HOW To Settle Your Mind During a Pandemic

Posted on: May 8, 2020

In the midst of widespread trepidation, what are your new mental health goals?

It’s my hope that each of us start pursuing a calm settled mind and ability to let go of the fear. We all know fear can be very persuasive and panic sets in. At the best of times most people don’t carve times to work on themselves. One good thing about this past year is we aren’t turning out backs on the fact that we ALL have worrisome problems and are opening discussions around and dealing with them directly.

Can you settle your mind and go beyond fear when you feel the worrisome angst rearing it’s ugly head? The first steps to gaining mastery over our reactions (specifically fear and worry).  Some effective ways to calm yourself;

1.        Sit down and candidly share with someone what your level of anxiety is. Find someone or a group of people that are good listeners and can discuss your feelings in the context of getting past them
2.        Be creative with your free time. Idle minds are fear’s playground.
3.        Don’t dwell on anxious thoughts. When one arises, say to yourself, “This isn’t helping. Go away, I don’t need you.” Talking back to the voice in your head is actually effective.
4.        Empathize with other people’s anxiety, but don’t make it a daily habit. Be helpful and reassuring. If this doesn’t work, tune out the most anxious complaints and focus on surrounding yourself with positive friends or uplifting podcasts.
5.       Gather the adults in your family, and maybe older teenagers to see if genetically there is pattern of this in your family. Find out how they are dealing with their anxiety. They may be doing something that could be extremely effective for you.
6.       Don’t obsess over the news. Limit your viewing time to short periods two or three times a day. This is a crisis unfolding in slow motion. You don’t have to keep up with it hour by hour, nor day by day.
7.       Seek uplifting and consoling things to read and listen to.
8.      Devote 2- 10minutes of time several times a day to sit quietly, close your eyes, and slow down your breathing to settle your inner waters and relax your body and mind.
9.       Journal a daily gratitude journal. Write down a vision of your future as you would like to live it after the crisis passes. Detail all the things you want to achieve and experience.
10.       What makes you smile and laugh right now in all this madness? Go do that shamelessly on a daily basis (as long as it isn’t hurting you or anything else).

As you can see, none of these things are a mystery or impossible to execute immediately. They are available to you, and if you seriously take this on, the project of defeating fear and anxiety is absolutely doable.