After the Storm

Many of us experienced the forces of nature to perhaps the scariest extent in our lives. Hurricane Ian created a lot of lingering stress from the time the Florida governor declared the state of emergency early last week until the aftermath of the devastation and cleanup. Add to that continuing recovery from the COVID crisis plus normal life challenges and the stress keeps layering itself on.

Self Care

After a storm, the first thing we usually do is assess the damage to the physical property. Many times we forget the internal damage done. The mental trauma can cause stress and depression. It is important that while physically building back that we become even more attentive to take time for self-care.

I've written about self-care in the past, but realized that it deserves review at a time like this. For those who did not experience the hurricane, it is still a good idea to integrate self-care into daily life.

There are 5 important pillars that constitute a good self-care plan. Each one of these pillars can be addressed with different activities that you integrate into your life. Yoga postures, Yoga Nidra and other forms of meditation can fulfill many of these categories. Read on.

1. Physical self-care

Physical self-care includes eating a diet that is healthy for you, getting appropriate amounts of sleep and doing physical activities. Some suggestions include using a sleep app to ensure you get enough rest. Take a yoga nidra class to help with stress and insomnia. Maybe complete a project that has been lingering on the back burner for a while. Take a Yoga class for your physical activity.

2. Social self-care

Social self-care means investing time in your relationships with family and close friends. Plan regular activities with others. Maybe help a neighbor with their clean-up. Phone calls, video meetings or meetings up with friends all excellent activities for social self-care. Maybe even make new friends. Taking a live online class is another way to socially engage and care for yourself. Yoga Nidra and Yoga asana (posture) classes can both be done in a group setting both online and in-person.

3. Mental self-care

Mental self-care means doing activities that keep your mind sharp and intellectually engaged. Doing crossword puzzles, reading books, or learning a new language are all deliberate activities that keep the brain active and healthy. Focusing on self-acceptance and self-compassion are both examples of mental self-care. A regular Yoga Nidra practice can help you focus on self-compassion and self-acceptance. Learning the Sanskrit names of the Yoga poses helps with mental acuity.

4. Spiritual self-care

Spiritual self-care doesn't necessarily mean practicing a faith or religion, although it can. Spiritual self-care can involve any activity that helps you promote a sense of meaning and understanding of life. It can help promote your connection to the universe or something that is bigger than yourself. Meditation constitutes spiritual self-care as it can settle the soul and lead to a healthier mind and body. Meditation, such as Yoga Nidra, is one method of spiritual self-care and, for me, the best!

5. Emotional self-care

Emotional self-care means checking in with your feelings. Particularly checking in with those uncomfortable emotions such as anger, anxiety and sadness. Rather than avoiding these emotions, we can take actions. Some actions we can take to promote emotional self-care include talking things out with a person close to you, seeing a talk therapist, or finding some way to express your feelings regularly in a healthy way. The National Disaster Helpline provides counseling services.

At the start of most yoga classes we check in with our emotions. We check in with the mind, the body, the spirit. We find out just where we are on the mat. Yoga Nidra is a deep nurturing practice that allows for exploration of the full range of emotions.

Circumstances are far from ideal in these trying times. Applying the principles of self-care at this time, can help to alleviate both now and the future. This does not mean that you need to take on all 5 practices right now. Take baby steps. Do just one thing that constitutes self-care and see how it makes a difference in your life. Keep shining.

References & Resources

Nursing: Concepts of Practice. 6th ed. St Louis, MO: Mosby; 2001. [Google Scholar].

Scott, E. (2020). Five Self-Care Practices for Every Area of Your Life.