Some real talk about processing lockdown emotions, self care and keeping on going.

​Last Tuesday I was tired, grumpy, emotional, over it, done. I had a massive headache and could barely sit up to eat dinner. 

So I rescheduled my online clients (thank you for your understanding) and deep dived into self care. That looked like having a good cry, sitting with and feeling all of my emotions to allow them to shift through me. I love the practice of having a cry to let all of the emotions come to the surface and leave my energy field. It feels so cathartic.

My self care was also resting on the couch, cuddling my kids and hubby, listening to my favorite music, napping, eating a little too much chocolate and ice cream and watching some trashy tv (the Bachelorette!).

I also dragged my butt out for my evening solo walk in the dark while listening to my amazing psychologist @greenbearmums (you can find her and plenty of incredibly helpful info on Instagram) take a workshop on surviving lockdown.

Some takeaways (there were so many):
- Feeling safe comes first. Create a safe environment at home and priorities mental health,
- Process our emotions as parents and find our calm through play, self care, however we need to. Our little people can only feel as calm as we do,
- Go on holidays in our minds and continue to dream and have hope.

After my afternoon and evening of self care I felt SO much better. I had a great night sleep after processing all of the emotions that were arising within me and I was back to my creative, energized 'we got this' self again by morning.

The lesson in this experience for me is just another reminder of how powerful it is to really feel emotions when they arise. When we do we allow them to move through us and we allow ourselves to continue to keep moving forwards with our lives (where we can right now) and back to purpose, peace and the present moment.

Especially after 17 months going in and out of lockdowns in a global pandemic and being in lockdown number six (here in Melbourne), the consistent changes in life that have come with this global pandemic trigger and create emotional stress. We all need to focus on emotional and mental self care more than even right now.

If you're feeling flat, exhausted or over it, go easy on your self take a day off your usual routine and do something fun. Watch a movie, build a fort inside (even if you don't have kids this is fun!), eat your favorite food, go on a big nature walk, dance to your favorite music, maybe you need to have a cry, journal it out, or whatever feels good for you right now too.

Some questions I ask myself each day (and you might like to as well) are:
- What do I need today?
- What self care practice will nourish me the most today?
- What am I feeling right now? 
- How can I best process it?
Then I let my intuition give me the answer.
​
You might also like to download and read through my free ebook 'The 30 day self care challenge' (you can download it over HERE) to support you to create a fun, consistent and powerful self care routine to support you through these times of uncertainty.

I personal find that my self care routine offers me safety and certainty in my days that I can rely on when things in the outside world out of my control are changing so rapidly.

Sending you big love and hugs,