Welcome to The Daily Q, a place to support Q for Qualifying in the face of Q for Quarantine.
Qualifying in what?! We are stuck at home, after all.
All kinds of things. Life. Stress. Isolation. Anxiety. Loss. And yes — eventually with our dogs. This is a TEMPORARY thing. Don’t forget that.
This blog will now be an everyday thing with a content mix designed to (hopefully) entertain, inform, educate, and connect us in the face of a global pandemic.
We will look at resilience, how to handle anxiety, discuss ideas for training dogs on our own, and just generally have a place to connect over the new reality that is Life with Covid-19.
We are living in a scary time — we should not pretend otherwise because that is dangerous to everyone.
Therefore, please remember that being anxious and worried and all that is normal — wouldn’t it be strange if we were blase in the face of a pandemic?!
But it is not useful, comfortable, or productive to drown ourselves in the fear and anxiety — Chicken Little is not one of those admired characters in literature, you may recall.
When (not if — when) you find yourself in Chicken Little mode, try these techniques:
First, acknowledge those feelings and invite them in to your mind and heart. Look at them, respect them, and just sit with them. After a few minutes, thank them and send them on their way; they are messengers, after all, and do not need to take up permanent residence.
Lucky for rePete, a stray cat is not an emotion; permanent residency was allowed.
Second, pay attention to how your body is feeling and when you notice tension and anxiety, do the following breathing exercise:
Put your tongue at the top of your mouth where it meets the front teeth, and close your mouth.
Breath in gently through your nose for a count of four.
Hold it for a count of seven.
Exhale with a steady whoosh through your mouth with your tongue in place for a count of eight.
Watch a funny show or movie — laughter can help with anxiety.
Expect to sometimes have to work at calming yourself — that is normal right now.
A third tip for today — petting a dog is calming to our bodies. Try petting your dog for sixty seconds while saying out loud things you are grateful for — and yes, it is okay to just repeat, “I am grateful for my dog” for sixty seconds.
A nudge for today — go outside.
If that is not possible, sit by a window and look outside. Notice and say out loud the things that are beautiful and wonderful.
That includes you.
We got this. Together.