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Don't let stress overwhelm you during this time.
By Jeffrey Siegel — Written on Apr 04, 2020
If you’re experiencing a lot of stress, anxiety, and fear from dealing with the Coronavirus (COVID-19), you’re not alone.
The endless unknowns and rising state of fear make it very easy to contract into anxiety or panic.
Being resilient and ready for whatever is next is the best medicine you can give yourself. Let go of the stress and anxiety about coronavirus.
Reconnect to your calm and relaxed presence, and use your imagination to become "bigger" than your circumstances. It's time to commit to taking care of your body and mind.
Here are 6 easy steps to relax anxiety and stress from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
1. Release your tension.
Notice if you’re experiencing tension. Identify where your stress is living in your body right now.
Gather all that stress into a small energetic ball, and then pull it off of you and throw it on the floor. Continue to wipe, brush, and wiggle all the stress off your body until you feel refreshed.
2. Connect to your body and breath.
Ground your feet into the floor and lengthen your spine. Start taking a deep breath in, pulling the air through your lower body into your belly. Use your arms to mimic the movement of your breath up into your torso.
Let the in-breath bring clean, pure, rejuvenating energy into your body.
At the top of the breath, slowly exhale and allow your arms to gently fall, allowing your body to soften and loosen as your breath moves down and out your body. Make your exhale slow and pleasant.
Imagine all your remaining anxiety and stress releasing as you give your body permission to relax.
Hold your breath out for three to five seconds at the end of the exhale before starting another round of breathing.
3. Cultivate your imagination.
Get comfortable, close your eyes, and begin to visualize a place that brings you comfort. Maybe a beach, forest, lake, or anywhere that makes you feel safe and peaceful.
Take a moment to juice your creative powers by letting yourself feel as if you are actually standing there in this beautiful scenery. Imagine the sights, sounds, smells, temperature, and taste of the experience. Make it rich.
Allow yourself to absorb the pleasant surrounding and delight in the opportunity to savor this moment.
4. Generate and channel your love.
Continue using your imagination to call to mind someone you love and who loves you back.
Picture this person at their best, full of joy, happiness, and health. Notice the sweet and warm emotions that arise when you think of this person and how much you care and love exists between you.
Place your hands on your heart and start breathing this heartfelt energy into your chest. Imagine a red glowing ball of energy emanating from your heart, growing larger with each breath.
Feel your body act as a channel for this love and kindness to pulse through you as you breathe.
5. Offer your goodness to the world.
As a beacon of loving energy, begin to send it out to everyone and anyone who might need a little encouragement or support.
As you breathe in, grow your love and compassion for yourself. As you breathe-out, offer what you can to the world.
Recognize the preciousness of life in general and the fragility of our human species. Breathe love from this place of deep interconnectedness and interdependence.
6. Commit to yourself.
Open your eyes (if they were closed), and then repeat these phrases out loud to yourself:
“I commit to practicing intentional self-care in these times of coronavirus stress.”
“I forgive myself for being afraid, anxious, and upset.”
“I take responsibility for caring for my body, emotions, and mind because in taking care of myself, I also take care of others.”
I commit to staying connected to my heart and grounded in my love, no matter how upset, stressed, and frustrated I may be.”
Add in any other statements that feel true and important for you.
Within this stressful situation lies opportunity. It may be hard to see the silver lining as normal life comes crashing down. But there is hope for good in all this.
For some, the months ahead may be an opportunity to slow down and spend time with those you care about, get more sleep, enjoy time not spent commuting in traffic, and simply savor the simple things in life.
For others, such opportunities may seem out of reach.
The more immediate hardships of losing income or work, being stuck in close quarters with people you don't enjoy, living in fear, and dealing with physical pain and sickness is at the forefront of their minds.
I don’t want to deny your suffering or take away your anger. This situation is severe and hard.
But staying stuck in fear does not help you or anyone else. You need to take back what is rightfully yours — your sanity and peace of mind.
Regardless of how this is affecting you personally, it's a chance to look deeply at how you're living your life. It forces you to examine the things you took for granted, like security, stability, and how deeply connected we all are to one another.
It also makes you face your anxiety with the unknown.
Underneath the fear is an opportunity to come back to your basic humanity and goodness, to offer support and compassion for everyone struggling to get by, and to help usher in a new vision of living healthfully in a fully connected and integrated planet.
We all must first evaluate and honor how we feel and who we are in relation to the current situation.
Knowing where you stand is the first step in taking care of yourself and a prerequisite for dealing with the wider situation.
Take a moment to process and digest your emotional state. It's just as important for your well-being as taking physical precautions.
When you have the courage to recognize and accept what is true for you, you can begin pulling yourself out of fear, anger, and blame. You can shift your focus from fear of the unknown to gratitude for what is here right now.
This is not to say you shouldn’t be upset or angry. Nor is it letting people off the hook for irresponsible behavior.
It's simply choosing to move beyond the anxiety and tendency to withdraw. Staying stuck in a victim mindset only disempowers you and further diminishes your health.
Your capacity to stand in the middle of this complex, ambiguous, and fearful situation challenges you to sit with not knowing. And it’s hard. Really hard.
Every time you feel the coronavirus stress weighing you down, practice grounding in your body, being with your experience, feeling all that arises inside, and then asking your heart how to respond.
Your head may get lost in coronavirus stress, but your heart will point you towards what matters most.
This coronavirus stress may disrupt your social systems and everyday routines, but it will not disrupt your capacity to love.
If there’s anything you can hang onto in these times of uncertainty, it's your unshakable capacity to care.
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Jeff Siegel is a holistic wellness coach, life coach, and author. He can be reached by email about private one-on-one life coaching.
This article was originally published at Jeff Siegel Wellness. Reprinted with permission from the author.