Loving Your Brain: the "Small" Self-Care for the Troubling Times

Disturbing world news. Conflicts. Everyday stressors. Even weather can add to our strain.

Many of us want to work and to create a better world, but when everything comes at us at once, how do we protect ourselves? It’s hard to pour from an empty cup. How do we nurture our brains to function well when stressors seem to be unending? And even commercial recipes for de-stressing (fancy vacations! Expensive spas! Take-our-supplements-or-else! Buy, buy, buy, buy, buy!!!) often only increase our stress. What kind of people can afford all this stuff?

Fortunately, most of us do not need “magic supplements” or other items of "big" self-care industry. Most of us do not need to "go big." "Small" everyday self-care works.

Some of the free ways to support our brains also happen to be the best. But when stressed, we often tend to slip into bad habits and may need a reminder to do the simple things that help our brains self-repair. And we may need to be reminded to engage in these our way. Not in the one-size-fits-all, off the shelf way promoted by the "big" self-care.

Basics customized just for us, by us, are often exactly what we need. Self-care under stress can be hard, and that makes having systems that work for us, come most naturally, and do not require extreme willpower to sustain is so important!

Go small. Do you.

Avoid the Doom Scrolling Trap

Ironically, constant exposure to stressful news can increase searching and scanning for more stressful news. It may feel like more information can give you more control – but that information must come from quality sources, or it can poison us instead of helping us.

What's more, our brains can only handle so much before cognitive overload diminishes our ability to process information, but our hypervigilance can play tricks on us, and make us pay for the illusion of control with very real overload. This is especially true when our information quest turns into doom scrolling—continuously scrolling through bad news, usually way past our ability to process. We all need to look for our personal line between being informed and being bombarded. If we are not informed, we can't do much good. But we can't do much good if we are overwhelmed and spinning, either.

Practical Tips:

• Set Limits: Limit the amount of time you spend consuming news each day. Choose specific times to check the news, along with specific topics to pay attention to - and stick to them.
• Curate Your Sources: Follow reliable news sources and avoid sensationalist media that stirs negative emotion for clicks and to keep us on the platform. A news outlet had you all worked up - evaluate if this is because you care, or because you are being manipulated - and trapped - by flashy headlines and every little thing being presented as "the biggest ever."
• Unplug: Periodically unplug from all digital devices to give your brain a rest from constant stimulation.

Of course, taming the anxiety-feeding hypervigilance—especially if our neurodivergent brains are particularly prone to it—is not easy. One research-based remedy is getting more sleep.

Sleep on It. Your Way

“Sleep on it” as advice to support our rationality is well-founded. Sleep is essential for cognitive function, emotional regulation, and overall health. Of course, gettign enough sleep is not always easy - but we can keep trying to work exhausted, or we could try breaking the cycle of exhaustion-inefficiency-lack of sleep by making sleep a priority, as much as possible, and definitely above doom scrolling.

Practical Tips:

• Sleep Schedule that Works for You: I know that setting a sleep schedule is not easy. But it does work. Most of us benefit from going to bed at the same time every day, even on weekends. And if that has not worked for you before, it might have been because you tried to adopt someone else's schedule. Don't! Specific bedtimes and "no naps" rules work for some and not for others. Some of us thrive on naps. We have different chronotypes and different circumstances. You know what helps you be most rested and alert - working with our brains does wonders for our wellbeing.
• Can’t sleep? Quietly resting counts as rest. But if your mind would not quiet down, get up and get your worries out of your mind and onto paper. Make a list of things that you may (or may not) deal with later. They often look less scary when removed from our imaginations.

Another way to improve sleep? Spending time in nature. And you do not have to take a major trip to benefit.

Small Nature is Still Nature

Communing with nature can reduce stress, improve mood, enhance cognitive function - and help with sleep. Studies have shown that spending time in nature can lower levels of cortisol (the stress hormone), reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, and improve overall well-being. Even sitting under a tree or looking at the sky is helpful. Adding even modest movement takes the benefits to the next level.

Practical Tips:

• Walks do Wonders: Even a short walk in a park or other setting with plants or water can provide a mental break and a new perspective. Gardening or hiking or another type of exercise can take the benefits to the next level. Again, do what makes you feel best. Some like to sweat. Others don't. Don't let someone's ideals deter you from simply doing your best.
• Small Nature is Still Nature: Add plants to your space. Even if you don’t have a garden or the energy to garden, try growing edible plants near the window. Some plants require little to no care—like spring onions, parsley, or chives—but can provide vitamins, a sense of accomplishment, and an improved sense of control.

Our brains are marvelous. Resilient. Self-healing even. But we need to help them. And (the saying that has been attributed to many) – everything works better after you unplug it for a bit. Including humans.

Happy unplugging! Your way.

No-scary-headlines newsletter items:

📰Do not miss this fantastic, anxiety-taming article by Nancy Doyle : No, 50% Of Children Will Not Be Autistic By 2050. And if you are not familiar with her neuroinclusion work, also see her book with Almuth McDowall, "Neurodiversity Coaching."

📹 Check out this lovely (and brief) video review of The Canary Code by Ellen Taaffe, Kellogg School of Management Professor and the award-winning author of "The Mirrored Door: Break Through the Hidden Barrier that Locks Successful Women In Place."

✨🎧🐣 YAY! The audio version of The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work will be available on SEPTEMBER 3 (September 2 in Europe). The CD version is available now. Do not feel like waiting? Give a try to the paper or Kinde version.