My brother sent me this article in the early COVID days saying he’d found it helpful after suddenly becoming overwhelmed by the effects of many days of binge-watching the news. Indeed Anxiety and Fear curled up and took permanent residence in the back of many of our minds as the rapidfire doomsday messaging became our new white noise.
I really appreciated the reminder and simple explanation of what occurs in our bodies when we are placed in a heightened state of stress:
We are designed to survive so no matter how logical we try to be we can’t help entering a fight-flight-freeze reaction which triggers a release of cortisol to help our bodies get prepped to survive whatever the danger is. The side effect is that the functions that aren’t going to help us run fast or fight hard are suppressed, including our immune systems. So the very stress caused by trying to keep informed made us more susceptible to getting sick. Well that’s some COVID irony for you.
Another side effect of being at this heightened and prolonged state of stress is that we can’t think clearly, we become increasingly selfish, and lose the ability to feel empathy. It makes sense, my primitive animal instinct tells me that to survive I must protect myself alone.
But it was the next part of the article that really struck me: the suggestions of how to manage these effects and, most of all, the science behind those suggestions. Sure we are supposed to aim to think positive but how can we actually achieve that when we are feeling anything but? Well, apparently we can trick our brains into feeling better simply by imagining feeling better. Studies in neuroscience have proven that the brain is influenced by thoughts as much as reality which makes our imagination an extremely powerful tool. No batteries required – just intentional practise.
Read “Why Coronavirus should be the least of your worries” – full article HERE
TOUGHERthan technique
As we here in Canada are starting the reopening phases this article is feeling extremely relevant. Things are shifting but not back to the old way. The new way is going to be designed gradually with plenty of bumps and edits enroute. No doubt we will be facing additional and totally new stresses and worries as we resume our activities out in public amongst our fellows. Businesses that are open are implementing strict new regulations so, with more bodies, personalities and unpredictables around, that fear factor will be coming at us in a multitude of new ways. Deciding to practise a calm and brave mindset will help us coexist through this next phase. There will be a lot more people who will be facing each other. I would prefer to be met with Empathy (we are all in this together) and Gratitude (yay for professional haircuts!) rather than stressed and selfish reactivity. So I’m going to do my intentional best to put that out there. Join me?