2020 was….a challenging year. Whilst I saw an increase in neck and back pain related to working from home there was another worrying trend.
Understandably, the biggest change I saw in patients were their stress levels. I am not ashamed to say I struggled with this too.
We are living in an unprecedented time where fear and anxiety reign supreme. Lives lost, jobs lost, freedoms lost with no discernible end date in sight. I was an avid watcher of the news back in March/April 2020 but after I while I realised what it was doing to me. The easy access we have to information these days is amazing In some ways but really detrimental in others. I am a strong believer that there are a lot of things in life we cannot control so we must not focus on those things. Instead, focus on our internal environment and how we react to situations. As Tony Robbins says ‘Stand guard at the door to your mind’.
So what did I do to deal with my feelings? I went on a purge and turned off all social media/news notifications. It is so easy to react to the light of your phone and the ‘ping’ of a notification. By all means look at your social media and the news but do it on your terms and reduce the reactionary checking or scrolling. I subscribed to the Headspace app and built it into my routine to do 10 minutes of meditation per day. I read the 5am Club by Robin Sharma and learnt how to build my morning routine to set myself up for the day ahead and achieve my daily ‘wins’. With all of the noise present in the world at the moment, you have to learn how to create inner peace and calm. Don’t worry I am not going to become a monk but I am very passionate about this. One last habit I have built in is to wake up every morning and say something you are grateful for. Start your day being grateful for something and it will help to change your perception of the other issues.
I said back in March 2020, when we first went into lockdown, that I am happy to speak to anyone who is suffering with anxiety and has no one else to talk to. Of course there are far better, highly qualified, people out there to talk to but I don’t want anyone to feel they are alone and have no one. I am proud to have a team of people around me who are some of the most caring people I have ever known. We are here for you and this community and we will get through this as a community.
Love and empathy makes us all stronger.
Written by James Everett, January 2021.