Episode 12 - Physically Here, Mentally Elsewhere: Overwhelm, Rooting Down, & Emotional First Aid

Ever feel like your body’s at the Zoom meeting… but your mind is hiding under a weighted blanket? In this heartfeltvepisode, Andi & Mich speak directly to the collective overwhelm so many of us are carrying—especially in this current time. From anxiety, caretaker burnout, and endless news cycles, to grounding rituals passed down through generations: this episode is your pep talk, love letter, and emotional first aid kit. We unpack:

• Why it’s OK to not be “fine”
• The power of daily self check-ins
• Real-world nervous system reset tools (cold water on wrists, mood lighting, somatic techniques & more)
• How community, culture, and even cooking were ancestral anchors in hard times
• And engaging listener prompts: “Physically I’m here, but mentally I’m…”

If you’ve ever experienced fleeting spirals or spiritual disconnection—this one’s for you. You’re not alone. 💛

#PhysicallyHereMentallyElsewhere
#EmotionalFirstAid
#DailyCheckIn
#AnxietyRelief
#BurnoutPrevention
#SelfCareTools
#LatinaPodcast
#GroundingTechniques
#YouAreNotAlone
#PodcastClip

If you liked this episode please like and follow our podcast, leave us a comment, and share it with a friend. Visit us on Youtube for extra content and full episodes https://www.youtube.com/@AndiandMich

Your support helps us to keep the conversations going. <3

-Andi and Mich

The Andi and Mich Podcast: Two Sisters, Two Generations, Unique Perspectives, Lots of Laughs

Transcript

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Welcome back to Andy and Mitch, the podcast where we get real laugh, hard and sometimes spiral but like with flare. We are definitely mentally floating somewhere between a Pinterest board and our last crying session. And while we are physically here emotionally, we are under our weighted blankets. Rewatching Emily in Paris. Because, let's be honest, sometimes our bodies show up, but our minds and souls are on sabbatical. This is our little pep talk, love note to ourselves and each other that we wanna share with you. So if you are feeling the overwhelm, don't worry, you are not alone. Grab your cafecito. Let's dive in. So we got into this whole conversation about this that kind of led up to this theme based on what We're just gonna call out the elephant in the room. The state of our local communities in Los Angeles, in California, Southern California, specifically. As Latinas, from varying Latino backgrounds, we are Americans, we are citizens of this country. And everything that we're seeing unfold in the news. It's hard and it can take a toll. We are very much directly and indirectly feeling the effects of what is happening. For different reasons that we're not gonna get into here but because we've layered what's happening now in California with what's happening in the world. What's happening in the nation? Not only have we been experiencing the overwhelm and the disconnect and feeling like we're just zoning out. All the questions, all the things that you're feeling, and recognizing that we're talking about this, not only how we're experiencing it, but all the people in our different circles that are also experiencing it, and how it's really become this bigger collective And so we decided that we wanted to bring it to the podcast and talk a little bit about it. If it's just one person that hears this and it makes a difference for you, then we've done our job because we know how it feels when you feel like you're the only person feeling this way or the only person that can voice or express that. Yeah. And maybe not have the tools or the space, to be seen and heard in all of this in the ways in which we have, and we're very grateful for. We see you, we hear you. We wanna make our grandma and our father proud because they are rolling over in their graves when they see these headlines and everything that they fought against, happening. In real time. Yeah. So having an opportunity to pause and just remember the tools that we have in our back pockets to help support us through this. They're essential to also remember that no matter how heavy this is our ancestors taught us during their most critical moments in the history of the stories that they told us, or the things that we saw or we experienced. Whatever kind of oppression or adversity that they faced. You know, our tias were always in those kitchens, cooking, laughing loud, dancing, singing, despite it all. You know what I mean? Finding a way to be anchored back into community and family and moments of joy. And using tools that we know innately. Even if it was just as simple as them making a big feast for everyone from what they were able to get for the week, food wise and then inviting everyone to come and eat, no matter what your background is. Mm-hmm. No matter what your designation is. The way Mitch was just describing, right, the way we grew up community was our family, our neighbors, our close friends, friends that became family friends you just met that you liked and invited over for dinner and it was like we're one eats many eat, like there's always enough to go around even when there isn't a whole lot. Mm-hmm. This is our little pep talk, love note to ourselves and each other that we wanna share with you. So if you are feeling the overwhelm, don't worry, you are not alone. If your emotional state had an out of office reply, what would it say? Hi, I've received your message, but I'm currently dissociating, please try again next week, next month or maybe next year. Or maybe never. I might not float right back down. I think emotionally we are all on a wild ride, it's like a roller coaster. I mean, if you're living on planet Earth, you're no stranger to what's going on in the world right now. And if you're not living on Planet Earth, welcome. There's so many different layers that we need to check in on. So on a scale of one to 10, one is like the lowest, 10 is like functioning at your max optimal level. Okay. Emotionally grounded. I do feel emotionally grounded, kind of, oh well hang on, if I'm in the presence of bad things happening like zero, but when I'm not, when I'm in the safety of my own home, I'm like at a 7.5. I oscillate between like a three and four to, yeah, maybe like an eight if I feel like I'm surrounded by good people and warmth and safety and love. Yeah. Then I feel okay, but some moments it's questionable. It's like every day something will send you on a mini spiral. Yeah, it's like you let off some steam. You kind of just let the emotions pass through you, and I think that's the healthiest thing you can do right now, even though it feels complete batshit crazy. Emotionally, sometimes, i'm like an instant pot that's been left on too long, I'm about to blow, you know? How about spiritually connected? I think I've been very intentional with tapping into that part. Okay. Cool. But spiritual, it doesn't mean religious. I'm like fist bump right there. We just fist bumped. Like spiritual is like connecting yourself to a belief or a purpose or something that feels bigger than you. I definitely don't feel that at all, right now, but I think it's because my inner skeptic is like getting the fuel it needs to really take the reins and I'm trying to rein it back in. Watching things play out, it's easy to get lost in the sauce of it and then to feel like. Hopeless. Not really hopeless, but just to feel that spiritual disconnect. I might argue that because you're so aware of what's happening and how it's impacting earth and nature and humanity. In a sense you actually are more connected because you're in that level of awareness. You know, something to explore. Physically rested. I'm like at a negative three I read somewhere, and I don't know where this was, but it was a legitimate source for sure cause I read it online, obviously. If you are consistently waking up, I think it was after 2:00 AM so like between three and 4:00 AM on average, that, that's directly related to anxiety. Yes. So, I think there's a lot of us out there that are feeling that right now, that our sleep is being disrupted by all of the turmoil that we're consuming. Mm-hmm. And just engaged in, in one way, shape, or form. But sleep, I would love a just perfect night's sleep where I wake up actually rested. That would be beautiful. Do you know where I can buy one of those sleep pods where they like seal you in, actually, no, I'm claustrophobic. I would die in that, I would try to use it to make it better and then I would just die out of fear being locked in. Oh no. Like a vampire. It's not. Even if you're just feeling like the emotions, it manifests physically, right? So like we feel it physically, and so that physical exhaustion is just there. Yeah and let's talk about that really quickly cause how exhausted are you on a level of one to 10 throughout the day? Physical exhaustion and mental exhaustion combined can really take you out. Let's talk about this first, generally, right? Generally. What has been pulling us away from being present? I think the uncertainty of the future because if we look at the bigger scope of everything that's going on The bigger picture, it's bringing into question our humanity, our morals but most importantly, it's starting to create this underlying fear that we're not sure what the future holds. What do you think? For me, it's a lot more of the weight of the world. That keeps pulling me back away from being present, not just everything that's been unfolding in the recent weeks and months. As a whole but just in the way that society has been growing and moving at such a fast pace with technology and expectations, and it's just like, it's too much, you know, it's been burning us out and then now we're in 2025 where we have all these additional things that are in our face all day, every day and some of us are right in the middle of what's happening across the country. Yes. Across the globe. I mean, we're in California and there's so much happening in California right now that it's very heavy and it's very hard. So the weight of all of that, right? It's like I feel like I have to look out for everybody and I have to be so vigilant and pay attention to what's happening. Trying to balance like my own wellbeing while having to care about everything. It's like you become an emotional thermostat, and sometimes it's like buffering, buffering, too many tabs are open, too many searches are happening at the same time. And I'm like at max capacity and then it's like you kind of go into this freeze state for a while. Yeah and honestly, my brain, similar to what you're describing is the nonstop group chat of overthinking, wondering if I left the oven on or if democracy will ever come back. Trying to be on all the time it feels like we're auditioning for America's Next Top Burnout. You and I talk about this a lot, we talk about our experiences and how we're processing things and we think differently about some things, but we have spaces where we can go in and like just talk about it. This is what I'm seeing, this is what I'm hearing, this is what I'm feeling, this is what I'm thinking. Yeah. In us creating that space, we also create a space to normalize the fact that things are not normal. But we also don't wanna be in a space where we normalize the numbing and the burning out piece of it. We have to like keep coming back and checking in with each other and the people in our close circles. And we can also fall into this trap of feeling guilty. Am I doing enough? Should I be doing more? Should I feel guilty if I'm feeling happy? Am I'm feeling joyful? You can get stuck in this trap of bouncing yourself back and forth. A lot of us, at some point you're walking around in just a brain fog. And most of us are probably not taking care of ourselves as well as we should be. I'm trying, but also I'm not gonna not eat that Chinese food plate, i'm not gonna not drink that coffee, you're telling me that the world might end and I'm gonna not eat a brownie. Please. I don't think so. Because sometimes you're just surviving on cafecito and memes. 100%. So what do we actually do when we feel like we are just drifting? One thing that helps me is focusing on tiny moments. Like micro goals and doing one small thing at a time, making my coffee in the morning or cleaning up my office space, not even the whole office but just my desktop, like picking one thing just focusing your mind on a task that's in front of you that you can accomplish in the moment. That gives you a little sense of reward. It probably does give you also a little sense of control of what's happening in your life, which can, have an effect on your nervous system, kind of calms you. Things that bring you back to the present moment quickly, and they're really easy to do. I agree. I like to put on some mood lighting, put on a nice playlist. It doesn't fix everything, but it does remind me that I'm a human. I exist and I still love the arts. Yeah, I'm diving heavily into the arts. So it's good to sometimes dive into the arts and remind ourselves that one of the biggest tools that art is used for is often times to speak up and to express things like frustration and grief and anger and all of the things that were kind of being bombarded with right now. Creativity is so important. It's so essential. And I feel like we need to do a whole episode on the power of creativity. To be creative in some small way, to feed your soul something creative, just doodle or do a crossword or coloring book or something simple. I mean, there's different ways to engage with it. It doesn't have to all be serious either you can also like incorporate the joy and the beauty of the art. And that's kind of the fundamental beauty of art. I guess that's kind of tapping into spirituality too, right? I mean, tapping into any form of spirituality is also an anchor. An SOS tool, can be part of your emotional first aid kit. More than anything, if you don't have one, you should think about creating your own mini emotional first aid kit. When I start to feel overwhelmed, I start feeling burnout or I'm checking out too much. Then what are the things that I can turn to, to help anchor me back to myself? What are your emotional first aid kit things. I have a lot, my emo it's real big. I need luggage for my emotional first aid kit. Definitely music, music is very calming to me. It's very healing and it's been a huge part of my life as a healer. Getting out in the sun, like sunlight on my face, so important. My dog does this, every morning part of his routine is he goes outside and he finds a spot where the sun is, and he just stands there and he closes his eyes and he just has the sun on him. So he's doing a little recharge, solar recharge. So I learned from him many years ago, like, oh, this is really important. I'm gonna go solar recharge for a minute. Water has been a really important element for me in my emotional first aid. So, taking a shower, putting cold water on my face or getting a damp towel. A cool damp towel and putting it on your forehead, that's very calming. One that I've been doing more of lately is putting my phone away. And just getting off socials and not watching the news, like just turning that off for periods of time'cause I wanna stay informed, I wanna know what's going on, and I need to recognize when it becomes too much and I gotta step away. So Mitch, what are the things that are in your emotional first aid kit? Tacos. Good food it just grounds you, it gives you that feeling of safety and home and like I think it's even more beautiful when you expand it to cultures outside of your own too'cause you're like appreciating other cultures. Yeah, food making dishes,'cause I've been making a lot of food has helped ground me. So it kind of takes you back to childhood sometimes. 100%. Like some of my favorite memories are like at some of the local diverse restaurants that surrounded where we lived, in the greater Los Angeles area. And that's one of the best parts of Los Angeles. It's a melting pot of culture and food and art and all the wondrous stuff. Art is another big one that I have on my list. From the creation of things, working on music, enjoying different shows, different movies. Cinema has been a really big thing. I like watching movies, some of the movies are informative and some of them are historical pieces. Playing really good records similar to you, Andy. I love listening to records all the way through a good playlist is always fun too. Mood lighting, i've been really into that. Oh and you know, when you're a kid and you put your legs up on the wall and you sit like that for a while. Mm-hmm. I don't know if that regulates your nervous system. Mm-hmm. But I've been doing that a lot. Mm-hmm. Okay, cool. Good to know. Your body has a biological response to that, that's calming. It also helps with like, inflammation in the body. I need that. Get those cortisol levels nice and low. Oh, and I've also been doing this where it's like I just randomly do squats. Apparently it's really good for your body. They say you should move. You know, the best form of that is dancing. I think you may have said earlier is like, feelings and emotions need to move. We hold them and that's what creates the tension, discomfort, and then the illness in our bodies. If you move your body, you move those feelings through much more quickly, and you can process them easier. And they said the best way, and our mother will probably agree 1000%, is to dance it out, shake it out. That's why like, there's a lot of somatic stuff where they, you see the people just kind of shaking their bodies. I would prefer to do that to music, do a little interpretive dance or something. Celia Cruz. Yeah, like just put on your favorite jam and just dance it out. Or like, did you ever watch Grey's Anatomy? No. They used have dance parties. Just have yourself a little dance party. Little dance break. You can squat, you can dance it out, squat it out, crunch it out. Cry it out while you dance it out. You can just shake, just shake your arms like you're shaking water off of you. There's a cool technique that I learned. That is so simple. And I, when I first heard it, I was like, this is ridiculous. I'm not doing this. But I did it and I was like, this is amazing. I'm doing this all the time. In my true nature, I'm always a skeptic until I'm not. So, you look forward, find an object to look at in the room, okay? And notice your peripherals but don't move your eyes. Just try to expand your peripherals and see what you can see in your peripheral vision. Like what are the things that you notice and how far back can you go without moving your eyes? Keeping them forward. Okay. No, you're moving your eyes Just notice what do you see on your peripherals and then like how far back? I like to put my hand out at one point too, to see how far back I can see my hand before it goes. Yeah, I can only see you to the bookshelf. I can't even see my phone window, to the wall, to the walls. That tiny little exercise is one of the fastest ways to engage your brain in an activity that brings you to the present moment. It did. And it stops. It's like a stopper of that like feeling of overwhelming stress.'Cause you're really focused now on a task, that you've given your brain to do. Yeah, I did feel very grounded. It's amazing. Here's the existential dread, it's back, i'm just kidding. It gives you a pause but I learned this from, a person who is a, like hypnotherapist. And they were showing different, quick somatic techniques. Some of them were not so quick, so I did not adopt them. But that one I was like, oh, damn. I really felt in the moment, like it really stopped those feelings and allowed me a breath to focus on something else and then came back. It did work. It does work. So if you follow it along, try it on a daily basis, it works great, takes five seconds. But don't move your eyes like I did for a quick comment. Do not scan the room, you just gotta stay focused Back to my wellness list. Wait, one last thing. Your emotional first aid kit. My last emotional first aid item is snuggles of my doggy because he's my, guardian angel. Fur babies are the best. So going back and thinking about a simple daily check-in can make all the difference in how you're navigating the world right now. And how you're getting through your days and doing it in a way that's present and balanced versus overwhelmed and checked out. Something I practice on a regular basis, is a daily check-in. I like to put my hand on my heart or my belly just so like I connect with my body'cause sense of touch kind of brings you back to but to just take a moment and actually ask yourself how you're doing. How am I feeling emotionally right now in this moment? What am I actually feeling? Am I feeling overwhelmed? Am I feeling tired? Am I feeling sad? Am I feeling angry? What am I thinking about right now? Am I even paying attention to anything that I'm doing in the moment? And once you get that response in a non-judging, very loving way. Ask yourself, what do I need right now? Truly. It could change from day to day, it could change from hour to hour. Like sometimes I've had people share with me like, oh, what I really need right now is just to focus on work.'Cause that helps me. Or what I really right need right now is a walk, I need a break. Or what I really need right now is to send memes to my sister'cause she sends funny ones back and then we laugh. What I really need right now is a chocolate chip cookie that's warm right outta the oven. To be able to ask yourself and answer that to check in, it's so critical. Like it is such an easy tool that I don't think we use enough, and I really wanna encourage people to do that, especially in today's climate. Sometimes we don't realize how disconnected we are until we take those very necessary pauses. Make sure that you identify what you need to be able to continue on and do what you gotta do, and to feel okay. The more you do it on a regular basis, it helps you to notice, before you spiral. Like don't wait until you're burnt out to do something about it. Don't wait until you're numb to do something about it. This is really important that, rest and care for ourselves and our families, and our communities is essential to all of the work and the good that we're trying to do in the world, and the change that you may be trying to be a part of. We gotta take care of ourselves in each other in the process too. So if you do little things like this, then you start to notice before you spiral. Last night I was online and I was deleting people from social media. I was in a total social spiral. And I was like deleting all kinds of stuff and being all kinds of mad about everything. I finally like had to check myself and get off social media, and stop doing that. But it helps you recognize your own signs for when like, okay, now I need a break. It's truly emotional hygiene, doing daily check-ins. It's just like brushing your teeth. But instead of minty fresh breath, you get inner peace. Maybe. Which honestly, we all need a little bit more of right now. We do. So let's, let's play a little game, shall we? Finish this sentence. Physically, I'm here, but mentally I am. Narrating a dramatic monologue in my head, like I'm some kind of cool indie film. I'm here for that. Mentally I'm organizing my trauma into a color coded spreadsheet or organizing my trauma like I organized my closet. Mentally, I'm spiraling over something I said in 2008. That's hilarious. Which we talked about this in our introvert, episode, which if you haven't listened to, you, listened to that one. I think it's episode 11, but, the mental spiral is real. And especially as women, we hold onto shit from like way back when. Yeah. And it, all of a sudden it'll just pop up. And you're like, all right. That's right. I'm mad at that bitch for that. Right. Or like, I really didn't like the way that conversation went. Let me replay it in my head 10 times right now for no fucking reason. Yeah, there's a comedian Pete Holmes and he has this bit where he says,"You ever go to a party and you come home and you're like, i'm a lot, i'm not for everyone." I'm like, yeah. I have those moments and in my own solitude I'll be reflecting on something that I've said and then you just replay it, replay it, replay it. And I'm a classic, dissociator. I'm an expert. You're an expert. I really am. I'm just gonna own that as a skill. Andy is an expert. Hashtag resume. Yeah, i'm gonna add it to my resume. Master dissociator. And where I go sometimes I don't know. It's like some made up shit in my head. Well, it's the mind mansion that we talked about. I go to my mind mansion and start playing around tinkering and then it's like, oh wait, I'm in a conversation, three people right now. I've gotten to the point in life where I'll be like a little more honest than in the past and I'll say, I'm really sorry I just wasn't listening. I think I'm gonna start using that philosophy when people ask me how I'm doing and when people are like, how are you. I'm gonna say overwhelmed and falling apart. How are you? That's what our cousin did to me yesterday and it really threw me off. I was like, Hey, how have you been? I'm not doing too good. I was like, oh. Because you weren't prepared. I wasn't prepared. I didn't see that coming from someone who looks so bubbly and happy. And honestly that's kind of why, me and Andy were talking about doing this episode, it was one of the factors is like we're realizing how many people are just trying to keep it together right now. Yeah. We're just trying to keep, keep our head above water. And to normalize that we're all in this together, whether we like it or not, it's happening, but we can do maintenance as Andy's mentioning, instead of waiting till the wheels fall off. And also just to know that you're not alone. You and I have people. Including each other that we can talk to on a weekly basis and have check-ins and just kind of share our ideas, our thoughts, our feelings. Yeah. We have a space where we can just word vomit all the things, to help us process them for ourselves but not everybody has that. So sometimes if you don't have that space or you don't have that opportunity regularly. It can feel like you're alone. You can feel like, man, I feel like I'm in a fog all the time, or I'm overwhelmed all the time. Something must be wrong with me. And we're here to say, no, girl. It's the state of the world. So many of us can relate to that. There's a collective experience that's happening, that so many people are experiencing, but not necessarily talking about. Not to bring it back to cinema, but I'm gonna do it really quickly. Okay. There's a movie called Life is Beautiful and it's a really heavy movie, but the father, in order to protect the son is always doing these really silly, frivolous things. But it's so important. Right? And Andy had mentioned during our conversations how important joy is in the face of hardship and adversity and sometimes even oppression. And sometimes being able to live in the moments of joy and practice joy and trying to do fun, silly things, or dance, or sing your heart out. Whatever it might be to help move those emotions through you to help people feel a little safer, to help people feel like it's not completely out of our control. We have to remember to try to instill hope in the ways that we can, despite being faced with a lot of adversity. And not suppress our joy. We as a collective, we can be in a place of questioning, am I doing enough? Am I doing too much? Does it matter? Is it making a difference? And then in doing that, we're also then suppressing joy'cause we might feel guilty, like we might feel bad that we're doing something joyful during a time when there's things that we're witnessing that aren't joyful. Yeah, and I would also like to add too, like we gotta come together and support each other despite what the differences of people's capabilities are, right? Mm-hmm. Like some people can afford to be in spaces that are very risky and some people can't. And I think despite that, they can still show up and support their communities and do what they can, whether it's prepping meals or buying meals or posting resources or fact checking or storytelling, reach different people in their algorithms, different mindsets or perspectives. I mean, there's just so much that goes into change. Calling your elected officials. Yes. Holding the legislators accountable, that's a big one, right? And it's like we all have to remember that at the end of the day. People want people to have basic civil rights and humanity and dignity more so than they don't. Mm-hmm. And there are more people in this world that actually want good things for one another than those who are loud and currently telling us that that's not true. So just remember that in the face of some of these really tense moments that we have to come together, to try to make the best possible outcome for one another. Well said. With that, the world's heavy right now. Now what? Like, you know, we didn't wanna make this episode about the details of what's happening because either, you know, or you're gonna go online and figure it out. Political chaos, climate disasters, that's another one. Right? Like what's happening in our environment and earth? Inflation. I mean, we all broke out here. I went to the market. I literally was like, what am I buying that it costs this much money. It's crazy expensive. I had one bag of things, and it was over a hundred dollars, that's wild. So it's still going up and things are getting more and more expensive by the day, and then everything that's happening in our home state of California, it's just really hard to stay grounded. I don't know that it's possible to do that all the time. I don't think it's possible right now to hold that standard for yourself to consistently be this grounded, very like put together person. Mm-hmm. And I feel like if you are in that place, then you are clearly disconnected from your humanity because humanity is feeling the emotions, it is feeling some sort of like stress and sadness over some of the ugliest things. But you can do both. You can fill it and then do these check-ins and take care of yourself and take care of your family and take care of your mental health. And be okay and dance and sing. You can do it all, even though it feels like you can't. Yeah. You can care deeply and still take a break. You can stay informed without drowning yourself into a space of overwhelm and disconnect. I mean, we were looking at the statistics and it's pretty wild actually. 43% of adults say they're more anxious this year than last year. And 67%, 67%, report being somewhat or very anxious about current events in 2025. I would bet that number's even higher. I think that's way higher. Yeah. Because I think the anxiousness is not coming from one political spectrum. I think it's coming from everywhere. Yeah. One in six U.S. adults feel stressed every single day, and I would argue it's probably four to four in six. I would say 5.5 out of six. It depends on where you are. And it depends on how privileged you are. Yeah.'Cause let's be real. If you're higher in the ranks in terms of privilege, you're not feeling a lot of the things up people who have to worry about whether or not they're gonna be able to pay their rent or buy food or if they have to use, an app to pay a bill. Yeah, I can call six adults right now and I guarantee you ever single one, one will say that they're stressed. So 25% of young adults experienced burnout before age 30 and I am gearing to assume that this is gonna be much higher by the end of this year. That's wild, like our young people, are really being impacted in ways that we won't know the repercussions of. 90% of parents are losing sleep over caregiving stress. And it's not just parents, it's just any kind of caregiver. If you're caring for anybody. You're not only carrying your stuff, but you're also now having to support and be there to care for somebody else. That's like another level of stress. And we were talking about that today too. Yeah but to know that these young people that we're caring for as parents are also burning out at such a rapid rate before they even reach the very start of their true adulthood. Yeah, that's wild and it's scary. It's very sad and it just, it goes to paint a very clear understanding that we are at the precipice of significant change. There are ways that we can take care of ourselves and our community members and make sure that our nervous systems aren't totally fritzed. Like literally just telling yourself that you are safe right now because our brains don't know. They don't know the difference between us experiencing something in real time or watching it on tv, or reading it on social media. Our reptilian brain, where our fight or flight systems live, don't know the difference. So they're gonna kick on constantly and that's what we're feeling right now with our overwhelm. And we don't even have to do anything physical to feel exhausted because we're just mentally exhausted. And for people who are finding themselves in differing positions, it's okay to still remember that you have to support your nervous system and try to stay as grounded as possible so that you can do the best in those scenarios. Some great tips on supporting my nervous system. You guys ready? There are a lot of ways you can support your nervous system, which is your body's response, right? To what's happening. Hugging a pillow. I do that a lot. It does help. Yeah. If you have a pillow, hug them. I mean, hug the pillow. If you don't have a pillow, hug a friend. If you don't have a friend hug a stranger, just make sure you ask them first. What is it like hugging somebody for 30 seconds or longer? You, release the good hormones, the calming hormones in your brain. Yeah, this is true. Slow your breathing, that's another one. Obviously for all of our anxious friendly folks, which I know that Andy has lived with this, her whole life. And I have dabbled in the fun battle of anxiety. Mm-hmm. Slowing your breathing is super essential or doing those, back to center things. Where you tap yourself and then you call out something in the space and then you tap yourself, you call something out the space. Where you're at so that it brings you back to the present moment and it calms you. But also paying attention when you hold your breath. We tend to not only breathe shallow, but we also will hold our breath. And we don't notice that, so if you're feeling a lot of tension notice, pay attention. Playing my comfort playlist, as we've said, big fan of music and gaming. They use gaming, for senior citizens,'cause it's good for your cognitive processing. Yeah. Keeps you sharp. Gamers, show improved problem solving and multitasking and decision making skills. Mental health benefits, 89% of gamers, in a PlayStation survey said gaming helps them relieve stress and feel happier. Educational games, simulations, and even Minecraft mods are used in US classrooms to teach STEM history and creativity. Gamers are not just playing their designing modding, writing lore, and creating art, so it's another form of creative expression. Thank you for that PSA on gaming. I just wanna advocate for all my little gamers out there. Holy cow. What about you, Andy? I'm always trying to calm my nervous system because I'm pretty sure it's just broken. At this point. You know what I realize reading calms me so much and so deeply. But it's also really hard for me to get into the groove of reading, so focus can be really challenging for me, but once I get there, it's so peaceful and I feel so calm. And so that's a newer thing that I've been incorporating a lot more. Even just to read for like five minutes. It works Fantastic. I love a good dramatic moment, so laying on the floor, all of a sudden I'll just like spread out on the floor. I won't do it at work'cause that's weird. I mean, I would if I had to, I don't doubt it, I would. Imagine being the boss. I was gonna yell out Starfish. Just lay on the floor. Everyone's starfish together in unison, as a collective. As a collective. I do a lot of mindful exercises like the one I shared with the, like peripheral vision piece. And other somatic things, but also putting my phone away from me. Trying to put it in another room and not be so dependent on it is really helpful for regulating my nervous system. And then reminding myself in moments where it's appropriate that I'm safe. Especially if I'm like feeling really overwhelmed. I catch myself holding my breath and I'm just really noticing it, the spiral happening, then it's like, okay, let me ground myself and remind, like in this moment I'm okay. And sometimes you just have to cry it out, eat a cookie, and then keep going. Or scream into a pillow. One or the other and both are fine. Both are fine. You can do them together. So wherever you are physically, emotionally, spiritually, we just wanna say thank you for showing up even halfway, even tired, even if your 100% today is really only 35%, we see you and we're glad you're here. And if your nervous system is screaming, you're not alone. If your brain left the chat, you're not alone. If your soul is in another time zone, you're not alone. Follow us on YouTube, Spotify, or wherever you spiral responsibly. Leave us a review and let us know where you are really today. Community is how we will get through this, very hot, staggering, horrible, silly, ridiculous, sometimes stupid mess. Catch you next time. Bye bye.