Top tips for dealing with anxiety and stress while we transition back into busy life.
Now that we are back to work (for the most part), back to the studios, gyms, theatres, restaurants, pubs, live music, and much more, how are you feeling?
Anxious? Stressed? Nervous? Excited? Too many emotions and/or combinations of them to navigate?
It is exciting that things are opening up again and that we are able to see friends and loved ones once more, but after being essentially shut in our houses for over 5 months - it is quite a big transition and a huge change in energetic and emotional demands. Physically and mentally adjusting to a routine where we will be travelling into work, travelling to social events, travelling to our places where we take care of our own needs, interests and hobbies - will be somewhat challenging!
Notice how you’re feeling after this first week, before heading into our second one - and be honest - are you feeling tapped out or drained already? Fatigued? Disturbed sleep? Mental fog? That is a sign that maybe you’ve exceeded your limit of energetic output and need to focus on the energetic input (YOU!) to restore balance and adjust gradually.
I’ve been doing some thinking this week: what are some small ways we can take care of ourselves and keep our energy balanced so we come back to all life events fully alert, present and excited?? Read ahead for my tips:
Set a regular sleep schedule to help balance your circadian rhythms
Try to go to bed at a certain time each night and wake around the same time each morning. Consistency will establish your circadian rhythms, which will help regulate your sleep/wake cycle so you’re actually tired before bed and alert in the morning. This has to do with your melatonin and cortisol hormones, and they need about 5 days of routine to adjust to the cycle you’ve chosen.
Limit alcohol and sugar/processed food intake
Alcohol and sugar disrupt hormone function and your nervous system and can cause issues with quality of sleep, quality of digestive processes and absorption of nutrients from your food into your blood. Sugar also can cause your energy to spike and crash quite quickly and cause brain fog and fatigue after eating/drinking it.
Keep a water battle nearby and drink plenty of fluids 2-3L per day
Try to drink water instead of other beverages filled with sugar, additives or caffeine. Water will keep you hydrated and alert, whereas coffee can dehydrate and cause jitters if you are sensitive to caffeine. If you’re like me and love your coffee, just make sure you are drinking plenty of water to minimize dehydration!
Plan your weekly schedule in advance, schedule & book your classes, meditations, and things that you enjoy that are healthy activities.
Put them in your calendar and treat them as importantly as you would a work meeting or something similar that you cannot miss. If you’re a procrastinator - do these things in the morning as once they’re done you won’t have to think about them all day (yoga, pilates, cycle, spin, hiit, running, the list goes on…).
Say no to some invites out
Pay attention to your needs for space and alone time and to do things that benefit you outside of a social context. If you are always out socialising (as exciting as it is coming back to it), and working, you will burn out and experience more anxiety and stress (which may even cause you to feel like you need to do more - it’s cyclical. Notice how you feel when you’re out - if you’re distracted and your mind is elsewhere, or tired and grumpy - that’s a sign you may need to go home and rest!
Have a 10-20 min nap if you’re tired, not loads of caffeine.
A short nap is great for feeling alert vs. powering through with caffeine or sugar. Even if you don’t fall asleep, the lay down will help your body and mind 'calm down’. A longer nap may intuitively seem more beneficial, but it isn’t - because if you fall into your deep sleep cycle you will wake up feeling groggy and disoriented. If you are tired in the day - NAP - it is your born with/built in mechanism to revive you. Trying to avoid what your body is asking for by ingesting food/substances that avoid rest only makes things worse in the long run.
Practice breathing exercises to find calm when you notice your are feeling stressed or anxious
Even a simple deep breath can help enormously. Alternate nostril breathing or even ujjayi breath (the one we use in our yoga classes) can help tremendously to bring you back to a state of focused calm.
Start to keep track of what type of situations, work, people & tasks cause you stress
Limit your time with them. Seriously! You do not owe your time to energy draining people and tasks.
If you are feeling overwhelmed it can be super helpful to write lists, and time slot everything you have to do within a certain time frame.
Schedule them so you have time between tasks and avoid the feeling of being “rushed”. Then you can focus on the specific task 100% and divert to the next one when it’s scheduled. This is to limit the amount of distraction and stress that can arise in your mind when you know you have a million things to do. Do one at a time and then move on. Feeling rushed is a feeling we create inside of ourselves and it is absolutely not needed, necessary or useful. It causes overwhelm, a feeling of scarcity (in this instance time), and impairs cognitive abilities. You will be more productive and creative when you feel present and relaxed.
Make sure you are eating well, lots of whole foods & veggies - get those vitamins!
Eat at regular times, avoid massive portions and eating just before bed time (all hard on digestion and impair sleep).
Go for a short walk - even 10-15 minutes out of your house/work can help to reconnect you with the bigger picture
That the things we are working on are not the only thing in existence and there is a whole world out there to enjoy!!
Set boundaries around your needs for exercise, healthy eating, sleep, alone time, social time, work time - and stick to them!
Let me know below in the comments if you have tried any of the above? Or how you’re feeling coming back to work/life/social?!