Managing fear and anxiety in an uncertain world around us

 Humans are creatures of habits. We like predictability and routine, so our everyday lives follow a familiar pattern: we go to work, we go to the gym, watch our favorite TV shows, and we go to bed. On the weekend we may play or watch sports, do a DIY, catch up with friends, etc. We crave this routine as an antidote to uncertainty, and to increase predictability. We have a deep need to know what is to happen next, sadly most of us can feel more anxious and disoriented. This uncertainty exists in many forms in our lives outside the challenges of covid-19. Take a moment to reflect and consider whether you or a family member have experienced any of the following when trying to deal with the uncertainty of modern times. 

• Stress or overwhelmed 
• Fear, worry, and anxiety
• Low mood, feeling sad, or lack of interest in usually enjoyed activities.
• physical problems, like high heart rate, low energy, and other uncomfortable sensations. 
• Decreased sexual desires
• Anger, frustration, and feeling irritable.
• Helplessness
• Concentration and sleeping difficulties.
• Withdrawing from social contact or fear of being with others in public. 

If you said yes to more than one you are not alone my friend. 

All of this is common and normal. We are living in extraordinary times. With or without a global pandemic, modern life is challenging. The good news is that our emotions carry good messages and alert us to a situation that we need to address. 

Tools 

• Mindful breathing 

Mindful breathing helps prevent panic attacks 

• Meditation 

I like doing meditation twice a day as it helps you to fall asleep and let go of the day. I like to use calming essential oil during meditation.

• Write in a journal - let out your feelings.

How to calm your threat mode 

• Add structure to your daily life regardless-create a routine.
• Make mindfulness a part of your day.
• breathing - deep belly breathing.
• Be kind to others.
• Ask for help when you need it. 

When things don’t go to plan, it’s easy to start freaking out. You might spiral into a negative place when things turn to shit. You feel frustrated that your emotions seem to be controlling you instead of the other way around.

Even though it might seem impossible, you can teach yourself to stay calm when setbacks come your way. You just need to know what to pay attention to when it happens. In this post, I’m sharing how you can stay calm when things happen and cause uncertainty so that you can move on instead of feeling powerless.

Sit With The Frustration

When you feel yourself start to freak out, it’s important to let yourself sit with your emotions at that moment. I don’t believe in pushing your emotions aside. That's why writing in a journal is helpful. Your emotions give you a better sense of what’s important to you and what you value. Give yourself a moment to gather yourself. Go outside. Tell whoever you’re with that you need a moment.

From there, let yourself accept the situation instead of dwelling on it. As humans, we tend to dwell on  But when you dwell on things it makes it harder. Only intensifies the issue and gives power to the situation. Take back the power by creating awareness around your emotions and what’s happened rather than using your energy to blame others or yourself. using mindfulness tool.

A calm mind is something many of us seek during moments of frustration, anxiety, and uncertainty. When something unexpected comes our way, we can only hope that we’ll handle it with grace and dignity. In reality, we end up feeling like we’re running around like a chicken with our heads cut off. Not the cutest thought eh?

If we are not in a calm state of mind, we are more likely to react irrationally and perhaps regret our actions later. Stressful situations put us into fight or flight mode, which means that we might take our frustrations out on another person, start crying uncontrollably, or simply shut down and ignore our problems.

Give yourself a mental break

The first thing to do if something comes your way unexpectedly and throws you off is to remove yourself from the situation instead of immediately responding. Doing something that gets you out of your current headspace is a good way to get perspective on the situation.

Often we feel so overwhelmed because we think we need to respond or react to something right away, but this only adds to the stress. Instead, take a moment to look objectively at the situation before rushing into anything. Whether that’s going for a walk, meditating, watching funny videos, or listening to music, distract yourself so that you can come back to whatever’s stressing you out with clarity.

Don’t act upon every thought

Another way to reduce reactivity is to practice meditation. Those of us who are overthinkers or worriers tend to resist meditation because we assume meditation involves stopping our thoughts. In actuality, meditation helps prevent you from reacting to your thoughts. When ideas and thoughts are floating through our heads, our instinct is to react to act upon them right away with panic.

Get in touch with your senses

This doesn't work for everyone but mine is a sense of smell and what can I hear and saying positive things that are grounding me like for example "I am safe, I am grounded, I put my anchor down, I am supported." The next time you’re in a stressful situation and you feel like anxiety is taking over, try a simple grounding exercise to bring awareness to what’s going on around you.  You can try this exercise is the 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 grounding method. Simply focus around you and bring attention to:

• 5 things you can see
• 4 things you can touch
• 3 things you can hear
• 2 things you can smell
• 1 thing you can taste

This is a great technique to distract you from a stressful situation and bring your focus to your surroundings and the current moment. Being mindful. 

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