Love in the Time of ‘rona
This is an old article I found in my drafts but think is still relevant. Many of us are still have COVID impacting our current days. This article is relevant for any times of upheaval or heightened stress. Ultimately the take away is- be kind to yourself, you’re doing a damn good job.
Whether or not stress is harmful, is based on how well the system is resourced. Melbourne has now been in lockdown for 230+ days, and it’s understandable in if your resources are running low.
I’m hoping there is some small action you can find in here to help get you through the next few weeks.
My love letter to Melbourne.
PLAN OUT YOUR DAY
A lot of us are missing out on structure within our days and weeks at the moment. Working from home and lack of social outings has really made all the days roll into one. If you’re finding this, implement one pillar of certainty into your day. This could be a walk to the coffee shop first thing every morning, or at 2pm you have a cup of tea and send a few texts to a friend for 30 minutes. As these become more cemented, you can implement another pillar of certainty, in-till the days break up a little better.
FIND YOUR JOY
You had it as a child, but where did it go? Invite more play into your day. This can be a board game night, playing fetch with your dog, camping out over night in your yard or lounge-room, hold a family trivia night over Zoom and invite everyone to dress goofy.
I invite you to do an Idiot Dance, coined by the philosopher Alain de Bottons;
The Idiot Dance:
“We should put on “Dancing Queen”, “I’m So Excited” or “We Are Family”. We should let rip with a playlist that includes “What a feeling”, “Dance With Somebody’ and “I Will Survive”. We should lose command of our normal, rational selves, abandon our arms to the harmonies, throw away our belief in a “right” way to dance or indeed to live.”
De Botton prescribes at least 10 minutes of idiot dancing weekly.
PRACTICE LOVING KINDNESS
Loving Kindness is the act of practicing self compassion. Understanding that we are perfectly imperfect human beings who are trying to do the best we can on this earth with the information we have. We are sometimes prone to feelings of anger, sadness, judgment and jealousy, and these are all a part of the full human experience. During these times focus benevolent and loving energy toward yourself.
Always remember that we are just perfectly, imperfect human beings.
EAT FOR EVERY CELL IN YOUR BEING
When preparing your meals, ask yourself the question, “How can I add more nutrition to this?”
This can look like increasing the protein and omega content by adding hemp seeds into a pasta dish. Flavouring your food with some garlic before you reach for adding more salt, or do you have it within your budget to buy organic free range eggs over caged eggs?
Many small steps can lead to big nutritional changes, with minimal output.
You don’t need to make huge overhauls in your diet, in fact I don’t encourage it at the moment with the world the way it is, but how can you serve your body to best serve you? Can you make some small changes to increase the sum of your nutritional status.
And remember, the sum is greater than the the parts.
PRIORITISE YOUR SLEEP
Take your sleep seriously. Do everything within your power to get to sleep at an appropriate time, and to stay asleep.
If you need a 10 step ritual involving essential oils, candle light, relaxing music, a warm drink, journaling and zero blue light. Then you should absolutely do that.
If you’re doing all those things, and still struggle to get to sleep, talk with your Naturopath.
The John Lennon song “Whatever Gets You Through The Night” is a catchy song to help drive this point home.
TAKE YOUR TARGETED PERSONAL PRESCRIPTIONS
Magnesium, B-complex, Essential Fatty Acids, Vitamin C? or should you go Passiflora, Zizyphus, Lemon balm, Hypericum, Schisandra?
All commonly prescribed for the stressed out client, but which and what is best for you?
This is where your Naturopath can help. By hearing you and painting together your unique health picture, you can have targeted and practitioner grade support express posted to your door. Stop self prescribing and work with a Naturopath to streamline your healthcare.