The Waves of Anxiety (+ Resources for Your Nervous System)

“There’s a beautiful Innuit word, ‘quartsiluni’. It means sitting together in the dark, waiting for something to happen.” —Teju Cole

We are all riding the waves of anxiety and stillness. Some moments feel peaceful and like a spiritual reset, while others are pressure-packed and fear-inducing. We grip onto things. We ground ourselves. And back again. 

We are worried–about our bank accounts and bottom lines. About our wellbeing. About the two times we've sneezed today. About our family members, our elderly neighbors, and our world. About our clients and our teams and our sales pipelines. About how much food we have stocked in our cabinets. About how the hell to homeschool our kids without going crazy. We're worried about our healthcare system, our siblings, the stock market, and about the surfaces we touch. The list goes on.

AND, WE ARE OK. 

YOU ARE OK.

Some Resources For Your Nervous System:

  • Insight Timer is my favorite app for meditations and talks. Here are some of my personal go-tos:

    • This guided morning meditation
       (10 mins)

    • This talk on "Facing Fear with Compassion" by my favorite author, Elizabeth Gilbert (22mins)

    • A meditation on SURRENDER that feels like a combination of a story and a poem being read to you (9 mins)

    • This mantra is what I listen to when I need something more than music to help me center. Sometimes I listen when I'm making coffee, or taking a walk, there's no 'right' time. (11 mins)

  • I also appreciate this article explaining the difference between anxiety and fear and what to do when anxiety overwhelms you. 

  • Movement is important these days. ROAM is a local yoga studio in LA offering their class schedule taught via Zoom. Each class is $10. While I'm sure lots of free yoga is available online, they were bold enough to ask customers to help support them so they can (hopefully) survive the financial downturn and stand a chance of reopening. Use this or find a local studio near you in need of support.

  • The NYTimes Cooking is one of my favorite places to get recipes that are easy and that consistently deliver. Here's one I made recently that was BOMB. (Plus it's vegan. It takes 15 minutes. AND-- you can use all those canned goods you bought).

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elizabeth canon