How Eve is Surviving the Pandemic: Dealing with Loss and Creating New Habits

How I am Surviving the Pandemic: Dealing with Loss and Creating New Habits

At the beginning of quarantine, I wondered how my life could maintain some sort of normalcy. On top of these worldwide changes, my beloved emotional support dog, Lucy had suddenly passed away. I was overwhelmed with anxiety and my life was out of balance. 

Grieving 

My first step in grieving the loss of Lucy and the overall loss of normalcy was to accept that these changes were completely out of my control. I realized that what I needed most was to create new and healthy habits for myself. “What do you need to unlearn?.. What new habits could you adopt in order to enjoy life more?” (p. 13) This quote from Puja Thomson’s “Track Your Truth” helped me to realize that my daily habits needed a revamping to suit my new lifestyle. 

Sleeping Schedule 

Instead of waking up at 7AM for my 8AM classes and going to bed at 11PM after late night dance team practices, I began waking up at 11AM and going to bed at 2AM. This new sleeping pattern was unhealthy as I lost several hours of my day every morning and felt an overall grogginess. “It takes awareness to find your true place of equilibrium.” (p. 63). After reading T Y T, I became more conscious of what my body had really been telling me, as I was ignoring the signals for so long. As I have returned my sleeping schedule to its pre-quarantine normalcy, I’ve noticed a significant energy boost throughout my days. 

Phone Addiction 

Sitting inside all day with seemingly nothing to do, I often find myself mindlessly scrolling through my phone for hours at a time, feeling sluggish and lazy. Several of my friends are engaging in the same unhealthy habit, as many people take little to no time away from their devices. “With conscious awareness, in any moment, you can make new choices and develop new patterns of behavior in line with your current values” (p. 107). This quote from T Y T brought awareness to my phone addiction. By taking mental notes of when I log on and log off my social media accounts, I’ve become mindful of how much time I take scrolling on my phone. 

Exercise 

I was always on the go; rushing to class, working out at the gym, free flowing at the dance studio, and taking frequent walks with Lucy. Lately, I’ve been taking constant trips to the refrigerator and pantry to seek antidote from wandering boredom and sadness. “Movement, both physical and spiritual, can create a much healthier you” (p. 92). When I read this, I realized that I needed to start taking better care of my body in order to create a healthier lifestyle so that I could feel good about myself. Recently, I’ve been doing gentle morning yoga to start my day with good intentions. This simple and easy change to my daily routine has allowed me to take some time away from my phone and calm my thoughts by connecting my mind and body. 

A Happier Me 

Now, I am more present in each moment and live with ease because I have created new habits. I now take the time to nurture my body and mind. “When you start to appreciate and respond to the blessings of body, mind, emotions and spirit, you can initiate a wider range of choices to create a healthier lifestyle” (p. 4). This book encouraged me to transform my life in a time of turmoil and unexpected unfortunate events. With similar changes and guidance from Puja, you can shift your life towards positivity and happiness as well. 

Written by Eve Benedetti, SUNY New Paltz Intern at Roots & Wings

"TRACK YOUR TRUTH" SNEAK PREVIEW OF STEP THREE: TAP INTO ENERGY PRINCIPLES

We can all use energy principles to change how we are feeling and how we think and act. We are energy beings, not just physical beings and we have internal senses that can guide us. Paying attention to them, you will also become more familiar with your emotional, mental, and spiritual self. An example of how you can use your internal energies is if you listen to the little voice inside your head; this voice is your self-talk. By tuning in to self-talk that is positive and healthy, you can encourage yourself with whatever task or goal that you are trying to accomplish. Sometimes, self-talk can even entertain you, especially when you use your imagination! If you allow yourself to have negative self-talk though, you leave yourself open to discouragement, gloomy, or even harmful thoughts about yourself. While it can be difficult to talk your way out of these dark places, it can be done because you have the power to change how you feel and what you tell yourself!

In my own life I have to remind myself that I have the ability to change the direction of my thoughts and feelings to more optimistic ones. For example, when I have to give an oral presentation, I get anxious and my self-talk becomes negative; I tell myself I will probably stumble over my words, stutter, or say something incorrect. So, instead, I tell the voice in my head to think positively and confidently. I say things such as, what I am presenting to the class is helpful and informative and that I have worked hard and know what I’m talking about. This not only changes my mood but it also improves how I feel physically. When nervous, I tend to breathe heavily and my voice shakes, but as I talk encouragingly to myself, my breathing calms down and I become steadier. In Track Your Truth, Puja writes: “Just a little bit of self-confidence can make a huge difference and can help you seize opportunities in front of you…The really good news is that we can develop inner strengths such as resilience, confidence, and insight by actively decreasing our focus on the negative and increasing our focus on the positive.” Simply by transforming your thoughts, you can improve your entire outlook on who you are and how you want to feel.

With skills like changing the way you speak to your inner self, you can improve your understanding of your internal senses and energies. When this happens, you can develop a greater sense of how interdependent your thoughts, feelings, spirit, and body are.

Written by Allyson Macci, Roots & Wings SUNY New Paltz Intern

"TRACK YOUR TRUTH" SNEAK PREVIEW OF STEP TWO: FOCUS ON YOUR "HEAD, HEART, HAND, & HUNCH"

Step Two of Puja’s upcoming book, Track Your Truth, discusses the inter-relationship of mind (head), body (hand), emotions (heart), and spirit (spirit). I really love this powerful quote: “When the physical body provides clues about emotions through heart-felt feelings and gut reactions, pay attention because these clues are part of the miraculous way you are guided to truth, happiness, and well-being.”

The body is incredible and what we often overlook is how each memory it stores has a feeling, both emotional and physical, to accompany it. With this in mind, it is important to remember that your emotions can influence your physical state of being. The way you feel emotionally can cause your body to react in a physical way. For example, sometimes my stomach feels queasy but this does not always mean I’ve eaten something bad or have a cold. Instead, this physical sensation can be connected with an emotion like anxiety or nervousness.

I also think it is important to acknowledge what Puja writes: “Since everything that has happened to you is stored in your body, memories of all the events in your life including your feelings may be hidden from your consciousness, but they are not lost. They may resurface later.” Every feeling, intuition, or hunch you experience is important, no matter how small you think it is. If you ignore or repress these clues, both physical and intangible, this could have negative effects. All aspects of yourself are valid, and the sooner you acknowledge and listen to them, the easier it will be to live your truth.

Written by Allyson Macci, SUNY New Paltz Roots & Wings Intern