Regina George
Broadway. Mean Girls. Regina George, meanest of all mean girls, snarls, “I wanna watch the world burn! I got the gasoline. I wanna watch the world burn and everyone get mean!”
If you’ve spent five minutes on social media or watching any iteration of the news, it seems the masses have taken a page from Regina George’s playbook. We all have some degree of imbalance related to having lived through a global pandemic. So many families are struggling with inflation and eggs have become a luxury purchase. How can we navigate through these challenging times and keep our bodies, minds, and spirits whole and our outlook positive?
Without and Within
External chaos like the world has experienced in the last three years makes your body more susceptible to stress and stress-related disease. You may have less consistent and poorer quality sleep because your mind is whirling instead of winding down. You may be more easily irritated or even experience physical symptoms such as headaches, gastrointestinal disturbances, muscle soreness, aches and pains, or feelings of general malaise. Stress can cause a myriad of other symptoms, as well. The importance of self-care and managing stress can’t be underestimated.
Maintaining a Positive Outlook
Treating yourself well daily is crucial to managing your stress and creating a positive perspective about your life. Sometimes it seems impossible, but every day should include caring for your body and being kind to yourself. Caring for your physical self includes the obvious things like exercising and eating well most of the time. Physical care can also look like:
- Laughter
- Getting a haircut or trying a new hairstyle
- Allowing yourself to rest
- Taking vitamins, supplements, or other medication that helps keep you healthy
There’s also a compelling correlation between body, mind, and spirit wellness, so caring for your emotional and spiritual well-being is equally as important as caring for yourself physically. There are as many ways to nurture your spirit as there are people who seek to do so. If you’re struggling to find what works for you, you might try:
- Going outside – even if only for a few minutes
- Deep breathing exercises
- Chatting with a friend
- Journaling or doodling
- Meditating
When Times Get Tough
Maintaining a positive outlook when life is challenging is more difficult than it is on a day-to-day basis. The methods listed above can help you focus on controlling the things you can, such as self-care and stress management. Additional methods of staying positively focused including reframing a situation. For example, if you’re stuck on the highway in a road construction or accident delay, use the time to listen to music you enjoy or put on a podcast or audio book. Focus on that instead of your frustration.
Lastly, having a positive outlook allows you to build your resilience so you can (and will) figure out how to move through and forward from whatever stressors or challenges you might face.
Helping You Put it All Together
Patuxent Wellness Center in California, MD can help you embrace well-being in all areas of your life. As an integrative wellness center, we employ innovative and collaborative care for the body, mind, and spirit to help you generate energy and positive momentum toward achieving your goals.
We hope to support your journey to wholeness and well-being. Call 301-450-4044 or email info@patuxentwellness.com to make an appointment today.
Disclaimer: The information contained here was not written by a medical doctor and is intended for informational purposes only. This is not a substitute for medical advice.
