Grief and anxiety caused severe sleep loss and physical tension in shoulders and neck. The speaker learned that self-compassion matters more than fighting the feelings, and suggests journaling, talking to trusted people, and finding community support to calm your nervous system.
I was fatigued because I couldn't sleep because my mind was on overdrive all the time. And I would wake up at like 2 o'clock in the morning and then I have to wake up at 5 to go to work. And 9 days out of 10, I couldn't fall back asleep. So I was totally sleep deprived. But really the anxiety piece is how it reflected back in my body and back then, I really honestly, I didn't know, like, how do I deal with this thing? I've learned since I've, you know, gotten tips and tricks along the way to, you know, calm, calm my nervous system, you know, learn to release the tension in the shoulders and release the tension in the neck and, and things like that. But if I can offer one thing is I— one thing I wish I didn't do was beat myself up for the grief that I was feeling and to offer myself some self-compassion because I felt so guilty about leaving that I didn't feel that I deserved that self-compassion. Give yourself that gift, whether you do that through journaling or talking to somebody or connecting with a community.
