Handling Stress in a Pandemic

Let’s face it, today’s world is not what it was 6 months ago, a year ago or 10 years ago. I see so many people who are struggling to adjust, adapt; so many tags about thriving instead of surviving. But what if you just can’t seem to make that #thrive happen?

So you let yourself survive by putting on one more netflix episode, pouring one more glass of wine, wearing sweats on a zoom call one more time, and going to one more socially distanced BBQ. You tell everyone you’re adjusting! This is working! We can do this-the vaccine is just around the corner. But you don’t understand when a few hours later you’re crying on the way home from filling up your car and you realized you forgot your mask and the woman next to you scowled and refused to make eye contact.

In crisis situations so many people both crave human connection and consistently compare themselves to others; pushing people away while calling out for them desperately.

Through mindfulness approaches we can remember to take the deep breaths, practice compassion for ourselves, remembering that we are reacting normally in an abnormal situation. The world is in chaos, and how we respond to that chaos speaks to our primitive coping skills-whether they are healthy or not.

Take this moment to remember that through vulnerability, self compassion, and assuming good intentions of others we can change the world. Love ripples, my friends, throw the first stone.

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