This Monday, my oldest returned to school in person for the first time since March 2020.
She was so excited, she was ready 35 minutes before her bus arrived.
My emotions were a little more mixed.
I’m feeling a combination of relief and excitement and worry.
Relief because both my mental health and hers suffered in the year+ she was home, doing remote school.
Excitement because I know she will thrive in a classroom setting again, extrovert that she is.
Worry because even though our state has a mask requirement for elementary school kids (any kid under 12 as well as any kid 12+ not vaccinated and required for teachers/staff), the delta variant isn’t fucking around. It’s scary. And not everyone takes it seriously.
Plus, for bonus mom-stress, I was unable to unearth her backpack so far in the remaining unpacked boxes from our move. So she wore mine the first 2 days and “felt dopey.” Thanks to Grandma who ordered a new one for her, which arrived yesterday.
To help alleviate my own stress and nervous energy, I’ve been relying on a few simple techniques.
These are my top 3 practices for Stress Relief:
BREATHE: There’s a simple breathing exercise I use with my kids — one hand on my belly, one hand on my heart. Breathe into belly first, then allow your breath to rise up into the hand on your heart.
MOVE: Daily movement — ANY MOVEMENT. Jumping, shaking, shimmying, running, walking at night as the sun sets, yoga, lifting weights…I make this a daily priority for at least 5 minutes.
JOY: Everyday, I do at least one thing that brings me joy, even if it is small. Maybe even especially if it is small. One thing that brings me joy is running with my kids through the sprinklers in our new neighborhood. This morning, I danced to a song in my living room, while standing on my kids beanbag chair.
Milly also had some mixed emotions about returning to school — some nervousness about fitting in, starting at a brand new school, and feeling worried about making friends.
So she did one of the things I like to do: She moved her body. And she created a yoga class for kids like her, who might be nervous to go back to school. I’m super proud of her.
Watch her class and share it with your kiddos (or friends with kiddos) here:
Quick reminder:
Movement is one of the number one actions you can do to alleviate stress. If you need a little more movement in your life, I’d love for you to join my online community, MOVE with Naomi. There are 2 different ways you can join, based on your needs. Click here for more info!
