I can hardly believe the month of March is already over. My plan was to write a new post the week of the 16th, but that was when the shelter in place order for California came down, and it flipped my world, as I’m sure it has for many of you. I laughed out loud at my previous post and my desire to decrease my hours of media. I can see that number increasing already after only 2 weeks of time at home.

I can also see my privilege front and center. I have a car, a bit of savings, and am able to keep working (albeit virtually) with many of my clients. This means not only can I get to more resources, it also means I likely have less stress about the shelter in place. I know that if I wait, or go to another store, I will find toilet paper. It means I can still pay my rent (so far). It means that I have access to all that media I am so proud of not watching.

All that said, I am stressed. I lost a number of paying jobs with all the cancellations of conferences, and even though I have more free time, I find it’s difficult to focus on or complete tasks. I can feel myself on edge, quicker to judge others and even more likely to cry. I feel isolated and uncertain and have had to take a lot of deep breaths.

Your allostatic load (the stress placed on the body from repeated ups and downs) is probably high too, and giving yourself the opportunity to breathe, to stretch, to dance or sing – even for 30 seconds – will help keep your rider on your horse.

No one is better at taking a better than Maite, my Rottie (pictured above). Her message to me and all of you: give yourself lots of breaks. Y’all know I recommend a break every hour of the school day – go ahead and give that break to yourself no matter what you are doing these days. I know just thinking about distance learning is stressful for me.

Let’s do it together! Every hour at 15 minutes past, give yourself a 30 second break, and I’ll do it too. Let me know what are your favorites on Twitter or Instagram. #breaktime