How I Protect Myself In Stressful Times

This wasn’t the post I was intending to write this week but with emotions running high here in the US since the election, I felt inspired to share a few thoughts.

For months I’ve been pulling back and spending less time on social media. Purposely choosing to do so in order to not get worked up.

But to be honest, the last few months have really gotten to me. I’ve actually considered deleting my social media accounts so that I wouldn’t have to be bombarded by arguments, anger, fear, and negativity day in and day out online.

At the end of the day I decided not to delete my accounts. After all, I knew the election was coming to an end and I love social media most of the time.

But it was sucking me in. Every time I got on Facebook I’d see someone threatening to unfriend someone else. Negative memes floating through my feed and one argument after another that I could see was causing extremely high tension for all parties involved.

And all I kept thinking was “I wish I could just see happy babies and adorable puppies in my feed again”.

But instead of pulling away completely, I made a conscious decision to pull myself back enough so that I would stop being all consumed by what was happening and how upset people were getting.

Over the years I’ve learned how to protect myself better, especially in stressful times.

For example, this Election Day I only went on social media for 15 total minutes. Just enough to coach my clients in their mastermind program and then head off again.

The day after the election I took another social media break by hosting a VIP Retreat with a client. Again allowing me to only pop in as needed.

Are you seeing a trend here?

As much as I love social media, and use it for business and personal connections all the time, there are times I just need to pull away from the noise, the emotions, the fear, the anger, and the hysteria — and just ground myself again.

In times like this I prefer to walk on the beach and put my feet in the sand. Meditate. Take a Yoga class or take a bath. Basically anything that makes me feel calm and safe.

I’m not sure why I’m writing this other than to say that today, this week, this year or in the future, when there’s a stressful moment that’s more than you can handle, it’s okay to step back and protect yourself first. Protect yourself from the energy and emotions that come with highly stressful moments.

Instead find ways to ground yourself.

I’d love to hear from you. What are ways you ground yourself in times of stress? How do you remain calm in the heart of a storm?