months. It has been on a daily basis. When forced into new and tight spaces, we are confronted with what is right in front of us in a new and more challenging way. There isn’t daycare. There isn’t escape. In work, people are having to carve out a new system of when they are available to work, often having it get convoluted with being at home and always available, mostly because higher ups can’t physically check up on their staff, and they are then looking for more meetings – which takes away from the time that people usually have to actually do their jobs and get things done. There is a whole sense of dubiousness since we are in a constant state of instability.
It is critical that we create boundaries for ourselves that help us get through the day in a healthy way. And guilty am I. Dealing with kids and trying to get work done throughout the day with homeschooling was pretty much impossible, so it ended up being overwhelming on most days. Or every day. Enough to want a drink. The workouts save me, I swear. Instructing and partaking in the workouts we offer on most days of the week have gotten me into the mentality of “we are still community” and this sense of belonging to something that makes you physically and then mentally feel better called exercise is far beyond the offerings of alcohol. Although I have been imbibing more lately, the workouts are still my saving grace.
I’ve heard from clients a lot lately that they are having a hard time with all of the zoom meetings they are expected to do each day in addition to their regular work load. Signing off and not being available is tough. Knowing our limits and what we are capable of enduring are also quite tricky. And worth the analysis. Figuring out what we need from moment to moment helps us feel safe and secure.
RESOURCEFUL
Calling Up Friends:
Being “resourceful” has never held so much meaning for me. Looking at our resources, finding new resources and reaching out to old ones can be trying for many people. If one already tends to be a resourceful person, to look outside our comfort zone, to reach out to others, then this aspect of The Great Pause will be more smooth for you. If our default mechanism is to curl up into yourself during a crisis, this is a harder time. I’m the latter example reaching out has been crucial!
Eating healthy is a huge resource. The foods we eat immediately affect us and our mental state. Clean eating will help you be more positive and have a more balanced approach to your day. Being resourceful naturally includes seeking connection.
CONNECTION
Opening our heart to others – calling up an old friend.
Being resourceful is hugely important right now. We have been forced to step out of our comfort zone (while ironically being in our dwelling of physical comfort) to learn new technology, ways of communicating with each other and dealing with just our own space for days on end.
Resourcefulness to me has meant reaching out to other moms, fitness studios and friends to figure out how to navigate this new landscape.
GRATITUDE
Gratitude is what really grounds us. It brings us back to calm. It helps us take a deep breath again. Gratitude is an opposite of fear. It is in the moment only. Gratitude for what we have in each moment is always available as a practice of being. If you take a moment to think about what you are grateful for in the moments that you are spiraling into fear of the unknown, you will immediately feel more safe and calm.
EXERCISE
Exercise grounds me down into my values and simultaneously lifts me up energetically – like a rooted tree. Exercise and movement is the connection between mind, body and spirit. Our spirits rise after a great workout from the release of serotonin – helping us stay sane and positive amidst adversity. Since we are often feeling that we are in a state of instability, this is all the more reason to do stabilizing exercises so that our brain has the chance to practice stabilizing ourselves.
Join us in July for our annual BEACH-ISH READY class! We will work on strength, stability, endurance, stamina and core. One hour every Saturday morning @9am online. Get a meal plan, grocery list, nutrition tips and an amazing workout with heavy weights for 5 weeks.
It’s never too late to feel better! https://bkrootsfitness.com/beachish-ready