Building Culture and Climate in Difficult Times: Strategies and Tools
Hi there
How are you, friend? I hope you are finding ways to care for yourself, your loved ones, and your community during this difficult time—whatever that means to you.
Like so many, our home and life has changed completely due to quarantine measures. My nine-year-old is being homeschooled, and my home office has been given to my husband. My work has come to a complete stop for the moment (schools cancelled, businesses temporarily shut down, and events delayed), and I am not sure when it might begin again.
However we’re safe, healthy, and grateful for what we have, though we also struggle at times to manage the anxiety, sadness, and grief that pervades collective humanity right now.
Does that resonate?
Forgive me for the non-sequitur—but I’d like to share something with you. When I start meetings with clients, I begin with a mindfulness practice, followed by a check in. This allows us all to 1.) Reset our nervous system and focus on what’s in front of us, and 2.) Build self-awareness, empathy, and connection.
Here’s an example of a meeting starter that resets our nervous system and builds community.
Maybe you can try it as you read, and we can do this together.
Practice. Take a moment to get comfortable, finding an upright but relaxed position. Now, notice how you’re feeling. Notice the rate of your breathing, the sensations of your belly… your head…. your chest… your throat. Are there places that feel tight, constricted… just notice these places…. Then, when you are ready, close your eyes (if that feels comfortable) and take 6 slow, deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. Extend your outbreath as much as possible. Notice the pauses at the end of the inbreath, and the beginning of the outbreath. Rest in these pauses… (Take your breaths with eyes closed before continuing if this feels comfortable). Notice how you are feeling now… See if you can find any relaxation where before you had noticed tightness… Check in with your belly… your chest… your shoulders… your jaw… your forehead… Take one last big breath, and let go of this practice.
Check in. Now, consider your life for a moment—not just work, but also how things are outside of your job. What’s fulfilling right now for you? What’s challenging? Take 1-2 minutes and write down your reflections. (F.Y.I, I usually set a timer for this, and each person gets the same amount of time to share aloud instead of writing these down if I am in a face-to-face meeting.)
Here’s my check in. What’s fulfilling for me right now are the little things. My husband Jamey makes me coffee each morning in his new Aeropress coffee maker. We’ve enjoyed the outdoors (even in bad weather) and gone on two hikes in the last week. Jamey and I have cooked some wonderful meals—big pots of soup, but also special family favorites. We’ve played a lot of board games. These things can truly make some days really lovely.
What’s challenging for me is everything else, really. I worry that my work won’t come back, and I am grieving that part of myself that loves what I do and doesn’t get to do it. I have asthma, and that puts me in a higher risk category for severe illness if I should get sick. I’m worried about other family members—especially my mom who has an autoimmune disease. I am worried about people who have abusive home lives. Friends who have lost their sole source of income. Family members who live alone. Some days I feel angry, or sad, or fearful, or even all three. These worries and emotions can make some days really hard .
How about you? What’s filling your cup, and what’s weighing heavily on your heart? I’d love to hear.
During this unprecedented crises, tools like these: small moments where we remember to breath and regulate our bodies, and instances of stopping to ask, “how are you really doing?” are truly the most powerful tools we have to act through love at a time that’s overwhelmingly ruled by fear.
We cannot control many of the big things in the world right now, but as my own teacher shared with me, “Our work is always five (or in this case six) feet from us.”
I hope that you remember these tools in your own difficult moments, and share them with others you are serving, either in your home or workplace. If there is anything we need now more than ever, it’s more people who are comfortable with stillness that provides clarity, and those who are willing to risk vulnerability in order to build greater connection and love.
Hugs,
Brandi
P.S.— If you are a school, non-profit, or healthcare leader right now, I am currently offering your organization FREE, online workshops to help staff manage difficult emotions in themselves and provide tools to the clients they serve. I have sets of tools for managing anxiety/fear, sadness/grief, and anger/frustration.
Resources for Comfort in Times of Crises
Comfort Treats (Cooking Blog): My absolute favorite cooking blog of all time is Cookie and Kate—Kate is the blogger and Cookie is her dog. I have loved every recipe I have tried (mostly fresh and healthy vegetarian meals). I probably cook at least two of her recipes for dinner a week. What I most want to share with you today, though, are a few treats you can feel good eating and/or feeding loved ones. They aren’t low fat, but they are made with all whole ingredients. Her Healthy Banana Bread is the first recipe I ever made, and I made it for the fam again last week (gone in a day). I also love both her Granola (best with real maple syrup, not honey) and her Naturally Sweetened Candied Pecans, which I always make with bourbon instead of vanilla. I almost always have the granola and pecans on hand. (They keep for a long time.) I use them as a topping for smoothie bowls or yogurt.
Prayer to the Feminine (Meditation/Song): I use Insight Timer almost every day for my meditation practice, and a shortened version of this song, Devi Prayer, was recommended to me on International Women’s Day. Since then, I have incorporated (the shorter version) into my daily mindfulness practice. In this time of difficulty for so many of us, the feminine aspects of humanity can connect us with our compassion and our ability to be resilient and connected in the face of suffering; I find this song helps me do this.
Listening to Inner-Guidance (Book): I listened to John Prendergast in an interview on Sounds True: Insights at the Edge, and decided to pick up his first book about learning to listen to and trust our inner-wisdom, In Touch: How To Tune Into Your Body and Trust Yourself. So far, my own experience resonates with his descriptions of how inner-wisdom shows up, what the blockages are to connecting with it, and how to learn to listen more deeply to ourselves through mindfulness practices.
Want more?