If you’re following all the rules, you’re like us and feeling a bit trapped at home. Whether you’re alone or with a house full of family, these are certainly stressful times. We’re all worried about the Kupuna as well as our Ohana too. When we face uncertainty, restrictions, and confinement, it’s a pretty stressful thing. So, here are some tips for helping your subconscious mind survive the next few weeks… or months.
1. Breathe… this is the most important thing you can do. Breathing is the first thing you learned as a newborn and it is the most important thing in life. We often take it for granted. Right now, it’s still the most important thing. Take time to notice your breath. Slow things down. Let that stress breathe out. 2. Time Out...Use self hypnosis for mental health. Here’s a link to a FREE hypnosis audio you can use to unwind the stress of life right now. Listen as often as you’d like: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zdmbwp2bjgdyg1b/HawaiiHypnosisCenterStressRelief.mp3?dl=0 3. Gratitude... Our mind focuses on threats. That’s automatic. So push yourself to focus on the things you’re grateful for in life. There’s always a reason to be grateful. When the Keiki are making you crazy, be thankful that they’re healthy and have all that energy. When the bills are stacking up, remember that you’re okay - right now. The air is clean. The sun comes out. Be thankful for health, for breath, for time, for family. 4. Connect... Social distancing doesn’t mean social isolation. Use your phone and call a friend. You’ll not only brighten your day, you’ll probably brighten their day. And that really matters. Studies have shown that helping someone else is the quickest way to beat the blues in our own life. 5. Self....Take care of yourself. Take a nice long bath. Go sit outside and enjoy that morning coffee. Eat healthy. There’s an interesting fact we often share with clients: If you go to a fire station nowadays, there’s no fire pole. Remember long ago the firemen would all slide down the fire pole from their sleeping quarters upstairs to the waiting trucks below and rush off to the fire? Back in the 1990s an insurance company discovered that the fire pole was the leading cause of firefighter injuries. So these days, they take the stairs. The value of this lesson is this… if you’re an injured firefighter, you can’t rescue anybody. If you’re not well, you can’t take care of them. Take care of yourself. 6. Focus... Focus on the moment. If you take it all on, right now, it feels really big. There’s a lot going on in the world. Bring things down to manageable levels. Focus on today. What can you control right now in your life? We know for sure that we can’t control pandemics and we can’t control next month’s finances. But we can make lunch. We can fill out a form for assistance. We can breathe. We can clean up one room. Do the things you can control. Everything else will sort itself out.