How to feel better right now

There are days when the doom doesn’t go away. Do you ever feel it? Like no meditating, healthy breakfast, dog cuddles or hugs seem to eclipse ALL THE THINGS. Even if you ignore the media onslaught, the well of sadness that seems to be lingering in everyone’s eyes right now, the heaviness remains.

Reasons for this are abundant. In 2022, the American Psychology Association (APA) reported that Americans (and I’d assume much of the western world) are distressed about the state of government, the evaporation of our civil liberties, the bleakness of the future, inflation, violence, guns, climate change and it’s damaging our ability to function.

I see this every day in my university classroom. My students are drowning in stressors, whether it’s the self-imposed pressure of school or a social life, or the larger THINGS that are affecting us all. Some days I wish I could feed them a healthy dinner and offer them a safe space to relax. But more often, I find myself unable to do more than offer compassion (which actually just means suffering together).

Because the truth is, we are all struggling right now. No one I know is ok.

Obviously this is not a way to live and we combat our despair with cocktails of media and substances to get through the day.

However, psychologists tell us to take control where we…