Don’t fool with self-care
Especially when you're leading through a crisis.
Self-care is often thought about like getting a mani-pedi or a massage or a shopping spree. But during times like these, self-care is more inner, less material and much more important. External stressors like the uncertainty we see in our society now can harm us. Our bodies view these uncertainties as threats and prepare us to react like they were designed to so many years ago: They get us ready to run away or fight.
Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline get pumped into our systems so we are ready to go! Great for a real threat like something that might eat us, but not so for something like COVID19. What are you gonna punch? What are you gonna run from? See? What’s worse, cortisol might even dampen our immune response. Oy!
But there is a way to help ourselves: Self-care.
A few simple practices consistently undertaken can help us counter these stress effects. Here are a few tips for things you call do (all within our control; all you can do sitting where you are).
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