Thresholds
Life is feeling a bit more normal these days, and many of my patients are feeling frustrated that they’re still experiencing so much anxiety, frustration, premenstrual mood changes, or depression. They feel easily triggered by stressors that wouldn’t have phased them in years past. They know they’re in patterns that aren’t serving them but don’t know how to change them.
After months and months of uncertainty, juggling, pivoting, fear, and frustration - thresholds are lower. Those little stressors are enough to send you into the fight and flight mode and trigger a lot of the feelings, thoughts, and sensations that you’ve experienced on and off over the last two years. While things might be feeling more normal, we need to work to actively recover and build resilience. So what might that look like?
Prioritizing sleep. Sleep is your superpower, when you’re sleeping well it’s the catalyst that allows you to be able to make changes to your nutrition, exercise, and perspective. Everything feels better and easier with good sleep. If that’s a struggle check this out and reach out!
Complete the stress response. Cortisol is a hormone that keeps us alive and gets us out of bed in the morning. It's essential but is NOT meant to be elevated all day long. After stressful moments or a stressful day, we need to actively build something in to bring the cortisol back down. For many people the easiest way to start is to incorporate breath breaks - 10 deep breaths to bring the cortisol back down and ground yourself for what’s next to come.
Preserve your energy. After doing very little for 18 months, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all of the possible extracurricular activities and social events available now. While I absolutely want you to leave your house and connect with other people - don’t overdo it. Schedule in down days and down moments. Slow the pace of day to day life.
Find the little joys. This can be a tough one. Especially as we enter the dark November days. I want you to reflect on the little things that give you a moment of happiness or peace or calm during the day. Can you write down one thing you're grateful for daily? As you’re writing it down - reflect on the sensations you feel as you think about it. The more you can dive into why you’re grateful, the more meaning it can give.
These are still tough times. Be gentle with yourself. Reach out if you’re feeling overwhelmed so we can figure out where to start.