All over the world, humans are struggling to adapt to, and have a hand in doing something about the grave brandy new situation in the US. When we've been here long enough, we know a few things. One of them is that it is not sustainable to think or feel all kinds of things any old time. First thing when we wake, night time before bed. It may be working for you , but it won't for most, this free/for-all shock and fear and anger .
One of the cool things you learn, as a survivor of any old kind of trauma, is to talk kindly with yourself, figure out how to make constructive time to feel certain things and problem solve others, how to have 'No Processing Times', usually at night and during sleep and first thing in the morning, and how to notice obsessive circular thinking, and snip it in the bud.
The first thing helpful for many is to recognize there will be an important need to make time to think and feel certain things. If we give ourselves that opportunity, one we can rely on daily, then we can both peruse what we are concerned with, digest it somewhat, and be able to get back to both our day to day lives, and seeing what information gathering, communicating, and problem solving might be constructive.
Taking the subway or bus or car to work is sometimes a good time, to imagine ourselves sitting by a stream. And imagine that whatever is distressing us is coming down the stream. My own thoughts or feelings look like clouds riding the current.
We can say 'That is a thought ', or, 'There is a feeling' as we release one thing after another .
This identifying helps us create some distance and awareness, that enables us to feel the impact of that thought or feeling, digest it some, and then see it float on by.
When we do this, this hearing out of what has been building up, it can feel quite intense, in our body. We need simply remember that , like a conveyor belt or a river, to keep in mind that it WILL pass by.
Come to find out, the effective value is not in the 'thinking thinking'. It is in giving aware air time to our thoughts and feelings, and then understand that they will pass by. And we will be left relieved and clearer. To love and breathe and problem solve , and then enjoy the day we are given.
The other trick one learns from trauma work, for this current situation IS world wide trauma , is to talk with ourselves about what time of day is good for us to catch up with news or communicate about it or problem solve about it or feel it.
In order to protect our health and our sleep, it cannot be willy nilly. That would be like letting a five year old eat treats and race around any old time they want. That crazy kid will fall apart.
Instead, we figure out the best times of day to mindfully make time to feel and think difficult things that have accumulated.
We decide perhaps NOT to do that after 5 pm, or 8 pm, or 10 pm, whatever works for us.
We say to ourselves 'I'm going to learn how to do that current events reading/thinking/communicating only until this time of day .' And then slowly learn to stick to it.
Sometimes these distressing shocking events will creep into our sleep.
We are not powerless little things. We can learn to give air time to our distress earlier in the day to relieve the pressure, to reduce intrusive thoughts at bedtime or while asleep. We have these choices.
We can talk with ourselves about when we will think and read and communicate about world events that upset us, and when we will stop, and just enjoy ourselves peacefully.
Over time, if it's what we want, this becomes easier. Especially if we get the connection between sitting aware with our difficult concerns, and the relief we will have at the end of the day and in our more restorative sleep.
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