We Made It!

By Amy Stewart, LMFT, CST

Congratulations! You did it. You’re here. Right now, you are in this very moment, reading these words, which means you made it through 2020 and, my god, what a year it’s been. “Making it” through this year carries with it a lot more weight than it has in the past. You have survived so many losses, collectively and individually, the loss of jobs, of income, of time, of socializing, of opportunity; the loss of stability and security,  the loss of those you love. It has been relentless, difficult and exhausting. And you made it. Welcome.

Take a breath, you deserve it.

Inhale deeply through your nose, allowing your belly to fill with air.

Exhale through your mouth, expelling the negative and allowing your shoulders to relax.

The moment we start breathing differently, our bodies start behaving differently. We help to soothe our limbic system. We turn down the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol, turning off the fight, flight or freeze response. At the same time, we increase the release of endorphins, the feel good chemicals that help to decrease pain. Deep breathing begins to slow down our heart rate to sync with our breathing and supply more oxygen to our brains, allowing us to be more focused.  When we are focused on our breath, we are in the moment and nowhere else.

We trick our bodies into believing we’re calm, cool, and collected, which allows us to actually become calm, cool and collected.

Regardless of what’s to come in the year ahead, remember to take a beat. Inhale. Exhale. Give yourself time to:

Respond instead of react.

Turn toward someone when your instinct is to turn away.

Be gentle with yourself when you don’t do those things as well as you’d like.

2021? We got this. (I hope)