The Wellness Tripod

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the V Spot. We are basically at the 2-year mark since the pandemic started, and I wanted to share out some feelings, thoughts, ideas, you know, about where we are at this particular time. Given some reflection that I've been, you know, I've been doing. So 2 years ago, right? It's in some ways it feels like 100 years and in some ways it feels like just yesterday that I recall everything, you know, sort of happening. And I think when it comes to trauma, right, time is often thrown out of whack. And so it doesn't always— you can't always make sense of does it feel like yesterday? Does it feel like years and years and years ago? And for me, when I've been thinking about where we are and how long we've been experiencing this, that's definitely something that I've been mindful of. The fact that time does not make sense in the realm of the pandemic and the experience that we've, you you know, been going through. So it really got me thinking about my own individual experience, our collective experience, you know, as people, what we've endured and how things have, you know, really went from being, I guess you would say, somewhat normal, right? Somewhat normal, keywords, to where we are, right? And so there's been an astronomical amount of struggle during this time. And so post-traumatic stress, anxiety, panic disorder, depression, you know, and it— I could go on and on and will, right, at some point— are at an all-time high, you know, and the grieving that we've experienced, you know, for lots of different reasons, right? Grieving the loss of people, grieving first and foremost, grieving the loss of people, grieving the loss of so many different things, right? Our routines, our recreational activities, our sense of safety, you know, um, in terms of health and, and how suddenly health becomes, you know, at risk, um, you know, for many work and income. And, um, there— I mean, we could just go on and on about the levels at which we've experienced, you know, loss, right? And so I've been thinking about how much we've endured during these last 2 years, and I started to really think about, um, well to myself, you know, you can't think about all of the struggle and heartache and pain and challenge without also looking at the good, right, that came out of it. You know, and so for me, being here with you is something that I consider to be a blessing of the pandemic. And I'm only here with you in this way really as a direct result of the pandemic happening. And I'm going to go back and share a story with you about how things sort of come to be, and then we'll look to move forward for the remainder of the segment. But, um, so it's March 2020, you know, the world is basically shut down, right? There's a lot of unknown, there's a lot of maybe this is going to go on for 2 weeks, There's a lot of questions, there's a lot of fear. And, you know, every day feels— in my experience, every day felt like, you know, a week, really. The time was like dragging, and there was— I was hypersensitive to everything at that time. And we were now in April, and my older brother ends up in ICU with COVID And so if you know me, you know that I have a history of anxiety. I've struggled with panic attacks over the years, um, and I had a good 4-year run approximately where I was really doing well and I wasn't experiencing panic at all. And now it's April 2020, my brother's in ICU, and just like that, um, overcome with severe panic attacks on a regular basis. And I remember thinking like I couldn't— I wasn't functioning. I was in my house, in my room, and in bed really, you know. I didn't have an appetite. And again, for those of you know me, that's not something that happens often, but it happened. And I was beside myself, right? And in this moment, I want to say thank you to my support network because I realized that I was so— I was struggling so much so that I was really dependent upon the grounding of the people that I'm grateful to call my support network. And so in this moment, you know who you are. I want to say thank you. You know, I spent a few days in bed struggling, and I remember thinking to myself and sitting up and saying, like, you can go through this pandemic in this way and not know what it's gonna be like, how long it's gonna last, how it's gonna turn out, and it's not gonna be turning out well for you if you choose this route. Or you can take every experience that you ever had, every tool that you have access to, every bit of your training, and create something that will not only forward you but will forward the world. And so Intentional Healing and Wellness was born at that time. And honestly, it was the thing that saved me. It's what actually had me able to move forward and focus and be in service and show up to hold safe space for other people., right, and invite some people. You know, the Conscious Conversation series was launched and I started to invite people that I know and love and I admire and I'm inspired by to join me because that's the blessing too. I have an abundance of incredible people and I started to think about, well, let's have conscious conversations during a time when there's so much uncertainty. Let's get together and talk about some different, you know, various topics. All under the realm of healing and wellness. And let's get through this experience with intention. And so Intentional Healing and Wellness is born. And as the Conscious Conversation series goes on, I kept thinking to myself, there's something around a podcast. You know, there's something about a podcast. And so fast forward, right, to 2021, and The V Spot is born. And I say all that because I really, during my reflection of these last 2 years, while I'm certainly able to think about so many different things that were hard, were scary, I still am going through my own process. You know, people that were lost, the pain that people suffer. I've been thinking about the blessing and the privilege and the honor, you know, and the gratitude that I have to be here with you in this way, you know, to be working with the clients that I work with to produce the, the work, the vision, the content, right, carrying it all out. Because I believe that now more than ever, it's wanted and needed, you know. So I've been doing a lot of thinking and looking at both the, uh, struggles and the blessings. And it got me thinking about, wow, 2 years and what it means to be at this mark. And so, um, with clients, I've had this conversation of mental exhaustion where no matter how much you sleep, mental exhaustion doesn't go away, right? Um, because you're not— it's not that you're physically tired and So many people are experiencing it. So many people are experiencing anxiety and fear and depression, you know. And I started to think about and wanted to share with you this aspect of things that I talk about with my clients and use for myself as a visual and a way of being intentional with my own daily activities. And it's this concept of a wellness tripod. So I love photography. I got this idea when I was thinking about a tripod holding a camera, but instead I was thinking, what if each leg represented an aspect of our wellness? And so mind, body, and soul, right? If you— this is my little version of a tripod. In order for this to stay standing, for your tripod to stay standing, each leg has to be equal.. And so I started to use this for myself and share it with all of my clients. What does that mean for you? So I'm going to encourage you and invite you in this moment to take an inventory of your tripod— mind, body, and soul. Is your tripod standing? Is there one leg that's weak?, right? What leg is that? Which are you not pouring into on a daily basis? So is it the mind? And let's, let's like unpack them, right? So that we kind of get some ideas because I bet you are, you are doing things in, in the realm of each, but you may be on automatic mode in such a way that you don't even know that you're doing some stuff, right? So when we look at mind in this aspect of tripod, what can fall under that leg, so to say? So maybe it's counseling, right? Perhaps therapy is something that you are doing on a regular basis to support your mental health. Perhaps you read and read, you know, whatever it is that you read to sort of nourish your mind, right? Maybe you say affirmations. Um, perhaps you are engaged in personal development work, you know, work with a coach. Like, these are all different activities and intentional activities that nourish the mind leg of your tripod. So what are you doing? Take an inventory. Are you doing anything? What are you doing to support that leg in being strong? Right, and then we look at the body, and there's an opportunity to, you know, you could get creative here. This is where we could look at our water intake, our physical movement. You know, are you moving on a regular basis? Because one of the things that I've been noticing is, yes, I've talked about mental health and I focus on it a lot with my work. Mental health is impacted by the pandemic, but so is our physical health. Right? I don't know, my hips have been tight because we're not as mobile as we once were. A lot of people are now working from home. There, there's less movement than ever. And so there's a call to action to move on purpose. It could be a walk, and if you haven't done it in a while, you don't have to start with like anything major. But how are you moving your body? Are you dancing? Are you engaged in some sort of workouts? Are you doing yoga, which happens to be like a trifecta because yoga hits all of the legs of the tripod, right? It supports your mind, your body, and your soul. So what do you have in place that's helping you out in terms of your physical leg of the tripod? And then you want to look at the soul, right? And so I remember that in the beginning of the pandemic when I was like out of it, That was the area that required the most attention for me. So what spiritual practices do you have in place? Are you someone who is religious? Do you use prayer? You know, do you attend like services, right? What is it for you? Because it does look different for each of us. And the call to action here is to envision that tripod. We're at the 2-year mark. Many of us are experiencing mental exhaustion. Many of us are experiencing panic, fear, anxiety, insomnia, what else? PTSD. Eating habits are all over the place. Distractibility is, you know, high, right? People struggling to focus. Memory. I don't know, you know, there's something about memory. A lot of people are struggling to retain, you know. And so there is a call to action to be purposeful with your daily operations and hold in your mind this idea of your wellness tripod and check in, in this moment, is my tripod standing? No? Well, how come? Which leg is weak? What needs support? Oh, I haven't been giving my physical, my body leg so much attention. Okay, what can I do today? Maybe it's about eating a meal for fuel, right, versus eating the meal for comfort. So something that's nutritious. Maybe it's about being mindful of having more water. Maybe it's about taking vitamins. Doing the physical activity, whatever it is for you, take inventory and ask yourself, is my tripod standing? Yes, great, keep it up, keep doing the different things and, and switch it up, right? Right now I'm in a phase of switching everything up. So the things that I was once doing, it's not looking like that anymore because I was finding myself experiencing like a lull in my routines and I didn't want to do certain movements because I just felt like I wasn't into it. Now I'm getting creative and saying it doesn't have to look a certain way. You can dance one night, you can walk and look at the Brooklyn Bridge one day, you can do a workout and use weights and, you know, engage in that type of physical activity, but switch up your routines, right? Sometimes I'm reading to nourish my mind, sometimes I'm meeting with my therapist, sometimes I'm working with a coach, uh, sometimes I'm reading personal development or like self-help type books, sometimes I'm reading to escape all of that and I'm going to a place that's like fantasy land. Whatever it is for you, I'm inviting you to be with the intention and make sure that it is in balance. 2 years, for some of us it feels like 20 years, right? Um, what can you do to be really caring intentional and like empowering for your daily activities to support all that you have gone through for the last 2 years. So in this moment, I want to say to you, if you are hearing this, I'm proud of you. It has not been easy. You know, I'm, I'm grateful that you are here listening to this message. I'm grateful that I'm here to deliver this message. Be easy on you, right? Give yourself some extra loving and, you know, really like see yourself and life, right? Your own life right now through like a compassionate lens, right? We've been through a lot. And the invitation here is to take inventory, be purposeful where you can be purposeful, make some shifts. And if you notice your tripod is tipping, put some things in place to get it back and get it grounded, right? But most importantly, keep going, keep growing. You know, I believe that soon we'll be able to come together and and remember these days in a different way. But until then, there's an extra level of care that's needed. So thank you for tuning in. You know, I'm grateful that we're here at this particular time together. And I want to encourage you to keep doing the things that you're up to. You know, make some tweaks where you need to and know that I'm rooting for you. And, uh, it's always better together. So I will catch you in the next episode. Thank you for tuning into this one. To be continued.