So many humans are on edge right now. A lot of this uncertainty has been going on since before the pandemic and this recent war… and there will be unrest and epidemics all over the world at any given time.
I say this not to diminish what is going on, but to remind you that this week’s topic can be of benefit at all times, because there is never any predictability or guaranteed security. Impermanence is a law of nature. But we can still find a way for us to best navigate and stay human amidst it all. To stay connected to our humanity.
I’ll be sharing some evidence-based tips to help you still your mind and build the resilience to be present with the world in these uncertain times – and take care of yourself as well.
One of the first things I want to recommend is a news cleanse.
As humans, our brains didn’t evolve over millennia incorporating knowledge of the entire world and its issues. People have discussed the burden of being overwhelmed with day-to-day life since long before the rise of television and mass media.
Knowing that we weren’t really wired for all this doesn’t mean we should ignore the suffering or tune it out. It means we can allow it in intentionally and practice self-care to manage it. We can titrate how we receive it.
I personally remember not learning about 9-11 until three days later. And to me it seems ok that I learned about it not at the EXACT moment it occurred.
When you’re on a news cleanse, try to limit how much time and where you spend scrolling about news. I like to choose one or two reliable sources that do fact-checking and have a good reputation worldwide to be less biased than other sources.
Try not to check the news every day, or at least just check in once a day, and definitely not first thing in the morning. Or maybe only check it a couple times a week. Or avoid news completely for a few weeks altogether! The world will still keep happening and you will be able to catch up.
Another thing we can regularly practice is a social media detox.
I know it’s been mentioned before, but it’s hard to actually do. Don’t worry – you can totally start small. You can avoid all social media – or even delete or hide the apps – for as long as you want: a week, half a day, whatever! Anything will make a difference.
Imagine spending an entire day present with who you’re with, what you’re doing, the beauty around you… all without constantly checking your phone.
And when you do this for longer amounts of time, you’re able to move past the initial phase of FOMO. And you’ll get to drop in more.
I also highly recommend not checking email first thing in the morning.
This has made a huge difference in my day. When we check our email early in the AM, it can throw us out of alignment for the rest of the day. For me, I get so much email anxiety reading an ambiguous subject line from someone I’m working with or seeing the first few lines of an email on my phone. I even found out about my mom’s death via facebook messenger.
Before we allow outside news and communication to enter our mental space, we should first practice self-care. Then, whatever arises, we will be more able to respond with clarity, wisdom, and compassion – than had we not first gotten into alignment.
One thing we can do instead of checking our phone or email is to start off the day with 3 gratitudes, which really helps set a great tone for our mindset of the day. Check out Episode 81 on the importance of a daily routine for some great tips on ways to start your day off in alignment (linked below in the resources).
Also, when it’s time to check your messages, remember that no emergencies are sent by email. Sure, people will freak out and want stuff handled ASAP, but that does not make it an emergency. They can wait. Or they can call.
There are other tips I share in the pod, but The last suggestion I want to share here is to spend time in nature.
This is my most fave thing to do from this list. Time in nature really healed me from the super messed up week I talked about in the last episode. I went camping with a friend and once we arrived and got set up, I was able to just chillax. I watched the waves and the kids playing. I listened to the birds, the wind, the ocean… And I didn’t listen to any music.
Nature allows me to quiet my mind, heal, and pray. It helps my busy and noisy brain to slow down and quiet down.
I did a course with Alex Franzen called Marketing Without Social Media and she talked about the 3-day effect. Basically, this guy who used to be a river rafting guide would notice that on day 3 of his trips, there would be a shift in energy of the group. He called it “third day magic.” He believed this occurred because it took 3 days to drop into a new reality. That it took 2 full days to “shed” civilization and allow a new perspective to set in.
Neuroscientist David Strayer agreed with this phenomenon when he noticed that he had some of his own best ideas arising after 3 days of camping in nature. He even did a study to test the 3-day effect and what he found was that at the end of a trip, if people are given a special word association test, those who experienced that 3-day effect performed 47% better. Which is HUGE. This study was replicated in different settings by different researchers too.
While time in nature helps you be more creative and productive, I share this more to help you be more human. A human BEING and not just a human DOING.
Look, I get that all of these things aren’t necessarily convenient. And they can be really hard to start to do – especially with the amount of time we spend on social media or just using our phones in general and the expectations people have. But you need this now more than ever. You need to unplug. Cleanse. Take care of yourself. As humans, the level of this inundation of information is relatively new. We need to help our brains handle it.
So I’d like to invite you to pick at least one of the suggestions and implement it for a day (or 3 days, if you’re going out into nature). Do it regularly, plan in advance. Think of it as an exercise. Make it part of what you do to live your best life in this wild new world.
Do this regularly, because we need to give our brains a break so we can handle living in this wild new world. While being a human is amazing and we can cultivate the capacity to handle a lot in this world, we are…only human. Allow yourself this time to rest your mind and still your soul so you can make the most of your rebel life.
In this Episode you will learn:
// How to manage fear in a life full of uncertainty and impermanence
// 5 ways to find your center no matter what is happening in the world
// Why avoiding media (and emails!) first thing in the morning is so beneficial
// What the “3-day effect” is and how it helps us connect to our humanity and calm our minds (and yes – have more creativity too!)
Resources:
// Episode 60: How to Stop Unnecessary Suffering
// Episode 63: Being Human is Hard (The First Noble Truth)
// Episode 81: The Importance of a Daily Routine
// The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative by Florence Williams
// The 3-Day Effect Podcast by Florence Williams
// Statistics on daily time spent social networking
// If you’re new to the squad, grab the Rebel Buddhist Toolkit I created at RebelBuddhist.com. It has all you need to start creating a life of more freedom, adventure, and purpose. You’ll also get access to the Rebel Buddhist FB group, and tune in every Wednesday at 11:30am PST as I go live.
// If you’re in need of a powerful pause and ready for some re-alignment, shake up your life with the upcoming Adventure Mastermind. It’s a no-BS group of 6 womxn ready to slay the next year – YOUR way. Six months of transformation and adventures (inner and outer!) that will have you blowing your own mind, and you can learn more at www.AdventureMastermind.com Check it out – application is open, with an amazing limited-time bonus of a plane ticket credit to one of the retreats! You won’t want to miss the chance to hang out with me and a small group of rebel womxn in adventurous places to get unstuck and create the next chapter of your amazing life!
// Want to dive into this work on a deeper level? To study it and practice it together? Check out Freedom School – the community for ALL things related to freedom, inside and out.
It’s also where you can get individual help applying the concepts to your own life. It’s where you can learn new coaching tools not shared on the podcast that will blow your mind even more, and it’s where you can connect over all things freedom with other freedom junkies just like you and me. It’s my favorite place on earth and it will change your life, I guarantee it. Come join us at JoinFreedomSchool.com. I can’t wait to see you there.