Is Zoom fatigue setting in? Are you running out of shows to binge watch? Is your home the
cleanest it’s been since you moved in? Good. Pause.
This is the moment to find real meaning in the madness and begin to lay the foundation for a more authentic, courageous, and fulfilling life post-pandemic. It’s time to reflect and reset; to turn your quarantine into a soulbbatical.
Start by practicing these five things at home:
1. Find your (soul) signal. There’s so much noise in the world right now. It can create loads of fear and overwhelm and uncertainty in all of us. The antidote? Silence. Give yourself permission to be still — once a day for at least 15 minutes. Tune out the world and tune into that little voice inside you. Reconnect with it. It’s your signal amidst the noise. Listen to what it’s saying and let it guide you through the storm (and beyond). Stability comes from the inside out.
2. Lean into boredom. It might sound crazy but it’s a sign that you’re slowing down. And that’s powerful. So many of us are addicted to busy-ness — and we don’t even know it. We fill our days with endless activity and distraction, so we don’t have to sit with ourselves and face the reality of what we’re pretending not to know. (Yeah, that thing.) Now’s the time to practice being over doing. Use some of this downtime to audit all aspects of your life. What’s fueling your soul? What’s sucking the energy from it? What do you want more/less of? What really matters to you? What is that little voice inside you saying that scares the hell out of you? How do you want your life to look different when you emerge from this pandemic?
3. Embrace conscious growth. The truth is that we always grow through hard times. So why not be intentional about *how* you want to grow in this moment. Define what that means for you and start showing up as your authentic and awakened future self. Lean into creation over consumption. Create new daily habits. Create a new routine. Learn a new skill. Practice compassion. Learn a new language. Untangle an old limiting belief. Write that first article or start that book you’ve always dreamed of writing. Share your unique gifts with the world in a bigger way than ever before – we need them. This is your time to reset and redirect toward greater joy and fulfillment.
4. Choose mindfulness over mindlessness. Be more deliberate about your words, thoughts, and actions – especially when it comes to setting the tone for your day and choosing what you’re feeding your mind and body right now. Junk media and food are an easy “go to” in challenging times, but they’re also toxic. They stress our nervous systems and compromise our immune systems. Before mindlessly reaching for the bag of chips (again) or turning on the news (again) or scrolling through social media (again), pause and ask yourself these questions:
- How will this serve my wellbeing?
- What’s really going on here, e.g. am I trying to numb pain, discomfort, or fear?
- What would be a more mindful approach to dealing with what I’m feeling?
The goal is to interrupt the pattern. Some of my favorite interruptions are calling a friend; taking a walk; cranking up the tunes and dancing with reckless abandon for 5 minutes; taking 5 slow, deep breaths; asking my partner or family for what I really need in that moment; or sinking into a 10-minute calming meditation. Have fun discovering what works best for you.
5. Plan your “rally and recovery”. Radical self-care is more important than ever. We’re playing the long game, so we need to be gentle with ourselves along the way. There’s a reason that rest and recovery is the pivotal element of training for the world’s top athletes. Why should it be any different for the rest of us? Our bodies and brains weren’t built to sit in front of screens for 8-10 hours straight (or longer). We need a break from the intensity to allow for integration, insights, and ideas. So, plan your days in intervals of “rally” (stretches of rigorous work) and “recovery” (100% downtime away from the work). The latter is where the magic and momentum happen. Building these habits now will pay dividends when the pace of the world inevitably picks back up again.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat. The more intentional we are with our choices now, the more primed we’ll be to create the life we really want on the other side. See you there. A big hug is waiting.
