Today was a day for tears: Tears of frustration, tears of gratitude, tears of joy.

On and off throughout the day they flowed, and it was good.

It was good to let them flow to release those feeling and be in the moment.

To force myself to take a deep breath.

To surrender to the now.

Now I want to cry so cry.

Now I want to scream so scream.

Now I want to rest and turn off the news and distract myself from reality so do that too.

Now it’s time to check in with someone and connect in a very different way than I am an accustomed to.

Today was a day for tears.

And tomorrow is a day for hope and love and being here now and being adaptable and flexible in my mind.

And being present in my body.

Keep thinking about now and now and now over, and over again
​.
Love,
Denise

​Is LIFE all up in your face at the moment? This was the title of this blog just last Saturday.  But now I feel like it should read when the world has turned upside down.
Someone recently asked me how I was doing? And this was my reply: “LIFE IS ALL UP IN MY FACE”.  It’s in Caps because that how it feels to me.  LIFE is unpredictable.  There is so much out of our control and as human beings that all we want.  We want to feel like we are in control.  Sadly, we are not and can never control all the things we wish we could. 
I don’t think I am the only one with LIFE ALL UP IN MY FACE EITHER.  People are struggling.  Struggling with fear (Coronavirus), sadness (a sick/or aging family member), despair (mental illness with seemingly no fast and easy treatment options), grief (for a relationship that isn’t going to take flight), uncertainty (job restructuring), anger and surprise (dog getting attacked), or physical pain (chronic illness).  And I know there is many more situations that can be added to the list.
As human beings one thing does connect us and that is pain. We will always have pain in our lives not matter what you call it.  (SEE ABOVE).  In Yoga teachings, they say pain is inevitable, but suffering is not.  
Pain (emotional, physical, or spiritual) is going to happen to us all at one point or another or even several points throughout our lifetime.  We have to figure out how to relate to the pain, so we don’t suffer. 
If you were already in PAIN or had anxiety and stress in your life before the whole Wednesday announcements of closures of everything, financial markets crashing, supermarket buy outs, then you have been doubly hit in this extremely stressful time. 
We all have to do one thing right now and that first step is Acceptance.
This is happening and there is nothing you can do to change it.  You can’t wish this or any pain you might be feeling away, but you can say “yes I see you and I accept this now”.  Then from here that point of acceptance, we have choices.
We have been through similar tough times before and in my lifetime.  We all came together after 9/11 and there were so many kind and helpful people during that time…we can be the same way now.
We have lived through market and financial hardships.  And I know this might be causing a hardship for so many people who are self employed and don’t have paid time off this is going to hurt and its going to be scary.
We have all probably experience a bad sickness or injury or some other discomfort of body.  We know what that is like and this is similar.  Remember even if you get sick from this virus, most of us will be ok. We are now trying to protect those who are at their weakest health wise and we all should do our part.
Please remember all your feelings are valid.  Feel them and try to let them go.  Visualization can help you.  Feel the knot in your chest or your stomach and imagine it unwinding.  Or steam coming off as you release your breath.  We can change how we feel in this moment.
Remove yourself from stimuli that negatively affect you- that can be news or negative people.
Get more rest than you think you need.  The collective anxiety is affecting everyone and making us tired and irritable and irrational.  That is a drain on your body systems.  Nap.  Go to sleep at the same time even if you don’t have to go to school or work in the morning.
Get outside the weather here outside of Philadelphia has been mild go outside in your yard, be in nature.
Distract yourself.  Distraction can be a good tool for coping with stressful situations.  Probably in bad taste but we have been watching disaster movies on TV, I’m thinking maybe the new Planet of the Apes next.
Keep a routine.  Add to the routine-get stuff done around the house or get back to making music or art or anything else you like to do. Read a book or learn something new on YouTube.
Get fit.  If you are not commuting you might have extra time to get fit- go for a walk, watch a live or recorded yoga video with us even, since that is now happening with Facebook live and zoom.
And last but not least breathe a lot, fully and mindfully feel the breath coming in and out of your body, focus on that slow exhalation to reset your nervous system.
Reach out if you need support of any kind.  We will try our best to help.
Thanks for reading, stop by our Facebook page to watch us and get helpful ways to be less stressed.
Love,

Denise