Things I am trying to help me cope right now.

​As we move towards two years from our first Covid Lockdown we find ourselves spectators of war in Europe.  We are still living in a time of high stress and are witnessing some heart-breaking scenes and testimony from those who are in the middle of it all.  

Like many of you I am managing many aspects of my day to day life very differently to the old days.  Below is a little list of things I am trying that are helping to keep me engaged with what is going on without getting hooked into doom scrolling and anxiety triggers.  I hope they help.

• I have deleted Instagram from my phone, three weeks later I have also deleted Facebook from my phone.  I am not on Twitter any more either.  Limiting my social media has made a massive difference.  I just check my Facebook when I am on my lap-top and it is wonderfully old school!
• I am not checking the news all day, on tv, radio or the internet.  I recognised when I wanted to check and when I felt 'robust enough' and have made a bit of a pattern of it.  So, if I wake up and feel ok I will put radio 4 on and listen to some of the Today programme (the morning news) whilst making a cup of tea and pottering.  Then it goes off whilst I drink said tea and eat breakfast etc. If I want to watch the news as the day goes on I watch Channel 4 news in the evening.  BUT... I do not watch news at 10 and try and then go to bed!   I  obviously catch bits and pieces as the day goes on, but I don't have the news or radio on in the background all day.  I make an effort to move it away from my fingertips.  
• Early to bed.  It isn't always possible but I do like to be in bed reading an actual book made from paper by 10pm at the latest.  If I can get there for 9 even better.  I don't necessarily go to sleep earlier but I am better rested and much calmer for not being in front of a screen all evening.
• Gentle Exercise.  Henry and I scoot to school pretty much every day, whatever the weather!  I also try and get out for a walk most days, with the occasional crack at some yoga!  Getting out in the fresh air, moving our bodies and breath in gentle rhythm, stretching and engaging with our senses without even really knowing we are doing it.  This is therapy for me!
• Identifying what you can do.  It is so easy to feel helpless at the moment.  So, what can you do.  Here we have made a project of how we can cut down our environmental impact over the last few years.  This has been ramped up a little more recently for obvious reasons.  Not only does it help the environment, it saves money (cost of living crisis anyone?!), it also is a contribution to lowering our dependency on gas and oil.  This may seem like a tiny step against Putin, but it does feel like a personal protest to us. The best way to replace Russian energy is to reduce our need for it.  Surely?! Thus it is a win-win-win situation!  
• Boundaries.  Most of the above is about boundaries really.  Our edges are essential to our wellbeing.  Our edges are what give us human form in this lifetime.  They are essential to our development and  There have been a few times recently where I have needed to "park people".  Not because they are bad people, just because our needs/opinions/desires/values are different right now.   Where we spend our energy is vital, so let's not spend it arguing, feeling bad, being made to feel bad.  Boundaries are not walls.  As Hiro Boga says... "Boundaries are not walls — they are living containers within which your desires can breathe, gestate and grow until they are ready to be born."  It is perfectly ok to take a break from both things and people.  

Most of these feel like going back to basics.   How I lived before social media and constant news in my pocket, I just got out of the habit of walking everywhere and used to read in bed for ages each night before the distraction of multiple streaming options. ​

Perhaps you can sense habits and patters in your life that you are ready to change? 
Are you doing anything that is helping you cope and manage anxiety at the moment that you can share?
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Sending lots of love
​Charlotte xx