YOU NEED TO TUNE IN TO YOUR FEELINGS

After an emotionally turbulent year, Emma says many of us may be burying our emotions – but that won’t help us heal

Figuring out how you have been affected by the pandemic is crucial, so sit down and explore your feelings. Are you more anxious than normal? Have you found yourself more impatient, or found day-to-day tasks more challenging? Asking yourself these questions is a way of acknowledging and accepting your true feelings. You may find this exercise upsetting, so if you want to take a moment to cry, then do. Let yourself sink into the sadness instead of fighting it. Next, address how to manage the trauma in a strategic and helpful manner. Create a schedule of activities daily that create space and time to practise self-care. You could write a journal each day, noting any fears and anxieties, to bring your concerns into focus and help you manage them. If you have a close friend with whom you feel comfortable “checking in”, you could agree to have a daily tenminute debrief, which will make you both feel valued and heard. Go for a walk outside every day, and don’t keep checking your phone. You need to be fully present with nature to benefit from this informal mindful practice and stress relief. Encourage family members to do all of this too, because when you share your feelings, not only do you feel less alone, but you also give the person you love permission to acknowledge their struggle. While things will one day return to normal, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight just yet, which is why we must practise a high level of selfcompassion to get through this challenge the best that we can.