If you listened to every piece of wellness advice out there, you'd need 36 hours in a day.
The internet is constantly telling us to do more for our health, our minds, our routines, our growth. And some of that advice is good. But stack it all together…
Eat healthy
Hydrate often
Exercise
Meditate
Journal
Socialize
Set boundaries
Catch sunlight
Use sunscreen
Read
Learn new things
Move
Be grateful
Sleep 7-9 hours
… and you’ll end up questioning whether you’re still categorically functioning.
April is Stress Awareness Month. And honestly? The pressure to do all the right things might be part of the problem.
That said, we're not here to hand you another list. We're here for an important reminder: you're a human being, not a human doing.
Let’s mull this over with —
A QUICK CHECK-IN
Real quick. No wrong answers. How are you actually doing right now?
AN AFFIRMATION
Not something to do. Something to hear:
I am not what I produce. I am not my to-do list. I am a whole person even when I'm standing still, and I don't need to earn the right to take care of myself.
That's it. That's the whole thing. No further action required.
A FEW PROMPTS TO SIT WITH
Not all five. Not right now, necessarily. Just whichever one makes you pause for half a second longer than the others. Open your ReachLink journal, grab a pen, use the back of an envelope. Whichever is the easiest. No format and no rules.
What am I doing right now that I don't actually want to be doing? Why am I still doing it?
When's the last time I did something just because it felt good, not because it was productive?
What would change about my day if I stopped measuring it by what I got done?
Do I rest when I need to, or only when I've earned it? Who taught me that?
Who am I when I'm not being useful?
SOMEONE WHO GETS IT
Charity Anderson is a licensed professional counselor in Texas and one of ReachLink's therapists. She came to this work through lived experience: 15 years of addiction, incarceration, and a counselor who saw something in her that she couldn't yet see in herself.
On a recent Therapist Voices podcast episode, she said this:
I believe that a lot of times if we were raised with healthy coping skills, a lot of the things that we go through in life wouldn't be so detrimental. But because we're not introducing those coping skills—things that we already do on an everyday basis anyway—we just don't know that they're called coping skills.
Walks, phone calls, deep breaths… You might already be coping in ways nobody ever gave you credit for, including you. This means maybe, what you need is not another to-do list. Maybe what you need is someone who can help you see what's already working, and build from there.
IF YOU WANNA GO DEEPER
This issue was about slowing down, so we won't overload you. But if you want to keep pulling on this thread, start here:
National Stress Awareness Month: What It Gets Wrong. Spoiler: it's not just about bubble baths and deep breaths.
Mindfulness Strategies for Living in the Present Moment. The "just be" part of this newsletter, expanded.
7 Coping Strategies for When You're Feeling Too Overwhelmed to Function. Not for someday. For right now.
The Downside of Blindly Pursuing Your Achievements. A reality check for anyone who equates their worth with their output.
Holistic Therapy for Stress: Integrated Techniques Guide. What it looks like when therapy treats the whole person, not just the symptoms.
If you made it this far without multitasking, that counts as a win.
We'll be back in two weeks. Until then, try being instead of doing. Even just for a minute.
