Top 5 Tips for Managing Coronavirus Anxiety
Top 5 Tips for Managing Coronavirus Anxiety
This blog accompanies a podcast episode, ‘Managing Coronavirus Anxiety.’ If you would prefer to listen than read please head over to either I tunes and subscribe or Spotify, or any other podcast platform you use, and search ‘Calm Mind Confident Life.’ Or just tap on the links at the bottom of this blog.
Anxiety is something we all experience but to experience it on such a global level, Coronavirus anxiety really is impacting us all. Whether it’s the not knowing when it’s going to end, the constant change, the fear of getting ill or knowing someone who is more vulnerable and might….. And when some of us are looking at or already in a place where we are being enforced to withdraw from our local communities, friends and family… the places we usually source comfort and support…. It’s a pretty scary prospect.
At times like this we can feel disempowered. I know I certainly have. So I am incredibly grateful that I am able to talk to you all through this online community space and hopefully offer some of that connection and human support that some of us are missing. I am sharing the top 5 managing coronavirus tips on here but please note as tip 5 is a guided meditation, you will need to pop over to the podcast or you tube to take a listen.
Tip 1: Gratitude
The first thing that has really come to mind as a tool to release anxiety is gratitude practise. I know it feels like a foreign concept when the world is struggling so. But actually gratitude is the one tool we can use at any time because there is always something to be grateful for no matter how difficult things are. For example something people are talking about is how grateful at times like this we can be for technology and the internet. We all have our gripes with this but right now it feels like a saviour. The fact that we can take our communities online is just amazing. There are already communities we have online, just like this one that we have created here. But also we can take a real life communities online too.
My brother who is Nice, may not be able to see his friends and family for months but with beauty of FaceTime we can still physically see each others faces. You can even create group video calls via things like google hangouts and the likes. So maybe the next Friday night at the pub will be a Friday night a google hang out with a bottle of wine.
At times likes this gratitude is the number one tool that can help us with managing feelings of anxiety. It is way to turn our mind to a more positive place and remind a mind that there is always something in this moment that can bring us happiness. Not only that but it is a way of taking us away from the negative predications and what if scenarios of the future. We don’t know whats going to happen in the future but we do know whats here right now. The grass, the tress, the beauty of nature, the way as humans we face adversity and have the strength to show up every day and show kindness every day to others.
When you find your thoughts become clouded or anxious, ask yourself ‘what am I grateful for in this moment.’ Even better maybe now is the time to start that regular gratitude practise. Every morning waking up and thinking of three things you are grateful for.
Exercise: Lets take a pause right now together and think of one thing we are grateful for right now…. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath cleansing breath in and now as you exhale breathe out the tension. Release your shoulders. Release your jaw. And allow that one thing your grateful to come into your mind. Now as you next breathe in, in that space where the tension was, allow yourself to instead fill the space with gratitude. And exhale.
Tip 2: Grounding
When everything feels up in the air our mind can do this thing where it begins to get preoccupied by all the things that are out of control, primarily the future and the unpredictability of it. When we focus on what we can’t control it just increase anxiety ten fold. However if we focus on what we do know and grounding ourself to this moment, we can bring in more sense of stability and this in turn eases our anxiety.
Exercise: Sense grounding exercise – Slowly working through each of your senses, identify the following:
- Five things you can see
- Four things you can hear
- Three things you can touch or feel
- Two things you can smell
- One thing you can taste
Tip 3: Use Your Breath
This is an anxiety tool that is available to everyone. It works very quickly on reducing the physiological symptoms of anxiety (such as increased heart rate, butterflies in tummy) by calming the nervous system down. But it also helps distract us from the anxious thoughts that maybe whirling around our minds. A common feature of this coronavirus anxiety is being pre-occupied with all the many unknowns (of which there are plenty). Using your breath as a mindfulness tool will help draw you away from those thoughts and back to the present moment.
Imagine there is a balloon in your belly as you breathe in imagine you are breathing into the balloon and filling it all the way up and then when you can’t fill it up anymore, slowly imagine you are releasing air from the balloon and breathe out. When you have exhaled all the breath out follow this process again. Do this at least five times. This exercise is best with your eyes closed and your hands on your belly; but if you’re out and about and need to do it discreetly, it can work equally well with eyes open.
Tip 4: Creative Community
Feeling connected to others is important at any stage for our mental wellbeing but especially at a time like this when we are in a state of forced isolation. But don’t let that Coronavirus anxiety act as a barrier to you connecting with your community. If you can, talk to your neighbours. Whether it’s talking over the garden fence, getting on the local community facebook groups, or setting one up if yours doesn’t have one already. If you can’t meet up face to face with your friends or family, organise an online catch up. There are lots of platforms that offer online video group chats, such as google hangouts. This is a time when we can really utilise the benefits of the internet.
Tip 5: Meditate Daily
This is the part when you will need to head to the podcast. The meditation I’m leading you through is very simple and designed to instantly release anxiety. If you don’t listen podcasts you can also access it on you tube. See the various links here.
Thank you for joining me in this online community we have. Remember It’s a really tricky time for all of right now and a time when we need to really make a conscious effort to protect our mental wellbeing.
Sending lots of love to all of you and please do share this with anyone you think may need it. Nat x
