C-19: Prescription for Permission
/One of the challenging aspects of being in a pandemic (and sheltering in place for many of us), is having the pull of pre-pandemic rules and pressures that don’t make as much sense in our current set-up.
This much-shared tweet has really hit home with me this week:
If we really sit with the fact that we are living in a crisis, are there permissions we can give ourselves that honor where we are as people, communities, and a culture? On Instagram, @thenapministry highlights how “grind culture” keeps us in a place of feeling that we need to do more to be okay or doing as well as others. @thenapministry challenges societal structures by noting the healing components of rests-such as naps-especially in periods of collective trauma and stress. I think of Brene Brown’s exercise on writing our own prescriptions that give us permission to make self-compassionate changes.
Here are a few examples of permissions that we could give ourselves this week:
Take that nap
Eat what is available and nourishes you. You can notice hunger and not go with the mandate to diet or change your body.
Stare off into space at times
Do more things that are soothing to your five senses
Know that you won’t be able to complete your work like you would’ve two months ago
Acknowledge that you are a parent guiding some teaching—you are not a full-time teacher
To take time to notice feelings
I am going to take my own advice about giving myself permission during this time, and back off of daily posts. It was a great exercise for 3 weeks and is an example of how I used to handle stress: make a goal and start a challenge. But writing a daily post, is a bit exacting and I have other stuff to do. I still plan to write a few posts a week.
See you next week..