Headspace Conversations - Tackling Loneliness

I'm Samantha Snowden and welcome to Headspace Conversations. Throughout the course of this series, you'll witness real conversations held between real Headspace members who have come to share their truths, their fears, their anxieties, and real day-to-day journeys of maintaining our mindfulness and mental health. Our hope is that these conversations showcase how holding an open and honest dialogue can create meaningful change in our lives. We truly hope you enjoy. Hi, my name is Sam and I am here today to talk about loneliness. I think it's something that we don't realize has so much power over our lives. And it's something that really kick-started my wellness journey is being alone and dealing with the repercussions of that. And it wasn't until I got to the very bottom of it and really felt it entirely that I realized just how profound its effects are. (people chattering) So, who would like to start? What I want to talk about was just human connection and experiencing loneliness, which was so huge for me in sparking my wellness journey is so much of my existence, which I didn't realize until the pandemic hit, was grounded in making other people happy. Like, I love making people laugh, and I love entertaining them, and listening to them, and just being with them in a space. And then COVID happened. I had to find a place by myself. I had a big family my whole life. I haven't spent a lot of time alone. I appreciate my alone time, don't get me wrong. But I think the difference, there's a difference between alone time and loneliness, right? Particularly loneliness that's compounded. I feel like there's so many different types, whether it be like physical isolation or the feeling of loneliness and I'm not understood or accepted, longing for companionship. And I experienced all of them like by myself. Like I got to a point where I was like only eating one meal a day and sleeping a lot more, definitely drinking a lot more. I just felt so disconnected, like I want to curl up in a little fetal position and shrink into nothingness. But it also sparked something in me that was I don't know how to make myself happy. Like I know how to make other people happy and my happiness used to be making them happy, and I'd feed on that, but I don't know what my joy is because I couldn't sit with myself. I couldn't deal with the things that I had been carrying for a really long time. Sorry. It's okay. I was like, man, you know? I carried it for so long, it's time to put it down. And that was getting a good night's sleep was a huge part of that. And the Headspace sleep stories. This is so stupid that this is making me cry, but it's that stupid antique story. (people chattering) That is a good one. It's such a good one. It just became...