We love to ‘handle it’ and ‘I’ve got it’ and ‘it’ll be right’ – but if you were being honest with yourself – are you? If you aren’t read on.
HOW ARE YOU GOING?
If you are feeling a bit anxious, scared, worried or unsure – please know this is completely normal, really uncomfortable but normal. It is ok, not to be ok.
Something has happened that is out of our control and that’s bound to give you a feeling of doubt, anger, upset and all the emotions in between. And the other side of it, who is giving you empathy and checking in on how you are going.
It’s tough. These times are affect each and every one of us differently – we are all swimming in the same ocean but we are all on different boats. Some are paddling hard against the wind and in the choppy seas, some are getting picked up and dumped from 10 foot waves on repeat and some have motors cruising towards the sunset.
If you are paddling hard, or stuck out in a swell, we have a few tips for you.
For a bit – put down the alcohol, put down the smokes, put down the junk food, put down the thoughts of anger and see if you can pick up any of these, that I’m putting down.
WHAT HAVE YOU SUBSTITUTED?
For all the “busyness”, loosing yourself in the chaos of serving others – what have you lost or stopped doing? Painting, writing, gaming? Sport – Crafts – Friends – Yoga? This is really important – I urge you to re-ignite that love for those things you miss. Just doing that has been an absolute game changer for many.
BREATHING
Breathing strategies are a really quick way to attempt to bring down these feelings. It’s free, accessible, simple and it works.
Inhale through the nose for a count of four seconds then hold for two seconds and then exhale out for four seconds. Do this six times. Really focus on counting the breath to help distract your mind from your worries.
GET IT DOWN ON A PIECE OF PAPER
Write things down. It seems everyone is so “busy” nowadays and unfortunately, busy-ness leads to stress, anxiety, and even more serious health problems. In fact, according to the American Medical Association, stress is the basic cause of more than 60% of all human illness and disease. Fortunately, writing things down is one way to help significantly reduce all of that. Putting your emotions down to writing makes it easier to process your thoughts and feelings at a much deeper level than simply thinking about it. You can also write a list of jobs or things to do each day so you can see it in plain black and white. This helps clear the mind, even if you have not done anything yet!
CALL YOUR FAMILY / FRIENDS
Reaching out to family and friends – even like some of our team sharing how they are feeling about this lockdown, the outbreak on their families here and overseas on our chat. It’s so beneficial just to talk, where someone will listen. It does help.
SELF CARE
There are a multitude of things – but find your one that works. A few ideas that our team suggest is getting outside and take a walk, ride your bike, gym sesh Sweat! Get the heart rate up! Try something new – cook something you have never cooked. Play some tunes you can sing and dance too. Put on a comedy! Laughter is amazing for changing perspective. Gardening. Clear out a room/draw. Get back to basics – SLEEP, EAT AND MOVE.
CALL 1737 – Speak to someone trained that you can talk to in confidence could help, with peer support, you can talk with someone who has been through distress themselves. There are also other resources you can find here.
XERO – Do you account with XERO? Check out this link?
First Steps – Do you own a business? Could you reach out to First Steps?
WE CAN HELP YOU
We have access to our primary health professionals who can help you with your injury, accident or long term pain, we could also suggest or facilitate connecting you with further resources if you need them.
To see one of our team you can book online here.
Take it easy on yourself through these times and please reach out if you need.
Anj and the team x