Back to Busy: How to Lead Ourselves (and Others) Through the September Surge!
- Joan MacMillan
- Sep 8
- 3 min read
September is often called the 'second January' due to kids getting back to school, workplaces ramping back up after summer vacations, and suddenly everyone is juggling new personal and professional projects, deadlines, and responsibilities. It's a natural time of transition in our yearly calendar, and with any transition, we may feel an increased level of stress.
One of the best ways we can manage the season of change, is by utilizing those Emotional Intelligence skills and abilities that we've been developing throughout the year (and if we haven't been developing them, there's no time like the present to start)! Cammac Health Integration wants to offer you a quick and dirty 'Transitional Toolkit' that you can use during the September Surge, or any other transition you navigate in life.
We want you to BREATHE.
B - Breath Work. It's a great way to reduce activation of our sympathetic 'fight, flight, freeze' nervous system that's activated subconsciously when we experience stress. If we take slow deep breaths (5-7 seconds each) in through the nose and out through the mouth, or engage in box breathing (5-7 second nose inhale, hold for 5-7 seconds, 5-7 second mouth exhale, hold for 5-7 seconds) for a total of approximately 10 breathes, we can convince our instinctual brain that there is no 'danger' present, and it doesn't need to prepare us for action.
R - Rest. Sleep and rest is when our bodies and brains recover from the stressors of the day, be them physical or psychological. If we aren't getting 6-8 hours of restful sleep at night, we are doing our physical and mental health a disservice. Try a sleep routine that removes digital screens an hour before bedtime.
E - Enjoy Companionship. Whether it's time with your family, children, siblings, parents, neighbors, or work bestie - spending physical time with other humans is an absolute necessity for wellbeing. I know we are taking about a busy transitionary time in the year, but even a few minutes spent connecting with other humans (pets are great too, but we still need that human interaction) provides surges of natural brain chemicals that are difficult to achieve by other means.
A - Activity Outdoors. Maybe you already understand the oxymoron of energy and calm that nature provides you, or maybe you're not so much an 'outdoors person.' Either way, we cannot ignore than spending time walking or even relaxing while surrounded by nature has been proven to reduce anxiety and stress levels while offering more of those beneficial neurochemicals that keep us going! Activity and exercise in nature work best, but even just being in a natural environment has shown to offer such results - not as quickly, but any natural boost for the body and mind is better than none!
T - Thankfulness. Showing and offering gratitude has been proven to not only benefit mental health by reducing depression and anxiety, and fostering resilience, but it's also been shown to rewire neural pathways to promoting increased recognition of more positive experiences in our life than we would without it. Consciously demonstrating gratitude has been correlated to better relationships, increased self-esteem, and enhanced overall life satisfaction. Doesn't take much to actively thank people for their contributions, each day!
H - Helpfulness. Whenever you get the chance, offer your services to those around you. Whether those services involve physical help moving some rocks in their driveway, mental help of offering empathy for their mental struggles, helping them see their strengths or abilities, or simply helping by holding the door open for the person behind you. Evidence show that the 'helpers high' caused by increased endorphins released when we help others, help to lead to reduced blood pressure, reduced inflammation, and increased longevity.
E - Emotion Regulation. The act of identifying our emotions when we have them, taking a moment to process them, and consciously choosing how to respond to them is a human super power. This is called Emotion Regulation, and it usually requires a little effort and time, for us to develop it. But in times of stress, being able to pause long enough to regulate your emotions can be the difference between building or breaking good relationships with ourselves and others. Emotional reactions can lead to us feeling shame and judgement, and can lead to others losing trust in us. Start developing your emotion regulation by growing your emotional language. Once you have the vocabulary, you can start identifying your emotions more clearly, and then start working on the processing!
Remember, September can often feel like a surge of energy - both positive and negative - but learning how to appreciate the eustress (good stressors) and depreciate the distress by learning how to BREATHE, can make a world of difference
Enjoy your step into the Fall Season, and I hope to 'see you here' again soon.
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