How to Avoid the September Scaries
Have you ever noticed that September can be an extra challenging month for mental health? If you've experienced it, you are not alone. But did you know that you can take steps NOW, (in summer,) to decrease the September scaries? In this episode I share the cause of the September scaries and THREE things you can do this summer to start September feeling refreshed instead of burned out.
Here are the three questions to ask when determining YOUR daily minimum requirement of yoga:
What is the minimum amount of movement or stretching that creates enough ease in your body so that you can feel your best?
How much stillness, quiet, or focused attention allows you to calm your mind and put things in perspective?
What activités create a sense of connection and support from nature, the universe or divinity?
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Transcript
Hello friends and welcome back to Swimming & Singing. I’m Sarah Nelsen, a certified yoga therapist and yoga teacher working online with people who think they are too tired, too busy, too anxious, too old or in too much pain to do yoga. I use the traditional practices of yoga along with modern technology to help you create a more easeful and joyful life. If that sparks your interest, head on over to my website and grab the free Guide to Creating a Yoga Habit for Exhausted Perfectionists. The name of my podcast comes from a beloved poem written by Gregory Orr and is a reminder that some days it’s all we can do to tread water and then other days there is room for joy. This podcast aims to share practices for both types of days.
The Swimming & Singing podcast is brought to you by the Homecoming online membership where I help people just like you find more calm, ease and joy amidst the ups and downs of life.
It’s been more than 5 years since I worked a typical, 40 hour a week office job but I still clearly remember the feeling I’d get on Sunday afternoon. It felt like a pit in my stomach combined with anxiety and dread. I didn’t even really know what it was about, except that it had to do with the weekend ending and the work week starting. And I liked my job. And I liked my coworkers. And I still experienced this every Sunday. I think you know what I’m talking about.
Well, times that by 30 days and you have the month of September. For many, many people, September is this transition month between the activity and freedom, the bbqs and trips of summer and heading back to “real life.” Even when you work through the summer and don’t take time off for vacation, you still may experience what I call the September scaries.
This is a real phenomenon. I first realized I wasn’t the only one experiencing it many years ago when I read a blog post by a woman whose depression got so much worse in September. Every September. You can google September sadness, September anxiety, or September blues, and you’ll get results. September is challenging for mental health.
And I’m here today to tell you, it doesn’t have to be. BUT…you need to start preparing for September now. Basically, you need to do summer differently.
As I mentioned in my summer slow down episode, the combination of air conditioning and capitalism has created toxic expectations for summer. For those of you gen x and older, think back on your childhood summers. Summer days we’re so fun, but they were mostly unscheduled and unstructured. I got up, I had some cereal, I played with the kids down the street, I probably watched some TV and definitely ate some watermelon. There were times in the day it was simply too hot to do anything other than sit near a sprinkler or lie in the shade, probably reading a book.
These slow, relaxed days, living in tune with nature, made it so I was excited to go back to school in the fall. Summer had gotten a little boring, I was ready for something new.
But somewhere along the way, we’ve given up the idea of the lazy days of summer, and created a frenetic schedule, both for ourselves and for the children in our lives. There’s a tendency to burn through summer like an out of control wildfire…like if we don’t suck every drop of nectar from summer, we will regret it the rest of the year. There’s very little time spent resting, even when there isn’t adequate night time sleep happening.
Instead of heading into fall refreshed, many people are heading into fall completely burnt out. Cue the September scaries. If you have a tendency towards anxiety, depression, chronic pain, or overwhelm, the chances are good that it will flare up in September if you don’t take time to rest in summer.
If you’d prefer to do things differently this year, I have a few suggestions.
1. Create unstructured time in your day. If you can’t do that during your work day, that’s fine, make that space before or after work. Don't have expectations for the unstructured time. Allow it to unfold and be what it wants to be. Maybe it’s lying in bed doing some breathing and stretching one day, getting out the art supplies another day, and taking a leisurely stroll on a different day. But maybe it’s a nap. Allow it to be what it wants to be.
2. Say no more often. It’s ok not to go to the BBQ, the ball game, the karaoke night. Even activities that are fun contribute to the frantic pace of summer that leads to burn out. With each invitation you receive, take a pause, look at your schedule, and decide if you can really make that work or if you are just saying yes because you think you should. Or because you don’t want to disappoint someone. Protect your unstructured time!
3. Find your minimum daily requirement of movement, stillness, and connection, and commit to it. Sometimes we think that if we can’t do a full yoga practice, whatever we imagine that is, then we might as well skip it. That’s just not true. Anytime you can spend a few minutes checking in with yourself and noticing what your body/mind/spirit needs it’s beneficial. So take a few minutes and ask yourself: what is the minimum amount of movement or stretching that creates enough ease in your body so that you can feel your best? How much stillness, quiet, or focused attention allows you to calm your mind and put things in perspective? And what activities create a sense of connection and support from nature, the universe, or divinity?
Once you’ve got your answers to those 3 questions, try to work those activities into most days this summer.
If you do those 3 things: create unstructured time, say no more often, and commit to your minimum daily requirement of yoga practices, you will be ready and refreshed when September comes around instead of crash landing from a frenetic summer.
If you could use some support with your minimum daily requirement of yoga, head to the link in the show notes and get yourself on the Homecoming waitlist. I’ll be opening up the membership at the end of this month with a birthday special celebrating my 49th birthday and a little something extra for folks on the waitlist. The Homecoming membership has recorded practices to ranging from 10 minutes to over an hour; practices that can be done in bed, on the floor, in a chair, or standing; practices that focus on movement, stretching, stillness, and contemplation. You will definitely find what you’re looking for there! (Unless what you’re looking for is a power yoga practice with a focus on how the poses look and gritting your teeth to make it through.)
And a heads up: there will be one more episode released in July and then I’ll be taking a pause. Expect to see Swimming & Singing back in your feed in September with a new name and a clear focus. If you are a subscriber, you won’t need to do anything, just watch for Homecoming: the podcast in early September.
Until next time, keep Swimming & keep Singing