Navigating Mental Health During a Pandemic: Reconnecting to Yourself While Reconnecting to the World
Ashley Hewer, MA, RCC - Vitality Collective Clinical Counsellor
Navigating a Pandemic, Our Lives Are Very Different
For the past almost 2 years we have been living in a constantly changing and unknown world. From masks to no masks and back to masks again; From going to the office daily to working from home to splitting our work time from home and the office; Home schooling to online school to classrooms. We have now reached the point where we are back to as close to “normal” as we have been. While a lot of people were wishing and hoping for this day now that it is in front of us it can be quite overwhelming.
Time previously spent in bed is time spent driving to the office, kids have school, sports, dance, play dates. Family and Friends and planning outings and dinners. We went from slowing down and having some time to ourselves (maybe too much at times) to shifting away from our selves and reconnecting with the world in a physical way all while trying to navigate how we are feeling about the world opening up again.
Mindfulness and Dealing with Emotions
Chances are you are feeling a mix of emotions, overwhelm, anxiety, excitement all of which are completely normal. Mindfulness is one tool we can use to help navigate these emotions, slow down, and reconnect with ourselves. Mindfulness as described by Jon Kabat-Zinn is “the awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgementally”. A lot of our daily activities we do on auto pilot while thinking about everything but the activity we are doing. Below are some ways to include mindfulness into your daily life without having to find time in a busy day.
Brushing your teeth: Instead of thinking about what you need to remember to take to work, or put in the kids back packs or reading emails on your phone take 2 minutes to yourself. Breathing in and out through your nose think about the following questions. How does the toothbrush feel in your hand are you gripping it or are your relaxed? Breath and relax your hand, your jaw, your neck muscles. What does the water sound like while its running, what does the toothpaste taste like, how does the tooth brush feel against your teeth, your gums, your tongue, your cheek. What temperature is the water. Can you smell the toothpaste? What does it smell like?
Take your breaks: It can be very easy to eat lunch at your desk, or continue to do work at home while you are eating. You are entitled to your breaks if you need to schedule them into your calendar. Breathe while your eating, consider the taste, smell, texture of the food you’re eating. Take a few minutes to do a body scan, practice breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth, starting at your feet and moving towards your head are your muscles relaxed or tense? If they are tense relax them. Perhaps you realize you haven’t moved much today stand up and stretch, shake your legs out, roll your shoulders backwards and forwards, gently stretch neck.
Showering: This is a great chance to explore how you are feeling emotionally. The key to this is exploration with no judgement, if your feeling negative emotions this is your space to acknowledge them without judgement. By acknowledging our emotions, we are honoring our own experience rather than pushing them aside. Allowing ourselves to feel emotions allows us to later try and alleviate them. Alternatively positive emotions can signify that we need to celebrate, or that something we are doing is working for us we and we want to keep doing it. Don’t try and problem solve in the shower, this is a space just for you to feel and if you need to cry let it out its okay!
Giving ourselves the space to check in on how we are feeling physically and emotionally can help reduce stress, tension, burnout and anxiety. It allows us to acknowledge and accept our current well being. If we go into the day or end the day with the realization that we are in fact anxious or overwhelmed or physically not feeling well we can then begin to start the process of self compassion and problem solving. Remember no one feels 100% all of the time, and that each day our best efforts will be varied. Reconnecting with ourselves also provides us with the knowledge of when to reach out for additional support, whether through friends, family, a registered clinical counsellor, or our family doctors.
If you would like help exploring how mindfulness and self compassion can be included in your daily in your life or you are experiencing overwhelm and anxiety and you are not sure where to start finding a professional who specializes in anxiety can help you move forward towards a reconnected self.