I am committed to supporting you all during this time. I will continue to give you tools for structuring your days at home, strategies for working at home, using this time to specific inner work and, of course, helping to calm the fear and anxiety of the pandemic. We’re all in this together.
The more we can stay centered, focused and in a powerful perspective, the better we can show up for yourself and others.
Today I’m sharing 5 tools to help you manage your anxiety. These are tools I’ve personally used within the last week (and in general) time to calm my own anxiety.
1.
Watch your thoughts. Your unintentional thoughts are probably running the show right now and you may feel like you can’t escape them.
Try this:
Write down every single thought in your head. Go by sentence by sentence, get it down on paper. Just let it go, get them out.
COVID-19 will never end.
I will never feel okay.
I am not going to survive being inside.
Then go for a walk around the block, have a cup of tea, do 20 jumping jacks, take a nap….you get the point.
Return to that sheet of paper with a different color pen and write back to each thought with the opposite of it. It may feel inauthentic, just try it.
COVID-19 will never end. Every state is taking the proper precautions to make it end.
I will never feel okay. I will feel okay, I need support.
I am not going to survive being inside. I need to come up with a plan.
If you feel stuck, send it to me: jessica@jessicaknightcoaching.com – I will workshop it and respond.
2.
Wake up and put Lavender essential oil in a diffuser. Put it on the bottom of your feet. Put it on your wrists. It will help.
3.
Prioritize your sleep.
Coronavirus anxiety will affect your sleep if you’re not very conscious of it. I found myself up all weekend reading the CDC website until 12:30am. Not good.
If possible, turn off your phone, computer and TV an hour before you want to go to bed and give yourself time to decompress.
Clear your mind before you rest by reading or meditating. If the anxiety continues, journal. Write out everything you are feeling and then put the journal in another room (not next to your bed!)
4.
Be mindful in your communication with others.
This is the time to set boundaries with others (and yes, that includes your family). If you do not feel like you can dive into another COVID-19 conversation, kindly say, I am distancing myself from talking about the virus right now.
On the flip side, before you vent, you can ask “is it okay if I share some fears or concerns about the coronavirus with you?”
5.
Find tools and resources that work for you. Here are my favorites:
And please don’t forget to ask for help. Later this week I will share open time slots for free calls focused on being Home for Now (cc: Elena Brower). You can click here to secure that call now. This will be free. We are all in this together.
