Navigating COVID-19 Together
With words like "wartime measures, lock down, isolate & recession" bombarding our senses all day, everyday it's no wonder our fears and anxieties are heightened to levels we are having a difficult time managing. It's important to remember that as part of the collective consciousness all of our own triggers are now amplified by the global effects of Coronavirus, and what was once a small, manageable issue has now probably grown out of proportion. If you already deal with anxiety, control or trust issues, compulsive tendencies, anger, ruminating thoughts and worry (to name a few) then you are probably feeling overwhelmed and out of control. Here's the good news, you can make a difference!
Our bodies respond to stress overload by shutting down everything except what helps us to survive, and despite our determination to zen our way through stress you'll notice it's not called "fight, flight, freeze or yoga". And that's for a reason. In order to access the more evolved parts of our brain, we need to interrupt the autonomic fear responses of fight like hell, run like hell or shut down and hope the saber tooth tiger doesn't see me. We can do this through some simple activities I refer to as disruptors. Disruptors include deep breathing in a slow, rhythmic pattern, doing simple math like counting backwards by 2's from 50, humming a nursery rhyme, tapping on your thymus gland or bringing yourself to present moment awareness by describing what you see, feel, hear, smell or taste. All of these exercises result in turning off the amygdala ( autonomic stress response part of brain) and bringing back online more evolved or executive functioning centers in the brain. Now you will be able to find yoga helpful, or articulate your point of view without yelling and screaming. First disrupt the primitive brain, then you can access all sorts of inner wisdom on how to respond to the situation at hand. In the not so distant past we were taught that we are at the mercy of our brain chemistry, turns out the whole darn system is at the mercy of conscious, deliberate thought.
Practical Tools For Your Mental Well Being:
When you are feeling overwhelmed, take a deep breath, say to yourself "in this moment I am..." and focus on the task at hand. I like the reminder, "Go to what you know", like doing dishes, having a shower, making dinner, walking the dog, or sitting with a book. We all know how to do the basics so if things are getting overwhelming, just go to what you know. Very similar to "chop wood, carry water". Don't overthink it, just do something familiar and distracting. You can also try:
1. Moving your body, get a natural boost of serotonin
2. Get outside for some fresh air and vitamin D
3. Connect with friends old and new online, this is a time for physical distancing not social distancing
4. Host an extended family dinner via Skype or Zoom
5. Clean out a drawer, closet, heck even a whole room and create a sense of calm control both inside and out
6. Game night, dust them off and gather the family ( or download apps that let you play with friends and family anywhere)
7. Practise gratitude ( don't roll your eyes!) It changes our perspectives and shifts us out of negative thinking patterns
8. Revisit an old hobby or learn a new one
9. Establish a new normal, we are creatures of habit so try to create a routine with some predictability
10.Get a good night's sleep, positive mental health depends on it
11. Read your stack of forgotten books
12. Join a positive, inspiring, supportive social media group, or "follow" some feel good people
13, Make a Pinterest board ( or 2 or 27)
14. Use creative recipes to use up what's in the back of your pantry
15. Learn to meditate, or follow a guided visualization or progressive muscle relaxation on your fav app or music service
16. Nourish you body, stress can change how we eat but good mental health starts in the gut, eat as well as you can
17. Sing, smile or dance even if you don't quite feel like it, endorphins are a beautiful thing
18. Google laughing babies
19. Pet your fur baby, don't have one? Grab your stuffed animal and give it a snuggle, don't have one? stroke a soft blanket
20. Try to look past the problem and focus on creating solutions, necessity is the mother of invention after all!
21. Write that book you have nursed in your imagination for years:)
22. Learn a new language for when it is safe to explore our beautiful world again, Duolingo is a great free app
23.Be of service, the best way to forgot your own problem's to to be there for someone else ( online of course!)
24. Be creative, make art, write poetry, squish playdoh ( google homemade recipe), colour in your adult colouring book;)
25. And finally, practice exceptional self care! Hot baths, yoga, hand cream for your poor over sanitized and cracked hands, facetiming friends to complain about your life ( we can be compassionate and bitchy at the same time) feel your feelings, be gentle with yourself and your loved ones, belly laugh, give yourself a facial, take a nap, wrap yourself in a warm blanket, drink tea, and focus on the simple things you have, rather than focusing on what you don't right now.
Helpful Resources :
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/managing-stress-anxiety.html
https://www.ontario.ca/page/get-medical-advice-telehealth-ontario
https://www.camh.ca/-/media/files/camh_covid19_infosheet-challenge_worries-pdf.pdf
https://www.camh.ca/-/media/files/camh_covid19_infosheet-dealing_with_problems-pdf.pdf
https://www.camh.ca/-/media/files/camh_covid19_infosheet-talking_to_kids-pdf.pdf
https://free.healthjourneys.com/
https://www.thetappingsolution.com/free-tapping-meditations/
https://www.discover.hayhouse.com/freeresources/
https://www.dailyom.com/
https://thelifelinecanada.ca/lifeline-canada-foundation/lifeline-app/ Positive Mental Health & Suicide Prevention
https://kidshelpphone.ca/get-info/were-here-for-you-during-covid-19-novel-coronavirus/
For further reading and resources check my blog page for upcoming information. I'll be posting about the psychological effects of COVID-19 and how to manage those effects, support for empaths in this overwhelming time, & strategies for parents on how to best support our kids to name a few topics. In this rapidly evolving time, I will endeavour to provide as much supportive information as I can. If you have a specific interest, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Our bodies respond to stress overload by shutting down everything except what helps us to survive, and despite our determination to zen our way through stress you'll notice it's not called "fight, flight, freeze or yoga". And that's for a reason. In order to access the more evolved parts of our brain, we need to interrupt the autonomic fear responses of fight like hell, run like hell or shut down and hope the saber tooth tiger doesn't see me. We can do this through some simple activities I refer to as disruptors. Disruptors include deep breathing in a slow, rhythmic pattern, doing simple math like counting backwards by 2's from 50, humming a nursery rhyme, tapping on your thymus gland or bringing yourself to present moment awareness by describing what you see, feel, hear, smell or taste. All of these exercises result in turning off the amygdala ( autonomic stress response part of brain) and bringing back online more evolved or executive functioning centers in the brain. Now you will be able to find yoga helpful, or articulate your point of view without yelling and screaming. First disrupt the primitive brain, then you can access all sorts of inner wisdom on how to respond to the situation at hand. In the not so distant past we were taught that we are at the mercy of our brain chemistry, turns out the whole darn system is at the mercy of conscious, deliberate thought.
Practical Tools For Your Mental Well Being:
When you are feeling overwhelmed, take a deep breath, say to yourself "in this moment I am..." and focus on the task at hand. I like the reminder, "Go to what you know", like doing dishes, having a shower, making dinner, walking the dog, or sitting with a book. We all know how to do the basics so if things are getting overwhelming, just go to what you know. Very similar to "chop wood, carry water". Don't overthink it, just do something familiar and distracting. You can also try:
1. Moving your body, get a natural boost of serotonin
2. Get outside for some fresh air and vitamin D
3. Connect with friends old and new online, this is a time for physical distancing not social distancing
4. Host an extended family dinner via Skype or Zoom
5. Clean out a drawer, closet, heck even a whole room and create a sense of calm control both inside and out
6. Game night, dust them off and gather the family ( or download apps that let you play with friends and family anywhere)
7. Practise gratitude ( don't roll your eyes!) It changes our perspectives and shifts us out of negative thinking patterns
8. Revisit an old hobby or learn a new one
9. Establish a new normal, we are creatures of habit so try to create a routine with some predictability
10.Get a good night's sleep, positive mental health depends on it
11. Read your stack of forgotten books
12. Join a positive, inspiring, supportive social media group, or "follow" some feel good people
13, Make a Pinterest board ( or 2 or 27)
14. Use creative recipes to use up what's in the back of your pantry
15. Learn to meditate, or follow a guided visualization or progressive muscle relaxation on your fav app or music service
16. Nourish you body, stress can change how we eat but good mental health starts in the gut, eat as well as you can
17. Sing, smile or dance even if you don't quite feel like it, endorphins are a beautiful thing
18. Google laughing babies
19. Pet your fur baby, don't have one? Grab your stuffed animal and give it a snuggle, don't have one? stroke a soft blanket
20. Try to look past the problem and focus on creating solutions, necessity is the mother of invention after all!
21. Write that book you have nursed in your imagination for years:)
22. Learn a new language for when it is safe to explore our beautiful world again, Duolingo is a great free app
23.Be of service, the best way to forgot your own problem's to to be there for someone else ( online of course!)
24. Be creative, make art, write poetry, squish playdoh ( google homemade recipe), colour in your adult colouring book;)
25. And finally, practice exceptional self care! Hot baths, yoga, hand cream for your poor over sanitized and cracked hands, facetiming friends to complain about your life ( we can be compassionate and bitchy at the same time) feel your feelings, be gentle with yourself and your loved ones, belly laugh, give yourself a facial, take a nap, wrap yourself in a warm blanket, drink tea, and focus on the simple things you have, rather than focusing on what you don't right now.
Helpful Resources :
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prepare/managing-stress-anxiety.html
https://www.ontario.ca/page/get-medical-advice-telehealth-ontario
https://www.camh.ca/-/media/files/camh_covid19_infosheet-challenge_worries-pdf.pdf
https://www.camh.ca/-/media/files/camh_covid19_infosheet-dealing_with_problems-pdf.pdf
https://www.camh.ca/-/media/files/camh_covid19_infosheet-talking_to_kids-pdf.pdf
https://free.healthjourneys.com/
https://www.thetappingsolution.com/free-tapping-meditations/
https://www.discover.hayhouse.com/freeresources/
https://www.dailyom.com/
https://thelifelinecanada.ca/lifeline-canada-foundation/lifeline-app/ Positive Mental Health & Suicide Prevention
https://kidshelpphone.ca/get-info/were-here-for-you-during-covid-19-novel-coronavirus/
For further reading and resources check my blog page for upcoming information. I'll be posting about the psychological effects of COVID-19 and how to manage those effects, support for empaths in this overwhelming time, & strategies for parents on how to best support our kids to name a few topics. In this rapidly evolving time, I will endeavour to provide as much supportive information as I can. If you have a specific interest, please don't hesitate to contact me.