By Danielle D Jenkins, PsyD

If you are having a rough day, having a simple recipe of self-care and self-nurturance can help immensely. I can remember this day as if it were yesterday even though it was probably close to ten years ago. I was losing my sh*t and I sent the SOS to my best friend. I don’t even remember what was overwhelming at the time. Maybe a break up or the perils of grad school. I don’t know. What I do know is that when I called my friend, she had a plan for me and it was immensely helpful to have someone tell me what to do to ground myself.

My friend encouraged me to do my 3 favorite yoga poses, drink water until it sloshes around, and to go outside even if it was just to check the mail (she knows how much I love getting mail). Having a list of “to dos” that was quick, supportive of my body, and tailored to me in that moment was incredibly helpful. I think back to that day, doing my favorite yoga poses in the kitchen with a belly full of...

By Danielle D Jenkins, PsyD

Pause and Then Remind Yourself You are Safe

When you initially realize you are emotionally overwhelmed, the first thing to do is pause. Then look around and remind yourself you are safe. When you feel overwhelmed, your body can’t really distinguish between feeling overwhelm because you worked too much this week, said yes to too many extras, are going through a rough life patch, or are in the middle of a war or famine. Sometimes, especially when we have too much on our plates, our primal brain takes over and our body processes emotional, family, or work stress as an emergency when it is not. When this happens, pause and tell yourself you are safe. Even if it’s something silly you say to yourself like, “Body, I am safe, there are no monsters here, just a lot of overwhelm.” You can even follow this with simple reminder to yourself, “I got this!”

Once you’ve paused and given yourself a safety check, take a breath, do...