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Happy midweek fam, How are y’all doing? We’ve officially had our first couple of snowfalls here in Toronto, and while we’re still a couple of weeks away from the official start of winter (December 21 is winter solstice), I’m definitely feeling the energetic transition and shift in seasons. Anyone else? The days are darker, colder and somehow it feels more appealing to stay in and cozy up with some hot chocolate and a good episode of Sex Education than it does to venture out for a lil night on the town (not like that was my life before anyway LOL #introvertlife) But for real - today I want to talk about transitions because I feel they are vastly underestimated, yet such a major key to well-being. What are transitions? Transitions are those moments in between one thing ending and another beginning. They are the energetic shifts from one thing to another, like … When fall turns to winter… When we wake up and begin our day…. When we get home from the grocery store and begin cooking dinner… And while we might not think much of them, transitions can be extremely dysregulating to our nervous system because they force us to adjust more quickly. Let me tell you a little story to illustrate this… I recently started going back to the gym in my building, and because of COVID they’re only allowing people to book 1-hour time slots. While I love the structure around having a designated time, I noticed myself trying to maximize that hour as much as possible, and working out right up to the last minute. On those occasions where I was rushing out of the gym to head back to my apartment, I found myself coming close to having a full-blown panic attack in the elevator. My heart was beating out of my chest, I felt like I suddenly couldn’t breathe … total panic. Now, I will preface by saying that while I sometimes experience claustrophobia, it was unusual for this to happen so regularly and intensely and in this particular location. Instead of beating myself up over it, I approached the situation with a little curiosity. I thought: What might be causing me to feel unsafe? What is my nervous system trying to tell me? When we experience anxiety, it is usually our nervous system simply trying to communicate with us that something does not feel safe. As I reflected on my bodily sensations (heart beating fast, sweating), I thought about what stress response I might have been in (fight or flight or shutdown) - and identified that it was my sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous system that had taken over due to the workout. Knowing this, I explored the idea of giving myself a little extra time to nurture that transition from the workout to the elevator (by drinking water, allowing my heart rate to lower, etc.)… and guess what? It helped!!!! Since I started honouring that transition time between ending my workout and getting back to my apartment, the anxiety dissipated and I’ve been able to ride the elevator with ease. Our lives are filled with transitions - tiny ones, medium sized ones, and massive ones. And we’re often too “busy” to even notice. However, it’s crucial we take extra time with them, and build transition time into our day (our bodies need and deserve dedicated transition time). So this week’s activity and prompts are here to help you become more aware and honour these transitions. If you have any questions at all I’m just a “reply” away. Much love, B P.S. I would love to hear from you.
Hit reply and tell me what might have resonated.
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