Where has our wellbeing gone?

Where has our wellbeing gone?

It is an interesting question, March 2020, the world stopped and we all took stock of our lives. For the majority, we decided we needed a better work/life balance. We vowed we wouldn’t let ourselves get caught up with work again and we would put a lot more effort into our health and wellbeing. Looking after ourselves (mind and body) became a higher priority.

During the time of covid, everyone jumped on board working from home. Productivity shot up, mainly because, the restrictions left people with nothing else to do but work. Funnily enough, since coming out of covid, the expectation from the majority of boss’ is that productivity should remain the same or even (insanely) increase. How is it possible to maintain that increase in productivity when we have our lives to get back to? Is it fair for businesses to ask us to do that?

Not surprisingly, I had quite a few clients contacting me over 2020-21, begging for treatments. They were sore, tired and stressed; they were desperate. I helped in anyway I could, via online sessions, teaching stretching and even a few easy self-massage techniques. Every time we came out of lockdown, my schedule would be full. I would go from 0 to 100 in a short space of time, it was really hectic. I absolutely felt the pressure to see as many people as I could, not just to help people but I needed money to survive.

The nightmare that was covid gave way to the fog of 2022. At first, it was exciting to have no restrictions, to be able to go about our business freely without the fear of a fine or worse, being told off by an overzealous rule follower. We were still battered and bruised from what we had been through and the reality of expectation fell upon us. How could we keep up with the workload?

By the time the Christmas period was upon us, I had so many burnt out clients, I thought some would explode. It was horrible to watch, to hear their stories about how much they were hating their lives and how desperate they were to get to the Christmas break, just to have a rest.

All those well-meaning thoughts of a work/life balance had evaporated long ago. Replaced by frustrated and sometimes bitter people, all weighed down by expectation. Some were even contemplating (and followed through with) a career change.

Now, we’re in 2023 and whilst covid is still hanging around, it feels more manageable. The threats of lockdown are in the past and it is looking like we won’t go back again. We have new threats like inflation, interest rate rises and worse, a recession. It is still scary, but in a different way. To me, it feels like the thoughts of health and wellbeing are gone. People are still over-worked and bordering burn out, but whether it be financial problems or something else, they are putting their health and wellbeing last.

Of course, this is the point of the blog where I tell you to come and see me. Why wouldn’t I?! I truly believe in what I do, right from when I started getting massages in my late teen; I knew how much benefit massage and myotherapy has for a person’s wellbeing. I absolutely practice what I preach, I get a massage every week. Not only is it great for my body, it enables me to give 100% to every client and also, it is so good for my mental health. I’m the first to admit that I really struggled over covid, losing my weekly massage was a big part of that.

Now, I ask you, have you let your health and wellbeing slip? Have you decided to cut back on your “luxuries”? What are you prioritising in your life? What can you do to help yourself?

We have one life, one body, if we abuse it or ignore it, what do we have?