Lately social media feeds have been filled with pictures of happy people enjoying holiday fun. For some of us, scrolling through these pictures is a painful reminder that we are feeling everything but happy. Seeing people happy when we are going through trauma is hard. Incredibly hard.
If you feel triggered over the holidays, it's okay to use the strategies you've learned to regroup. Step away and breathe. Listen to music. (We've put together a playlist on Spotify called Finding Hope, which you can access here.) Journal away your stress or go for a walk.
Another strategy you can try is sketching. Now before you tell me you're not an artist, let me tell you a story. It's a story about a guy who found a way to zone out and forget about the stress in his life.
I won't go into the story of what he was facing, but I will tell you that the trauma gave him an intense fear for his future. Then one day he decided to grab a pen and some paper, and he began drawing what he saw directly in front of him. It wasn't a perfect drawing, and he wasn't an artist.
Everyday for ten minutes, he drew. What he found was that it didn't matter what he drew — his lemon LaCroix, the chair, or even if his drawing was good— the experience calmed him down. That slow, careful gaze helped him zone out his stress and notice and connect with the blessings in his life—the everyday things surrounding him.
When things get overwhelming, we can feel like we won't have peace until the situation is resolved or we can escape from it. Fortunately, this isn't the case. There are a number of things we can do to find calm in our storms. Here's hoping you will find a strategy that works for you this holiday season.
If you feel triggered over the holidays, it's okay to use the strategies you've learned to regroup. Step away and breathe. Listen to music. (We've put together a playlist on Spotify called Finding Hope, which you can access here.) Journal away your stress or go for a walk.
Another strategy you can try is sketching. Now before you tell me you're not an artist, let me tell you a story. It's a story about a guy who found a way to zone out and forget about the stress in his life.
I won't go into the story of what he was facing, but I will tell you that the trauma gave him an intense fear for his future. Then one day he decided to grab a pen and some paper, and he began drawing what he saw directly in front of him. It wasn't a perfect drawing, and he wasn't an artist.
Everyday for ten minutes, he drew. What he found was that it didn't matter what he drew — his lemon LaCroix, the chair, or even if his drawing was good— the experience calmed him down. That slow, careful gaze helped him zone out his stress and notice and connect with the blessings in his life—the everyday things surrounding him.
When things get overwhelming, we can feel like we won't have peace until the situation is resolved or we can escape from it. Fortunately, this isn't the case. There are a number of things we can do to find calm in our storms. Here's hoping you will find a strategy that works for you this holiday season.
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