Listen, Let
be, Live, Let go
Listen (to your body and mind)
Listen
carefully to the signals coming from your body and mind in times of greater
stress. Many of us have a tendency to overlook, ignore or push through feelings
of overwhelm, exhaustion or stress but this only wears us down and burns us out
over time. It’s important to listen to yourself and give yourself what you need
to restore along the way and find balance. This may mean turning off the news
for a while, having extra sleep, spending more time in nature, eating
nourishing food, and asking for more connection and support from loved ones.
Keep filling your cup!
Let be (any difficult thoughts and
feelings)
In times of
crisis or hardship, difficult thoughts and feelings will probably arise. They
are a natural response to the more challenging moments of our lives. We don’t
want to pretend we’re not feeling them, struggle with them or try to escape
them. Struggling with difficult thoughts and emotions in these ways only tends
to prolong them and make them bigger. So instead, allow whatever
feelings you have to be there, and give yourself compassion for what you’re going through.
Live (In integrity to your values)
One of the
most empowering things you can do in difficult times is to take meaningful
action – action guided by your own core values. Your values might be kindness,
courage, patience, love, compassion or determination. Research shows that
focusing on what you can control and taking action, shifts you from a state of
helplessness to one of hopefulness and empowerment. Perhaps you can start with
simply asking yourself the question “what's one thing I can do to help or make
things better right now?”
Let go (of what you can’t control)
During
challenging times we often cause ourselves excess suffering by wishing things
were different then they are or continuously worrying about all kinds of things
that are not in our control. While that might be a fairly normal thing for the
mind to do, it simply is not helpful.
For example we
can not control what other people do. We cannot control how governments are
responding to world events. And we cannot control the future of the world or
how the war will unfold. In fact, the more we focus on things we cannot
control, the more overwhelmed, disempowered and frantic we are likely to feel.
So the most
powerful thing you can do when you’re facing any great challenge is to focus on
what you can control and take action on that. Accepting that for now, the rest
of it simply is as it is. This is not resignation but the simple
acknowledgement that “right now it’s like this.”
May these
ideas help you find ease and strength in the coming days and weeks.
Go gently with
yourself.
Big love,
Melli
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