Wellness
5 Ways to Practice Gratitude During a Time of Uncertainty
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As social distancing becomes the new norm, feelings of panic, fear, and uncertainty have manifested into MIA toilet paper and fighting over pasta sauce in the food isles. If there's one thing that's for sure, it's that no one knows what to expect—and we are all in an unprecedented situation that no one has faced before. But right now is the perfect time to practice a little bit of gratitude, happiness, and appreciation because we're all in this together.
Here are five easy ways to show thankfulness and kindness during these trying times.
Support small businesses.
Your neighborhood shops need your business more than ever right now. So how can you help? Get takeout from your local restaurants, pick up some caffeine at the corner coffee stand or check social media to see how you can support your favorite studio, instructor, stylist, nail salon, wellness practitioner, and more. You can also leave them a positive review on their online sites and let other people know how they benefit you (and what you love about them)! Show the businesses you understand why they are closing during the current economic climate and respond with kindness and patience.
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Support small businesses.
Your neighborhood shops need your business more than ever right now. So how can you help? Get takeout from your local restaurants, pick up some caffeine at the corner coffee stand or check social media to see how you can support your favorite studio, instructor, stylist, nail salon, wellness practitioner, and more. You can also leave them a positive review on their online sites and let other people know how they benefit you (and what you love about them)! Show the businesses you understand why they are closing during the current economic climate and respond with kindness and patience.
Tell someone you love them and appreciate them.
With social distancing, it is so important to communicate your emotions (especially the positive ones). Tell the people you love and care about how much you really do appreciate them. Connect with your friends and family on a virtual coffee date via Zoom, play online games, Facetime over dinner, or have an online happy hour with your crew. It may seem silly, but the more virtual social interactions we have, the less isolated we will feel—and the more grateful we are for the meaningful relationships in our lives.
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Tell someone you love them and appreciate them.
With social distancing, it is so important to communicate your emotions (especially the positive ones). Tell the people you love and care about how much you really do appreciate them. Connect with your friends and family on a virtual coffee date via Zoom, play online games, Facetime over dinner, or have an online happy hour with your crew. It may seem silly, but the more virtual social interactions we have, the less isolated we will feel—and the more grateful we are for the meaningful relationships in our lives.
Practice kindness to everyone.
...and trust us, you'll make someone's day brighter, including your own. If you are considered being at a lower risk for getting ill, especially right now, see if you can go out and get groceries or run errands for someone who is higher risk (think neighbors and family members in need). Before you're going to send that nasty work email to someone who hasn't responded, please take a moment and think about what could be going on in their lives. It pays to be kind to your co-workers. Working from home is a change for many of us. And if you're about to argue with someone over the last gallon of milk, acknowledge what we are going through, and approach the situation with kindness instead of fear.
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Practice kindness to everyone.
...and trust us, you'll make someone's day brighter, including your own. If you are considered being at a lower risk for getting ill, especially right now, see if you can go out and get groceries or run errands for someone who is higher risk (think neighbors and family members in need). Before you're going to send that nasty work email to someone who hasn't responded, please take a moment and think about what could be going on in their lives. It pays to be kind to your co-workers. Working from home is a change for many of us. And if you're about to argue with someone over the last gallon of milk, acknowledge what we are going through, and approach the situation with kindness instead of fear.
Self-care is gratitude, too.
Take this time at home to practice self-care and self-love with calming and mindful activities. It's the little things that count, right? Try making a DIY face mask, journaling your thoughts, cooking, or even coloring. Show your body that you're grateful for it by taking virtual fitness classes on Mindbody.io. Yoga, barre, stretching, strength training—many gyms and boutique fitness studios are moving to online workout classes (and so are some fantastic instructors). Showing yourself some care, love, and gratitude during this time will be vital in maintaining your overall health and wellness.
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Self-care is gratitude, too.
Take this time at home to practice self-care and self-love with calming and mindful activities. It's the little things that count, right? Try making a DIY face mask, journaling your thoughts, cooking, or even coloring. Show your body that you're grateful for it by taking virtual fitness classes on Mindbody.io. Yoga, barre, stretching, strength training—many gyms and boutique fitness studios are moving to online workout classes (and so are some fantastic instructors). Showing yourself some care, love, and gratitude during this time will be vital in maintaining your overall health and wellness.
Do something for your significant other and family.
Like most people, you are probably quarantined with your family or significant other. Raise your hand if you're WFH with your S/O, because these tips are *super* helpful. For some people, being home around your loved one(s) is incredible; however, for most of the world, it will be an adjustment having EVERYONE around 24/7. Did this house get smaller? Instead of getting frustrated about being stuck inside, take time to plan something special for your "roommates". Clean the house, give them alone time, or make a special dinner. It can be a huge adjustment, and nerves can run hot, so be careful of that when you are working from home and respect everyone's methods for handling it.
Gratitude is acknowledging both the good and bad things in your life and allowing yourself to be happy. Let's take this time to take a deep breath, not worry about our TP stash, and allow ourselves to think about the positive. Maybe we might learn to find growth and gratitude in this time of uncertainty.
5
Do something for your significant other and family.
Like most people, you are probably quarantined with your family or significant other. Raise your hand if you're WFH with your S/O, because these tips are *super* helpful. For some people, being home around your loved one(s) is incredible; however, for most of the world, it will be an adjustment having EVERYONE around 24/7. Did this house get smaller? Instead of getting frustrated about being stuck inside, take time to plan something special for your "roommates". Clean the house, give them alone time, or make a special dinner. It can be a huge adjustment, and nerves can run hot, so be careful of that when you are working from home and respect everyone's methods for handling it.
Gratitude is acknowledging both the good and bad things in your life and allowing yourself to be happy. Let's take this time to take a deep breath, not worry about our TP stash, and allow ourselves to think about the positive. Maybe we might learn to find growth and gratitude in this time of uncertainty.
Wellness
Foundational Steps to Cultivating a Daily Self-love Practice
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When you think of self-love what do you think of? Bubble baths, walks on the beach, facemasks, or what? Self-love can mean so many different things but when we think about self-love, we have to acknowledge loving ourselves both on the outside and on the inside. The way that we show ourselves love is one of the most important things we will ever do.
How do we treat ourselves? How do we talk to ourselves? What foods are we putting into our bodies? How are we thinking about our overall well-being when practicing self-love?
As self-love defines and redefined itself for you over the years, here are a few foundational tips to think about when easing into your self-love journey.
Step 1: Learn to set boundaries
Don’t we love this one? Loving ourselves has a lot to do with the boundaries that we have for ourselves, with others, and for others. Take time to think about your own emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual needs when setting boundaries that reflect your personal needs. Boundaries don’t have to be big and scary; they are here to remind us that you get to have your lived experience and still have expectations about how you’d like to be treated and what you’d like to feel.
When thinking about your boundaries, ask yourself:
- How do I feel without having boundaries?
- What would I like to have boundaries around?
- Are my boundaries actual boundaries or am I creating walls in my life?
- How do I plan to uphold my boundaries?
Step 2: Cultivate self-compassion
In a world where perfectionism and curated existences have been rewarded, begin to cultivate compassion for yourself. You are a soul having a human experience and it’s totally okay if things are not perfect.
Mindfulness exercises such as Breathwork, self-care activities, and self-compassion, all help train the mind, emotions, and even the body’s stress chemicals to be able to deal with undesired situations. Self-compassion means, can you be nice to yourself? Can you find empathy and kindness for yourself in the middle of what feels chaotic, stressful, or unwanted? Self-compassion means that we get to make mistakes, have our plans not work out the way that we wanted, and we still get to celebrate that we are doing the best that we can and it is enough.
When thinking about self-compassion, ask yourself:
- How do I respond to stressful situations?
- How hard am I on myself?
- How do I celebrate myself?
- How do I show myself kindness?
Step 3: Nourish yourself
In every sense of the word “nourishment”, begin to learn what nourishes you and what depletes you. Nourishment doesn’t just mean food for yourself; it means that whatever you are consuming whether it be media, podcasts, people, energy, information, etc. all impact the way that we think, feel, and experience life.
Nourishing yourself definitely goes right along the lines of having your boundaries intact and practicing self-compassion.
When thinking about nourishment, ask yourself:
- How do I nourish my emotional well-being?
- How do I nourish my mental well-being?
- How do I nourish my physical well-being?
- How do I nourish my spiritual well-being?
- How do I nourish my social well-being?
- How do I nourish my financial well-being?
That’s it. Those are the foundational steps to cultivating a self-love practice that you can ease into your daily routine. Come back to these questions often, because like anything else, self-love is a practice and it takes effort, time, and intention to maintain.
If you’d like to try breathwork, mindfulness, or play classes with me, check out these workshops and training sessions that work with your schedule. For other breathwork classes, browse Mindbody.
