Moment of Mind March 2020

One of the unintuitive things I’ve learned about the human system in my researching stress buffers and recovery supports is that stress is itself evidence of our innate personal resilience and well-being.
Stress is our body’s preparation to act for self care.
The brain’s job is to regulate the body and all of its systems – oxygen, sugar, tears to keep your eyes functioning, hormones, immune cells, toxin removal and disposal, nutrient extraction from food and transfer to cells, and even keeping your pH where it needs to be in different body zones (the stomach’s pH is not the same as your blood’s for example). There are an infinite array of things happening right now in that body of yours that you are not in charge of – you just benefit from them. 
The brain’s job is to keep you alive and thriving. Notice it’s doing this all the time without your say so.
It uses inputs from your body’s physiology, past experience, where you’re putting your attention, current circumstance, and thoughts (that it generates) to create emotions so that you, the alive aware being who gets to direct this tool while life is running it, can do something. Emotions are meant to be information to motivate you to act. Stress is one of those.
When you are experiencing stress (like most of us right now) it is because you are actually physically threatened, or your thoughts are imagining that you could be in the future, or you have memories of being hurt (or watching others be hurt in movies). When you are getting signals from media, news, and people around you that danger is in the future – this socially conditions and reinforces the patterns your mind generates. It’s no wonder all of us have been on a roller coaster of emotions the last few weeks!
This firing up, this ready to be set to go that so many of us are feeling right now is our resilience, built in, that says “THRIVE!” 
Millions of people across the world right now are using that stress to do worker bee things that keep the rest of us alive (and who also benefit from more supports and buffers): nurses, doctors, therapists, clinic staff, operators, ambulance drivers, first responders, police, delivery drivers, night cleaning crews at grocery stores, small manufacturers expanding production of masks and gowns, clerks, warehouse stocking people, cooks, distributors, drivers, people at the internet/energy/natural gas/water/sewer utility companies, government workers who are working in shifts 7 days a week. The helping network we have across the planet is mind boggling. 
As you stay at home to do your part in saving lives, you can also provide buffers to your body as the mind generates anxious thoughts. It’s going to keep doing this because it’s a self protective mechanism. You, however, don’t have to let it direct your life. We truly do not know with 100% accuracy what is ahead. You have direct influence over your immediate environment, including what you put your attention on. Feel the feelings, and let them move through. You can support your system. See the image above for a quick look, and then download the stress supports and buffers inventory at the button below to connect with what feels best for you right now. 
I’d love to hear what you notice!

Download the Stress Support Inventory Here.

Covid19-grief hit me hard this past week as my mind thought about how many people this virus is impacting in a major way. And some depression. And anxiety. And there were moments of joy, of ease, and calm mixed in. This is not much different than many weeks in my life – this is what emotional weather patterns do. Beneath them is this alive awareness, the core self that knows it’s alive. That is where the calm, the joy, the ease, comes from. Inside. 

The mind is where the weather patterns come from. And when you, the alive awareness that you are, turns toward them, rather than running away or ignoring them – your witnessing helps them move. It’s like sunshine warming up clouds as they dissipate.

It’s okay if your thoughts, feelings, sensations and emotions are stormy.

It’s okay if you invite the mind to find gratitude and appreciation and compassion (thanking everyone in the grocery store, the government workers with 70 hour work weeks, the distribution center personnel and so many more…).

It’s okay if you let out how you feel on a soccer ball, write all the feeling out until your hand hurts, write “covid19” in big letters and then rip it to shreds and burn it (safely), dance, do jumping jacks, run in place, or go dig a hole just to release.

It’s okay if you cry.

It’s okay if you watch funny things and laugh.

It’s okay if you read all the news, all the chats, and find yourself scrolling for hours.

It’s okay if you turn all the news, all the chats, and all the scrolling off for awhile.

It’s okay if you sleep (especially if that’s not happening at night right now).

It’s okay if you eat all the snacks.

It’s okay if you wake up in the middle of night and disinfect everything (again).

It’s okay if you feel like showering all the people you know with love with emoji’s, texts, pictures, phone calls and waving.

It’s okay if you stare out the window for hours.

It’s okay if you make up an arbitrary schedule to create some stability.

It’s okay if you turn the music on really loud.

It’s okay if you play random online or board games.

It’s okay if you notice how you can feel 12 different things at once.

It’s okay if you watch all the animal gifs and pictures.

It’s okay if you turn toward yourself and say “yes, this is hard, yes this is a human experience that we’re all feeling, and I’m here, I’ve got you little self that feels so scared.”

Practice idea: you can use a beverage, any beverage, as a moment to pause, take a breath before you take a sip, sip slowly, notice how the liquid feels as you take a drink, and take another breath after that

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