Real Life Reflections: from some of our team
If you follow us on social media, you know that we use My Viva Plan® to reflect daily on everything from balanced meals to activity levels, stress and energy levels to daily gratitude, and more. We do this to gather objective data about what is going on in our lives to see if we can find patterns and/or if there is anything that needs to be worked on.
We are many weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic, and we’ve all noticed some shifts in our tracking and further our thoughts. Here are some raw, candid thoughts from a few of our staff as we struggle with “the new normal”:
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Today the weight of reality was hard. My daughter has been having high emotions all week. It came to a peak when we tried to face time Grandma, but she wasn’t available. As Emma sat in my lap crying for a significant length of time, my heart broke for her. Until this moment I had underestimated how hard this situation is on her…and everyone. She was doing what many us want to and may need to- have a good cry and be upset that we can’t visit our friends, go to school, go to birthday parties, go traveling, we don’t have much alone time.
As much as I have been doing my daily reflections and checking in with myself, I feel that I haven’t given my children the tools to do this as well. Truthfully, I am not sure I know how to give them the tools, but during this unique time we can learn together. Every night before bed while having a good cuddle I ask my children about their day. I follow this up with sharing one thing I am proud of them for doing today. Taking a page from the MVP daily reflections, I ask them three questions:
- What was your favourite part of the day?
- What is something you wish you could have done but didn’t get to?
- What is something that your thankful or your happy about?
I had to play around with the language to see what words resonated with Emma in particular. Through this conversation she identified she was really missing her friends. We decided to bike ride past their home and the kids said hello from the balcony a safe distance apart. Another day we video chatted with a friend from school. The social interaction is a big part of my daughter’s self-care, so my husband and I are making an effort for her to have conversation with someone outside our immediate family every day.
-Kelsey
To me, reflections are a needed part of my life. I am a person that expects a LOT out of my mind and body. This means that when something is not quite right physically or mentally, it is in my best interest to look back and understand how it happened.
But of course, I’m an MVP dietitian saying, “reflecting is super important”. But, I’ll also say that as positive as reflecting can be, my mind has a knack for twisting my reflective process into a hurtful event.
If I am in a rough place mentally, reflecting can turn into a festival of self-pity mixed with a lot of “should-ing” all over myself. It can be a bit messy, but I often must reflect on when, how, and in what state of mind I’m reflecting. That is right…I must reflect on my reflection!
My mind may be somewhat high maintenance, but here’s what I know about reflecting for me:
– For the most part, I can control the process (unless my mind goes for a ride on a
rollercoaster)
– I can recognize when I didn’t drink enough water (I get headaches)
– I can recognize when I didn’t eat enough food the past few hours (I get scatterbrained)
– I can recognize when I need to move more (my body feels tight and daily activities are not as fluid)
– I can recognize when I haven’t been mindful of my purpose and priorities (my tasks are not focused)
– Finally, but perhaps more importantly, I can recognize when all the above are working harmoniously 🙂
– Brandon
Here is some dietitian real talk coming at you. I have been working on my MVP reflections and a pattern has been emerging for me – high stress, low energy and not sleeping well. Most of these are related to how my body is responding to everything going on in the world right now. To be honest, these past few days have been challenging and lately starting to feel the weight, heaviness and unknown that is coming with this pandemic. I know that it’s ok to feel like this and it’s ok to not be ok. Just because we track how we are doing doesn’t mean we aren’t going to have bad days.
What it can do is allow for identifying the areas that need some TLC as well as doing the best to keep on my self-care even though it might be more difficult. For me this meant going to for a walk all by myself and listening to music. Music is a great outlet for me.
From one of my walks last month, I listened to the Queen’s speech and was reminded again on this day to take time and reflect and slow down!
“We should take comfort that, while we may have more still to endure, better days will return we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.
And though self-isolating may at times be hard, many people of all faiths and of none are discovering that it presents an opportunity to slow down, pause and reflect in prayer or meditation.”
Our health really is our wealth right now and I urge everyone to take care of themselves, practice self-care and try to practice gratitude!
-Andrea