Surviving a pandemic

– If you find yourself with extra time on your hands, make a list of the projects and activities for which you never seem to have enough time. Prioritize the list and don’t forget to include plenty of rest and play. Choose to enjoy having extra time for a change!

– Challenge “what if” thinking loops and the story your brain is creating. You cannot predict the future, regardless of the brain’s desire to do so. Don’t pretend you can. Catastrophizing is making the situation worse than it really is. That only hurts, it never helps. These unhealthy ways of thinking are exhausting to the brain and body and solve nothing. Instead, keep bringing your thoughts back to the present moment. Be where your feet are. Are you okay right now? Remind yourself that many of these things are out of your control. The brain dislikes uncertainty, we must accept the discomfort that goes with that.

– Acknowledge when you feel fear, sadness or anger. These are normal emotions in difficult and stressful times. This is scary and frustrating! Avoid numbing emotions with substances. They’ll just come back even stronger. We are feeling beings. It’s a part of being human. Tolerate the discomfort, it will eventually pass. Talk, write and/or pray about it. Processing them in a healthy way reduces the intensity.

– Learn and practice slow “diaphragmatic breathing” to quickly calm your brain and body. It helps to regulate the nervous system when fight/flight/freeze responses are activated. Practice several times daily and use it when you feel difficult emotions rising. Tell your friends and family about it. Practice this with your kids. There’s even a free app for that – Breathe2Relax.

– Give yourself permission to limit news updates, don’t drown yourself in it. Get what you need, get out and avoid negative Nellies  who are stuck there.

– Check in with elderly or disabled neighbors, friends, and family. Helping others helps us.

– Create simple but powerful statements you can repeat. They are a great way to focus the mind and change the narrative as we cope with stressful situations.