After losing my father a little over a year ago, I spent countless months focusing on self care that included protecting my mental and emotional stability. I spent numerous hours in therapy, spent time alone, enjoyed the outdoors, helped others in ways that I could appreciate and worked out . In the midst of doing all of this, I thought I was holding things together and doing a stupendous job getting through life. But, recently my body revealed to me that while I had been focusing on my mental capacity, my physical status was dwindling.

Two weeks ago I wen to the dentist and my blood pressure was elevated. In my 46 years, that had only happened once and I won’t even discuss the things that happened or the things I ate prior to that reading. Because it had never been a concern before, I didn’t worry myself with it at the moment. However, when I went in for my annual exam, my blood pressure was once again elevated, to the point where the nurse was discussing me being admitted to the hospital. After multiple readings, I was able to show a decline in both my systolic and diastolic numbers. Nonetheless, at this point I was overly anxious and knew nothing productive would come from this visit no matter what else was said. What I did do was request more screenings to make sure my sugar and cholesterol levels were in the normal range.

When I left the doctor, I made phone calls and started googling and reading as much as I could to try and determine how to get myself back on track. One of things I discovering when assessing my blood pressure is that work has become a stressful environment and has contributed to my elevated numbers. The second thing I realized is I’ve gained weight and weight gain has always had a negative affect on me. It appears my workout haven’t been as effective as I thought they were. The last thing I realized is that I calm myself by eating. While I only eat when I’m hungry, when I’m nervous I tend to choose junk food to satisfy me versus eating all the healthy snacks I pack.

The last week or so I have been very mindful of people and things that trigger any levels of stress. I have also become more mindful of the types of snacks I’m consuming, the amount of rest I’m getting and the effectiveness of my physical activity. I’ve also looked into visiting with a nutritional counselor and maybe trying meditation.

During this time of unrest, how are you handling things? What are you doing to take care of your mental and physical well being?