I admit it. I carry a lot of stress. It had been tricky for me to find a healthy balance between growing my business, going to my nearly grown, hyper-busy children’s activities and performances, carving out time for myself, my children (outside of their activities), and my life partner, and to properly make and enjoy a homemade meal… all of which are important to me.

What covid-19 did was this:

• My business partner and I were suddenly clear on what in our business was fat and what was not. It shaved a lot of unnecessary time and angst out of our work. Of course, this takes willingness to detach from the idea that so much time has been invested in something that it is no longer let-go-able.
• I have more time to do my morning self-care routine. I don’t have to run out on any mornings right now, and I got to see how important this is to me. I remind myself that feeling good, physically, mentally, and emotionally, is so much more delicious than any stimulant I can consume (food, drink, gossip, Netflix, news), and this self-talk delivers me to my self-care routine. I’ve mixed up my routine a little, allowing myself to change the order of my self-care items according to what will get me moving the easiest that morning. While this satisfies the ego part of me that wants a change in routine, I cover them all.
• I am making from scratch nearly 3 meals a day, which I had not found time for in a long time. This feeds the soul and nourishes mind and body. This takes willingness to let go of whatever distancing relationship one has with cooking.
• The most difficult thing for me that I’ve implemented is a new evening routine: a warm oil massage called abhayanga followed by meditation while the oil does its work, followed by a luxurious bath. My bedtime goal is 10 pm, and I’m getting closer to it. This routine rearranges my entire evening, and I choose to be good with that.

Our personal relationships are shifted right now with the distancing issue, and I have embraced the insights and recalibrating effects that come with this.
My business needs a “sudden shift” in how it operates, and the “sudden clarity” has been incredibly helpful.
Taking advantage of home-boundness made choosing more time to self-care easier, which reminds me of how luxuriously effective this switch in pacing is. Because self-care works to connect the self and make the self whole, loneliness and isolation can not exist. Which ripples out to the quality and creativity in our lives.
I get to take stock of what I miss and what I don’t, and when things go back to a new normal, it’s this knowledge that will make the normal new.
There is a lot of information that is put out there that suck the energy out of us, make us divisive and fearful, and have us believing that that is reality. Putting up healthy boundaries can be difficult, but it gets easier as we begin to realize that we don’t have to participate in that conversation, and that we will be better off and more attractive for it.

It’s a great time to destress and to remember what’s good.