I’m feeling relatively calm amidst the coronavirus experience. Of course, I have my moments and it’s not that I believe I’m immune to the risks. My parents were on a “COVID cruise” and quarantined, I have an infant with a developing immune system, and I feel my own flavor of the generalized economic uncertainty as a small business owner.
Yet, the discernment I have earned over time has provided the assurance that I am doing the best I can to consistently take care of mine and Eça’s health. It has also allowed me to be thoughtful and strategic in what information I chose to support our health and my civic responsibility— versus indulging in a news binge-panic response or avoiding the news altogether (common trauma responses that can backfire). This week, I’m sharing my three favorite Coronavirus articles that I’ve found most supportive during these uncertain times that I hope will help you too.
If you’re looking beyond the Corona crisis and thinking about making your over 40 years your most powerful, my friend and colleague Courtney Townley is hosting a free, Confident Women Rising online summit.
I’m one of the 16 speakers who will debunk confidence myths (like confidence is inherent. Hint: you have to earn it) and help you unlearn the myth that it’s all downhill after 40. From releasing trauma stored in your body to balancing hormone health to menopause, this summit will inform and inspire those of us who want to redefine being over 40 in a way that aligns with our truth.
The Coronation. The work of Charles Eisenstein, one of my favorite modern-day thinkers, asks us to step out of the stories we’ve been socialized into and to, “imagine a more beautiful world we know is possible.”
In this piece (audio version here), he grapples with very hard questions we need to be asking right now: what jobs that have been lost do we really need, how can we effectively treat the Coronavirus when we know viruses have often helped us evolve and maybe my favorite, do we want to be a society that avoids death at all costs, including sacrificing life itself (as life inherently always has risks)? For those of us who want to use Coronavirus to genuinely change course on the ecological and civil liberties collapse we are living in, this essay orients us in the right direction.
Media, Mental Health and How to Dose. When you heard about the Coronavirus, did you go to the library and get a book on pandemics that would summarize the key points you needed to know? If not, Margo Aaron shares how the media manipulates us and manufactures panic to get viewers and clicks. While our brain might make the unconscious leap between “more air time equals bigger threat”, Aaron shares how we can right that miscalculation and stop being emotionally exploited by the media in this brilliant piece, Coronavirus is Serious, Panic is Optional.
Self-Help Needs Self-Rigor. I love the power of coaching and adult development. And I loathe how it’s been watered down to avoid the complexity and discomfort that the genuine post-traumatic growth process requires. My colleague and friend Brodie Welch wrote an exquisite piece on navigating collective trauma and how moving from fear to growth isn’t an “instant” change but rather, a practice of paradoxically, staying in fear to grow.
I’ve been unofficially “quarantined” since October with a newborn. My occasional outing before my official quarantine was brunching at Square Cafe, our favorite neighborhood breakfast place (they have the best gluten-free pancakes).
I missed brunch enough last week to actually make these pancakes (I can’t remember the last time I baked). They aren’t Square Cafe’s, but they are healthy, easy, and forgiving with measurements and ingredients. I added frozen organic blueberries and used (and therefore prevented throwing out) browning bananas (double win!).
Special Coronavirus Podcast: How to Eat and Live Well During High Anxiety Times
My recent community gathering— applying adult development to help you lead yourself during this time—is now a podcast.
A silver lining of crisis is that they can accelerate growth, mindset shift and behaviors. This global pandemic is an opportunity for each of us to step out of how we’ve been socialized around food, weight and our bodies and author our own stories; I hope this podcast episode can contribute to the potential we have for post-traumatic growth as individuals and the collective.
In this special edition podcast, you’ll learn:
- Why we feel out of control around food now
- An unnecessary layer of anxiety we can eliminate with this mindset shift (and the hidden “optimal conflict” opportunity)
- Simple and easy ideas to get back in control with food and our well-being
- The growth opportunity (when you feel ready)
This was incredible. You have a logical and informative way of delivering very sensitive and HOT topics. So thank you. I deeply enjoyed learning science in a tangible way and also finished feeling more empowered and less out of control. Eating to help maintain a calm system is another gem I need to hold to. Thank you again. And the slides were a grand resource. – Else Green, participant
Access slides (with coaching questions)
Be well,
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