I was feeling anxious the other night about starting another week. Despite the girls starting softball and the days being a little brighter – the week was feeling like the same old thing and I was kinda dreading it. (A former client of mine calls these feelings “The Sunday Scaries.”)
Here’s how I coped.
- I acknowledged what I was feeling and gave myself a reassuring pep talk. (You know the kind your best friend, therapist or Mom – if you had that kind – would give you? That one.)
I reminded myself that what I was feeling was totally expected given the past year+, that my feelings wouldn’t last forever, to be very kind to myself until the feelings passed, and to just take it one step, one hour at a time until then. - When I woke up the next morning, I imagined my day going well before I even got out of bed. I had a few things to do this week that I had been putting off because they required patience and lots of brain energy. After that short beditation, I felt confident I could make progress on them this week without tears.
- I drank a big thermos of hot water. (My electric tea kettle broke! but turns out you can just boil water on the stove. Yay!) Then I moved my body. Personally, I like to lay on my yoga mat in the living room as the sun comes up and just move how my body wants to move. Some days I do some deep, slow yoga / stretching. Some days it’s a more vigorous practice like doing squats and lunges.
- I listened to my horoscope. (I highly recommend Chani Nicolas’s app at www.chaninicolas.com) Part of how I connect with the bigger picture of life is to listen to what’s happening in the stars above me. I don’t plan my courses or my vacations or difficult conversations around the movement of the planets yet (perhaps I should), but I do like remembering that there is more to this life than what’s happening inside my head and inside my world here in North Portland.
After that, I felt ready to start my day.
How about you? How’s your week looking?
What will you do to take care of your body + mind + spirit?
