“I’ve hit the pandemic wall.” That’s how a radio commentator described how she was feeling. Her description certainly resonated with me. It’s been close to a full year since COVID-19 turned our lives upside-down, and we’re collectively, globally, exhausted. We’re so tired of living in near isolation. We’re weary of an undercurrent of fear being our constant companion: “What if I catch COVID? What if one of my loved ones dies from it?” It’s like we’re running on a hamster wheel: we charge ahead in pursuit of the end of the pandemic, but we get nowhere. As someone joked recently, it’s like a twisted version of the romantic comedy Groundhog Day – every day is the same, except Bill Murray doesn’t get to kiss Andie McDowell because of social distancing.

Clearly, the pandemic is negatively affecting all of us in one way or another. For many, it’s led to economic hardship. For others, social isolation and loneliness has been the worst part. Many people are experiencing serious mental health disorders such as anxiety or depression for the first time. And some of us are experiencing all of the above! On top of this (as if the pandemic wasn’t enough to keep us up at night), in 2020, Americans experienced months of social protests and counterprotests, a highly contentious election, a surge in crazy conspiracy theories, the January 6 insurrection, a slow vaccine rollout, skyrocketing unemployment, and a resurrection of overt racism.

When turning the calendar to 2021 didn’t turn out to be the “magic pill” we were all hoping for, erasing and undoing all of the angst of 2020, it sunk us into despair. Our stress levels ratcheted up.

We

Just

Need

A

Friggin’

Break!

Gimme A Break

For those of you hitting the pandemic wall, I have good news: A Personal Retreat Day can take the edge off. Giving yourself some time and space (and permission) to rest, think, play, and plan can do your mental health a world of good.

REST. That’s the antidote we need right now. You may be thinking, “Rest? I’ve had enough rest for a lifetime! I want to get out and DO things again!” But the kind of rest I’m talking about is mental rest. Emotional rest. Spiritual rest. Our souls crave this kind of rest. And while we’ve certainly had plenty of time to process what the pandemic has done to us, most of us haven’t wanted to “go there.” We’re more comfortable stuffing those negative emotions way, way down. Or we vent them in misplaced anger. Because it’s painful, we don’t want to really deal with the hard stuff in a healthy way.

My Insomnia Confession Story

My last Personal Retreat Day was atypical to say the least. I have a “type-A” driver personality, so I often spend a big chunk of my PRDs looking for ways to be more productive: I evaluate the goals I set for myself last month and set new ones for the future. I make checklists and review the old ones. Of course, I always take some of the day to rest and relax, but these “productivity” activities are often my central focus.

But January 2021 was brutal. BRUTAL!  I suffered from really severe insomnia all month. I’d go to sleep right away each night, just to wake up an hour or two later, wide awake, unable to relax. For HOURS. As morning dawned I’d finally start to drift off, only to jerk awake again. I felt like a zombie during the day. Each night I’d lay down, thinking, “Tonight’s the night! Surely I’m so exhausted that I’ll finally get a decent night’s sleep!” But it didn’t happen.

So this month’s Personal Retreat Day was completely different than most. I just took the day off to rest. I did an online Restorative Yoga class (the kind where you simply lay down on a bolster and breathe). I took a nap. I read a little bit. I meditated. I napped again. It was all I could do. I did absolutely zero planning! That was a big step for me: I listened to my soul and my body, and I gave it exactly what it needed.

At the very end of the day, I got a blank piece of paper and wrote down everything that was on my mind. I wrote five PAGES of what was worrying me….what was literally keeping me up at night. And that night, I slept. My husband had to move to the couch because I was snoring so loud!

Personal Therapy Day

A Personal Retreat Day is a no-cost way to cope with stress. It’s a chance to pull back from what’s going on in the world and create space to process anxiety. Taking a time out for the purpose of self-therapy is cathartic. It’s healing. If stress is undealt with, it WILL come out in ugly ways:

            Insomnia.

            Heart Disease.

            Depression.

            Binge Drinking.

            Anger.

If any of these symptoms are familiar to you, please call a doctor or therapist (curing my insomnia ultimately required medication in addition to self-therapy). Let this era be the end of the stigma around mental health. We’re all dealing with mental health challenges (whether we want to admit it or not.)

To prevent these symptoms, take a Personal Retreat Time-Out. NOW. Don’t overthink it or over-plan it, like I usually do. Take a piece of paper and spew everything negative onto it (what I call a “Brain Dump.”) Then, just rest. And then rest some more. Finally, treat yourself with kindness. Relax in a bubble bath, or get a massage. Take a leisurely stroll around the block. Call a friend. Play a game. Get out a sketchpad and doodle, or sing in the shower. These activities will relax your mind while invigorating your spirit.

Deep, soul-level rest is the answer.