Being Gentle With Yourself

The reality of COVID is starting to settle in and a new normal is starting to unfold. Unfortunately, things continue to change what feels like daily and can leave a person with a roller coaster of emotions. How do you hang onto yourself through all of this? Whether you are essential services, taking care of children at home because of school closure, are now unemployed, or the countless other situations you may be in, we all have different challenges and will face them differently. While there are many of these categories I cannot speak from, I would like to offer a few questions to consider when being gentle with yourself at this time.

Essential Services - I am not an essential service, so I can’t even begin to imagine the stress that you may be feeling if this is where you are. Being on the front lines not only dealing with your own emotions but being around and holding others’ emotions is a very big responsibility. How can you care for yourself here? While you may see people on Instagram or Facebook discussing their boredom, doing ‘challenges’, etc., you may feel pressure to also clean your pantry at this time. Is that the most gentle and caring thing for yourself right now? Or perhaps taking your evenings and weekends to spend time with your family, go for walks (while keeping social distancing in mind), reading a book, sleeping, etc., may be the greatest form of self care. If you are an essential service, I would gently encourage your to do less busy work at home right now unless that is energizing to you. What can you do to slow your energy down, protect your energy, and process the emotions that come up with the heavy weight that you are carrying?

Working From Home - Working from home has a whole other set of challenges, especially if you have children. Again, you may fall under the umbrella of having to do it all… keep working, become an educator to your family, feeling pressure to clean closets, etc. Other challenges you may face is being around your family all the time. I don’t say that lightly. Children are children and while there is a global pandemic, they will still get into arguments, feel bored, etc. Also, continually being around your family when you recharge your batteries alone may also bring up a whole other set of challenges. On the flip side, maybe you are living alone. There are a whole other set of challenges that come from working at home while being alone, especially if you are an extrovert. With all those things in mind, what does your job look like now? Perhaps you are taking on new tasks or letting go of old ones. Getting your bearings can take a while and there may be a grieving period of what your job used to be. What is the most gentle thing you can do for yourself here? Perhaps if you’re sitting all day, you can make time throughout for exercise, reading or a nap. Or maybe going easy on yourself of how much your children need to learn educationally at this very moment so you can focus on work. Everyone’s situation will be different meaning if you are going to put more or less on your plate to look after you.

Student - Are you a student right now? Perhaps you are settling into new online classes or perhaps it’s business as usual for you when it comes to your education. Challenges that can come from here is the ability to concentrate and keep up with what you need to with all the other anxieties you may be feeling. What is the most caring thing you can do for yourself right now? If you have deadlines, perhaps it’s making a schedule for yourself so that you’re keeping in a routine. Or maybe it’s communicating with your instructors about how you’re feeling and extensions to papers, etc., if you mental health is not great. As you look at your classes, exams, programs, etc., what is the kindest thing you can do for you right now?

Unemployed - If you have been laid off from work or are self-employed and had to close your business, there are a whole other set of challenges. First the financial anxieties that come up or the feelings of caring for your employees or your own situation. Going beyond the financial assistance, mortgage deferrals, etc., what can you do for you in this place? Perhaps you need a day or two where you watch Netflix and grieve the losses or feel the anxieties that are coming up. However, that can be a slippery slope. If you are at home with nothing to do, I gently encourage you to get into a routine for your mental health. Set an alarm, get up early, and do things to take care of your mental and physical health whether that is exercising regularly, or perhaps you do fall under the category of cleaning out closets, or taking on new hobbies. Keeping busy and feeling like you have a purpose is essential right now for your mental health. What does self-care look like for you in this place?

This is a very general overview of where you may be at. The point of this post is for you to start to ask yourself, “Am I being gentle with myself right now? How can I hold onto myself right now? What is the most loving things I can do for me?’ . While I cannot begin to imagine how anyone is feeling, taking a few moments each day or continually throughout the day of how you can care for yourself may help tremendously in the long run.

Let’s get the conversation going! What category do you fall under? How are you looking after yourself?

Sending love,
-Brigitte