Today, during a Zoom yoga teacher training class (don't ask!), my teacher asked me how these past few weeks have been.
To my surprise, having been asked such a personal question, I suddenly felt on the verge of tears. I mean; in one way, I think things have gone surprisingly OK. We have managed, creating a daily routine, managing school work (not that that has been our main focus), my work and sticking to routines like bedtime and Pizza Fridays and spending a really crazy amount of time walking, scooting and playing in every nearby park.
But suddenly, I also really felt like all the worry and stress of the past few weeks washed over me. How alone I have felt, having all my family in Norway. When lockdown happened, suddenly, for the very first time, I was feeling so very far away from them all, knowing we couldn't make it home if something was to happen – suddenly there were no flights.
But I think I pushed it to the back of my mind, determined to just take it day by day, talking to them over FaceTime every day, and just trusting that soon this would be over, and we'd get to meet them all again.
Now, when I look back, I can't quite believe how long this has been going on for. That we have managed so many weeks all on our own. That we have kept it together, and actually, tried to enjoy this strange time as much as we could. We have had so many movie nights, built countless dens, went on daily adventures around the neighbourhood, read books, baked, played games and gone on walks.
From the start, I decided that I would not stress about school work, instead just doing as much as we felt we had the energy for, and instead, spending as much time as possible playing, adventuring, cuddling and going for walks.
It seems this might have been the reason I have managed to keep my worry at bay. And keep my kids' worry at bay too. In fact, 'running around' is, according to experts, one of the very best remedies when it comes to relieving feelings of stress and anxiety.
Dr. Gail Gross, author and parenting, relationships and human behaviour expert, suggested to
Mother.ly: "Exercise is one of the best things children can do to combat stress. It increases neurons' creation, survival, and resistance to damage and stress."
And Monica R. Fleshner, Ph.D., an integrative physiologist at the University of Colorado, agrees, explaining, "Maintaining regular physical activity is one way to help promote both stress resistance and stress resilience."
Meaning, right now, it seems exercise can be more important than schoolwork – for all of us.
Here is what the American Psychological Association has to say about stress and exercise:
"Exercise and other physical activity produce endorphins—chemicals in the brain that act as natural painkillers—and also improve the ability to sleep, which in turn reduces stress"
Bottom line: Go have fun and get some exercise. Both you and your kids will benefit in some many ways – and feel less stressed, less anxious and far happier and calmer.
