“We are in the middle of a pandemic.”

“We are in the middle of a pandemic.” I find myself saying to my clients most of the day.  I hear their self-criticism like a nail on the chalk board. We passed one lockdown and are staring down the possibility of another. My clients are working at home, which has turned into working most of the time.   There is no separation of work from personal life as most of their friends are leaving or have left the city and they go from the couch to the bed most days without noticing. 

This is hard. 

I have a personal relationship with COVID19 that I’d have broken up with months ago. but I can’t. My entire family of 4 got sick in March and I got the sickest. I ended up with 2 pulmonary embolisms and heading to the hospital in April unsure if I was going to come out.  I was one of the lucky 20% that ends up with long term health impacts. It’s totally changed the way I had imagined I was going to spend quarantine.  I imagined zoom dates with friends and games with my kids. There has been some of that but mostly I’m trying to get through each day, just like everybody else. My health has forced me to put myself at the top of the list.  I’ve had to reprioritize what I call my “gasoline,” which is my morning routine of getting up before the whole house awakes, meditating, having my coffee, and reflecting on a lot of things.  There is a lot of time for that, but in the busy life of being a mom, I’ve had to find it and protect it. 

In a way, I was forced to make my health a priority in a way that I never had.

When our health or mental health is suffering, which is happening to many people these days, it’s so easy to put yourself last. If you have small children or folks that you think need more attention than you, it’s not uncommon for us to put them first. It’s been a real practice over many years to change that approach. I think of my morning routine as filling my pitcher first so that I can be the best therapist, mom, wife, and friend that I could possibly be. 

You can’t pour out of an empty pitcher. 

My lungs and heart have mostly recovered, and I believe it has much to do with me nursing my physical and mental health throughout this worldwide pandemic crisis. I listen to my body more often and make time for myself. 

What needs your attention?

If you find yourself moving from couch to bed or finding the days running into each other, what do you need?  Do you take time to gas up?  Do you need an extra therapy session?  Do you need a virtual coffee with a friend?  Do you need a morning routine?  Virtual Reiki session? Make a list and do one thing today to fill your pitcher.