Election Day Self-Care Tools
How to Keep Your Sanity on Election Day
We get to be the architects of our individual lives. We don’t have to absorb the anxiety our culture is throwing at us right now with all of the Election Day madness. We have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness—and one way we protect that right is by practicing great self-care.
Election Day is sure to carry some stress as our nation stretches against the peaceful transition of power. But we do not have to lose our peace of mind in the process. Here are some of the resources that I will be turning to on Election Day in the days following to hold onto my sanity:
1. VOTING PLAYLIST
Good music has the power to transform our whole mood. For Election Day, give yourself the energy shift you need with a good playlist to keep you bopping through the day. Not sure where to start? Try this one I created on Spotify.
This weekend I started anticipating the future anxiety I could feel over the outcome of the election. So I began working on a game plan to manage the uncertainty. We get to refuse to succumb to all fear about where our country is headed. For me, music has a way of lifting the ceiling on the room and helping me believe more is possible than I originally expected. To combat a negative mindset, I intentionally created a Spotify Playlist that encourages me to use my voice by voting and reminds me everything will be okay. Some of the songs on my playlist include:
Alright - Kendrick Lamar
Rise Up - Audra Day
A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke
Party In The U.S.A. - Miley Cyrus
Don’t Worry Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin
Want to listen along with me? Hit play on the left or grab the Election Day playlist here on Spotify. What would you put on your playlist?
Developing a mindfulness practice is an excellent way to combat anxiety and step into relaxation year round. Since the start of COVID, I’ve found it challenging to turn my mind off from the day’s worries in order to settle into sleep. Using meditation apps like Headspace or Shine have been extremely helpful. I even discovered a new app this summer called Exhale that was created by black women to help BIPOC process some of the stress from the racial unrest of 2020.
But Election Day feels like I need to take mindfulness and meditation up a notch. Luckily, this fall, I learned about a fun new form of relaxation brought to us by the creators of the Calm app and HBO Max. If you want to combine stunning visuals with meditative voices from celebrity narrators, check out this series. You’ll need a subscription to HBO Max but it’s worth it. This is next-level relaxation. My favorite episode so far has been the hummingbird episode featuring Nicole Kidman.
Imagine this. What if you woke up tomorrow morning, opened the newspaper, and the only thing in it was good news? Well that’s just what you’d get if you subscribed to one of my favorite news outlets.
The GOOD GOOD GOOD media company was started by Branden Harvey, a storyteller who wants to help you feel less overwhelmed and more equipped to make a meaningful difference.
I recently hopped on their free e-newsletter list (they send an email with good news every Tuesday morning) and started my digital subscription for the full newspaper. I love the idea of filling my mind with stories of people redeeming the world. It’s easy to sink into despair these days, feeling like the world is falling apart at the seams. But good things are happening everyday. I’m grateful for news outlets hunting for positive stories and reshaping the social narrative so we can press into hope. Subscribe online or get access to the free newsletter at goodgoodgood.co.
I’ve spent the past five years searching for various ways to “get into yoga.” I know the health benefits of the practice can be phenomenal. Physically, yoga is great for learning how to tune into your body and gain strength and flexibility through powerful poses. Psychologically, yoga can help with managing stress and anxiety through slow, meditative movement. In the midst of the election, this kind of self-care is so needed.
But, it wasn’t until COVID-19 hit that my personal yoga practice began to click. I landed on The Underbelly Yoga website by Jessamyn Stanley and my whole world opened up after the first month’s subscription. Jessamyn has a way of helping beginner yogis, like myself, get past the mental hurdle of “I’m not doing it right.” Through her Tom Gunn circa Project Runway-approach to yoga (i.e. “Make it work people!”), I have learned to love practicing. For the first time I haven’t felt compelled to do every pose perfectly and her blunt form of self-compassion (she curses like a sailor) helps me to see that I can bring all of who I am to the mat. If you’re looking to develop a yoga practice, this is a great one for a beginner. I just wish she’d make more videos so I can stick with her a little longer.
5. BOUNDARIES
My husband often repeats the phrase “good fences make good neighbors.” It’s a really helpful visual for me when I consider drawing boundaries around my life. Because, when I outline what I will and won’t accept, it allows people to love me well without accidentally stepping on parts of my life I’d rather they didn’t. It also empowers me to love freely without silent resentment or stress.
“Knowing what I am to own and take responsibility for gives me freedom.
— Boundaries, Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend
As I’ve been thinking about the election, I find myself going back to my stack of books about boundaries from Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend. With all the changes of 2020, we are all learning to navigate new ways of interacting with one another and our individual needs have changed. We have permission to redraw the boundary lines of our lives to protect our mental and emotional health. For me, those boundaries are evolving. Some days it means setting limits on the way I want to receive information (so I log off of social media early or insist on getting my news only from certain reputable sources). Other days it means communicating with family members about what I feel comfortable discussing politically and refusing to get caught up in social media fights with strangers. What are some of the boundaries that you are drawing? What boundaries might you need to draw specifically around the election?
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