Stress Awareness Month is April and we wanna talk about it too because it is needed.
I think we live in the most stressful times of human history. It’s even crazier if you’re a millennial living in Kenya. It’s so ironic especially because of the technological development that is ‘meant to make things easier and accessible’. Yes, stress is inevitable in this world and knowing that still does not prepare us as much. Most times, we do not even realize how stressed we are until our bodies start acting out and responding to the pressure. All of a sudden, you’re dizzy, have headaches, can’t sleep, undereating or eating way too much.etc
I never thought stress was a thing until I experienced a few of these things and others and I could not explain it. I got scared when I’d wake up in the middle of the night with a racing heartbeat worrying about something that either way could not be done/solved at 2: 43 am. Or I’d fall asleep in a matatu and jolt awake because of anxious thoughts on either something I am doing, haven’t done or hoped for. In such instances, I literally audibly talk myself down to a place of calm or sometimes I’d sit in that puddle of despair.
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Stress is real and there is no shame in it, regardless of your struggles. It is a characteristic of life. Stress hits us even harder when it finds us vulnerable and defenceless. When we are in that state where we do not even notice it invading our space, bodies and lives. This is a space where we are not intentionally and actively practising self-love,self-care and mindfulness. As a life coach, I always ask my amazing clients what they like doing for themselves that helps them feel more centred, alive, free and helps them release tension. A lot of them were able to identify activities but admitted that they do not practice these self-care activities as often as they should. Other’s, we joyfully dive into identifying self-care activities they can incorporate in their lives.
Stress will find you….but,
Stress will find you but what matters is how it finds you! Many people discredit self-care and self-love activities and deem them as unnecessary. Here, we believe it is ammunition and a #letsbeatdepression starter/forever pack. We embrace it and honour the place of it in our lives.We guard the space of self-care/love like our lives depended on it because it actually does. Our day to day can actually outrun us and we find ourselves trying to catch up through activities that do not serve our goals and general well-being. This could be turning to drugs/alcohol, irresponsible sexual activities, or stress eating.
Different Seasons……
Self-care looks like different things to different people. It may come easy for few but for most, it’s a journey of self-discovery. A beautiful judgement free journey that allows one to fully partake of the things that calm, centre and relax them in a healthy way. One doesn’t need money to practice self-care. It’s interesting that the very things that really centre us are available for free. I know for me simple breathing exercises, meditation, journaling, praying, affirmations, working out and talking to someone are high up on my self-care list. I feel really energized, happy, balanced and relaxed after doing these activities. I just discovered breathing exercises actually work after going through my coach training and i immediately added it to my life. We have different seasons in life and therefore our stressors are different. It therefore only means that we will have different self-care activities for the different seasons in our lives. Self-care is that flexible and very dependant on what your soul, body and mind need in that season.
Stress will be there my dear darlings, I know, it sucks big time but taking care of ourselves is key. Taking care of our minds, soul and general emotional well-being is no longer to be swept under the rug because we want to look like we have it together. We all know that nobody has everything figured out and it will always remain as is!
It’s okay to take care of yourself and even let the world know that you are! Go ahead! Do it! You need it! Write it down, make it happen.
What self-care/love activities get you to that place of feeling relaxed/centred?
