Feeling overwhelmed with isolation

Hey lovely Mama’s,

How are you all doing? So 2020 is nearly done and with regards Covid, not much has changed really, between us all, we have been in total lockdown, been in tier 2, tier 3 and tier 4 an truthfully right now, we don’t know what the future holds for us. But what I do know is that you are all doing incredible jobs of bringing your little people up into this unknown territory and giving them so much love and trying to make life feel as ‘normal’ as possible for them. It is ok to feel scared and worried and overwhelmed with sadness, almost grieving for a life we use to live. Socialising! Hugging! Kissing! Sharing! Dancing even! So many things have been taken away from us and we are left just trying to cope and learn new ways to be and share masked moments with people we love.

In our lifetime this is probably the hardest thing we have ever had to navigate and I don’t know if you’re like me, sometimes I’ve grasped it and feel like am coping ok, then other times I have such an overwhelming emotional breakdown and cry feeling so lost and sad. What I have learnt from this, is that although it doesn’t cure the situation, I feel better for the release of emotion, trying to be strong all the time and basically keeping my shit together isn’t great and I’m just kidding myself! It is ok not to be ok about this, but know that things will get better and we will at some point go back to some kind of normality in our lives.

Know that if you are struggling and need a shoulder, I am here to chat. Know that Mama Wellness is a safe place and I am hopeful that we will be able to run some if not all of our classes in the case of lockdown3 or tier 4 or 5.

In the meantime some great coping strategies I have found to help anxiety and panic

Walks in Nature - Wrap your baby close and take a walk, smell, feel and hear the sounds of nature, it really helps

Meditation - Appreciate it is not always easy with a baby, but again if you get a moment just to listen to something, I use the Calm app and Tamara Levitt is my ultimate panic SOS go too.

Breathing - Concentrate of your breathing breath in for 4, hold for 4 and release for 8 and repeat for a few rounds. This helps with grounding and focusing on you and your breath, not the panic, not the pandemic, just you centering yourself.

Music - Listen to soothing music, you can do this with baby close by or sleeping. Again this helps to shift the focus of what’s going on in the world. Focus on the music and sway, movement is good for you and good for baby.

Journaling - Take some time to write, doodle or draw how you feel, it doesn’t need to be a huge essay, just jot down some words or scribble, it doesn’t even need to be on beautiful paper, the back of an envelope is just as effective

Cuddle and Massage your baby - By being close to your children or loved ones, we release the feel good hormones, this helps keep us lifted and prevents the fight or flight cortisol hormone coming through, which is what sends us into panic. So cuddle your babies, children and pets as often as you can getting a little sniff of those little heads.

We will be ok and we will get through this and your babies and little people will be ok.

Sending lots of love to you all.

Claire xx