Ground Thyself
🌟Weekly Inspiration🌟
It’s been a week. Getting back in the routine again after the holiday break, mounting COVID numbers and collective hysteria, increased isolation again, utter confusion at the school rules for children when they have been exposed/had a close contact/or gotten COVID themselves. It’s Back to Zoom school and, work for some, which can re-traumatize in a real way. It is easy to catastrophize and get caught up in an anxious negative spiral. It is exhausting and overwhelming to parent through (coupled with the weariness that has set in after 22 months of pandemic family life).
All week I felt myself slipping towards the negative spiral, especially as one of our kids tested positive for COVID (he’s fine and has a cold). A chain reaction of inconvenient factors was then set in motion…all minor in the scheme of things, but disruptive and stressful nonetheless. Brené Brown, in her new book ATLAS OF THE HEART, defines stressed: We feel stressed when we evaluate environmental demand as beyond our ability to cope successfully. This includes elements of unpredictability, uncontrollability, and feeling overloaded.
Yes ❤️—this resonates, especially in the current circumstances. The parenting collective is stressed….what can we do about it?
As parents, we have to keep ourselves afloat so that we can care for our children. They are watching our every move right now—how do we handle fear and anxiety? How do we cope through hard things? What comforts and soothes us when overwhelmed? Where do we find inspiration? I find that the answer to our coping in this moment—is simple and hard at the same time. There is no quick and painless way through this…we must just carry on, day by day.
Breathe. Talk to a friend. Communicate with your partner. Get more sleep. Make comfort food. Look up and out—find reassurance in the clouds in the sky, the birds flying past, or the eyes of a loved one. Rhythmic exercise like walking, jogging, or swimming (settles our nervous system if it’s in fight or flight). Prayer. The sounds of the ocean. Practice gratitude. Be a Helper. Get creative. Have a good laugh. A long bath or shower. In sum, Ground Thyself first and repeatedly on hard days. Model this for your children. Help them find their own unique ways to ground and carry on during challenging times. Ultimately, this will help them navigate challenges for the entire course of their life.