Earlier this year, the US Surgeon General declared loneliness a public health epidemic, likening it's negative health effects to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
But 'lonely' doesn't have to mean you're off the grid in a secluded cabin in the woods.
"You can feel lonely even if you have a lot of people around you, because loneliness is about the quality of your connections."
- Dr. Vivek Murthy
So how do you improve the quality of your connections?
A quick google search will give you plenty of ideas to get and stay connected:
Call up an old friend
Join a book club
Volunteer
Learn a new skill or hobby
Join a writing, art, hiking, photography, bird watching group
And these are wonderful ideas.
They're just starting in the wrong place.
If you're feeling disconnected from others, the first thing you need to do is check IN on the connection to yourself ✨
(I tell you how below)
✨ I N S P I R E
"The universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are." – Rumi
✨T H R I V E
Authentic internal connection is a pre-requisite to honest and authentic communication with others.
But we skip it....
Because we're busy, it's boring, we don't have time for it, we're 'not good at it', we don't know the benefits, or for many of us, we don't like what we find in the stillness.
We're so used to looking outside for how we should be, that we forget the answer is already here, it's just on the inside.
What might happen if you made inner connection a priority every single day (even for just 2 minutes).
You would:
Experience more self-compassion and self-acceptance
Feel more calm and at peace with what is
Reduce stress and anxiety
Tap into your creativity
Improve your emotional regulation
You have countless opportunities to make a Daily YouTurn.
Finding even just a few moments of quiet and stillness
Embodying practices like yoga and dance
If you don't know which practices help you 'come home', take the time to find out.
Start small. Try something new.
This is not a one and done.
Develop consistent habits for checking in, and connect deeply with the person you spend the most time with, YOU.From that place, you are better able to establish deep, and importantly, REAL, connections with others.
How to Create Connection During Difficult Times: This is a favorite post, and includes a treasured Pema Chodron practice that has had a profound impact on my own life and so many of those I've shared it with.
Tell me how you plan to invite in more self-reflection this week.
Carolyn
xx
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