It’s not been easy has it? On so many levels we’ve been affected with uncertainty, loneliness, fear, worry, oh my goodness! And absolutely nothing truly prepared us did it? Who'd have thought words such as lockdown, shielding, isolating and the 'new normal' would become regular, daily words that we hear and use?
The enormity of what was happening didn’t really sink in until COVID-19 reached our shores and began impacting on our daily lives. Watching other nations & hearing of the death toll in countries like Spain, France & Italy was hard to comprehend, seeing the clapping and banging on pots and pans from the balconies in Italy showed signs of unity, gratitude and love, it was so emotional to watch, but it still didn’t prepare me for what was to come.
I remember meeting up in February with a group of fellow business owners and we chatted about it, not really acknowledging it would be us in a few weeks’ time, we knew that lockdown was inevitable but having never had anything like this happen in our lifetime before, we simply didn’t know how to respond.
I closed R&R Therapy on the 20th March, knowing that business closures were on the horizon but not entirely sure when. The anxiety I started to feel just wasn’t worth it. I was worried for my own health, though I worried more for my holistic therapy clients and questioned myself every day, was I doing the right thing? So, although clients were still happy to visit for their appointment I felt it was right to temporarily close. It was because everything went into shutdown days later.
So, we're lucky, with my hand on my heart I hope you’ve not lost a loved one, friend, neighbour or colleague. It’s been unbearably heart-breaking to see the statistics creeping higher & higher, even though the numbers have started to decline (thankfully) each death whether it be in the tens or hundreds is still absolutely devastating. There is now that slight glimmer of hope, yet there is still so much uncertainty and emotionally this is starting to take its toll, so I just wanted to write to you and share my thoughts for those of you who are struggling...
Dear You,
How are you? How are you coping?
This may be the new normal, but it doesn’t mean we have to like it, as we're constantly adapting and some days will be good, great even, others may be grim. Life, for too long now has been lonely, filled with uncertainty for absolutely every one of us. We may be a close family, yet it's still lonely. We may live on our own and receive endless phone calls, texts, messages of support, yet it's still lonely, there are so many different elements to how we lived our 'old normal' life that we took so much for granted, having a variety of relationships is only one of those elements, we need to have those intimate relationships, we need to share the love and friendship with family & friends, we also need our work colleagues, with so much change there's no wonder we have a wobble from time to time, even 82 days later.
As lockdown eases slowly there are going to be more feelings of stress and anxiety, this is a very natural reaction, I'm here to help cope with those emotions, am happy to have a chat, you can email me at randrtherapy@gmail.com, there are techniques I can offer that will help. I now stock a range of Essential Oils too and can highly recommend Lavender, Vetiver, Frankincense & Ylang Ylang to help create some calm, get in touch if you'd like to know more about these and other oils I have available.
We must keep looking forward and finding the positives, getting up and getting dressed is a positive, eating throughout the day is a positive, all of the basics are positives, so don’t expect too much of yourself if you’re struggling.
I could write a whole list of things for you to try. Get creative, do exercise, learn something new, we've heard it all, it was intended for all of the right reasons but was also a cause for some to flounder.
What I will say is, don’t do nothing, it won’t help! You’ll just get into bed at the end of the day and be critical of your failings, which will only make matters worse.
I began lockdown with a timetable, there were no times allocated to it, just a little list with images. I’m in no way an artist but it’s easy to draw a bowl (that represented food), a washing machine (housework), R&R Therapy (my business), Dog paws (walking), even a stickman with wild, wispy hair (Boris, for the daily updates, that was soon scribbled out because emotionally it didn’t help). It was that simple and if I achieved all of them, no matter in what order, I’d had a good day!
So, I want to give you a gentle nudge, you know the sort a friend would give when you've cried and snotted all over them, that little nudge of reassurance that everything will eventually be ok. As we move ever so slightly further forward, there no doubt will be more hurdles to climb over but for now try not to overthink, take one day at a time, or even one hour if needs be.
❤ As you wake tell yourself something positive, taking small steps can make big changes.
❤ Make kindness a priority - to yourself
❤ Do something that makes you happy
❤ Talk, talk and talk some more, don’t bottle your feelings up (see below)
❤ Set a target (it can be very small) achieve it, then pat yourself on the back
❤ As you settle into bed reflect on something thats been positive throughout the day
As tomorrow arrives repeat..creating simple positive objectives become little golden moments that grow slowly, helping you to feel more positive, see life more positively and begin to enjoy your days a little more.
Remember, this is only temporary, it will pass!
So, for now take care
Love
Rachel x
https://www.samaritans.org/ To talk about anything that is upsetting you, you can contact Samaritans 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can call 116 123 (free from any phone).
https://www.themix.org.uk/get-support/speak-to-our-team/email-us if youre under 25
Don't suffer in silence, seek help ❤
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