It has been a few weeks since my last blog. Like you, I heard the news from Doug Ford yesterday about our possible numbers of infections and deaths due to COVID-19. That was a lot to take in. I woke up at 4 am and my mind went racing. After 30 mins I practiced my grounding techniques, which for me includes a little bowl of cereal, put something calming to listen to and fell right back asleep.
This morning I woke up knowing I needed to get more grounded. If I needed this, I am sure many of you do also. As a therapist I use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and the famous line is “where is the evidence? Where is the proof?”. In this case, this doesn’t work. We don’t know if our family and ourselves are going to be okay. We know that if we do the self isolation and take all the precautions explained to us on the news that our chances are greatly improved. But there is no way to give the proof that you and your family will not be affected.
So what can you do? You can live in the present. Stay grounded. I am starting for myself a daily log of what are my goals for the day, my goals for the week and scaling this from 1-10 as to how focused I was on these goals. The goal one day may be to do the groceries, to call our friends or loved ones, to restrict the amount of hours you spend watching tv. For some of you it can be to get up, have a bath or a shower and be present. We are all so different, so don’t judge another person’s goals against your own. Some of you have strong anxiety or are dealing with depression. And of course, stress is on top of everyone’s list right now as the unknown is scary. But you can do this little step. You can set a goal for your day, today, right now.
Apart from goals, you can also scale how you managed your energy both mentally and physically. Were you able to stay grounded enough to not lash out at your loved one? Did you stay active and maybe exercise, in whatever form that takes for you? How you manage your energy will come out from how you stayed grounded and worked on your daily and weekly goals.
For me, I put exercise as one of my daily goals. I am lucky to have a treadmill in my home but if you don’t you can go for a mindful walk, do weights with cans and using your body resistance, find a yoga class online. Having completed my exercise made me feel a lot better, so much better that I added writing this blog to my goal for today.
So, how are YOU managing your energy? What are your goals for today?
Ray St-Amour, MSW, RSW
Maray Counselling