Reopening Ambivalence

“If I’m excited about life returning to normal, then why do I feel so tired? I mean, I’m happy but I feel so intimidated!” My client was in tears as she mucked through her confusing mix of feelings.

I’ve had a number of conversations with clients this month who are struggling to understand how they can be so happy that there may be a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel while also feeling so confused and stressed at the prospect of doing things again. I feel it too! I was thrilled to be able to have a backyard BBQ with my small group last weekend (we are all vaccinated!) but I was unaccountably exhausted afterwards! Not only are we out of practice, we have loads of questions to deal with around what is and is not considered safe, what the new rules might be, and how appropriate it is to ask whether folks are vaccinated.

Krista Tippet interviewed Christine Runyan on March 18th this spring and discussed “What’s Happening in our Nervous Systems”. I highly recommend this podcast because she explains so well what so many of us feel right now; tired, foggy, irritable, emotionally fragile…and she validates it as normal. Our bodies have been on long-term alert and we are feeling the cost of it. So, watch yourself if you are tempted to berate yourself or ruminate on why you don’t have more energy. Now you know! And accepting the reason can help you be more kind with yourself.

I encourage us all to be patient with ourselves. Re-entry will be a journey and our bodies are still stressed from the long months of being on edge. And consider all of the events of the year that pulled on our nervous systems! Not only the threat of the virus, but all the strain of being separated from loved ones, a national reckoning with racial injustice, an unprecedented election year, and now Derek Chauvin’s conviction of murder while news continues to pour in of shootings and death. We are more than a little frayed.

Christine Runyan suggests that we periodically breathe in and exhale slowly for a long time. I tried it and found it to be regulating, like she said it would. But it also felt like I was cleansing my insides. That exhaling for a longer time felt somehow fitting, as if too much junk had gotten tied up inside. We’ll be metabolizing the impact of this year for a long while yet. Sometimes all you can do is breathe.

Click here to hear Christine Runyan’s podcast.

2 Responses

  1. I so appreciate this insight and encouragement for how to care for ourselves and appreciate what we have been through. Thank you!

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