Most of us love the idea of playing hooky from work and life once in a while. But we love it only when it’s on our terms.
Many of us have been told to stay home for the unforeseeable future in an effort to keep COVID-19 from spreading. While some people are equipped for the realities of working from home, other people are finding this sudden disruption to their daily life and routine understandably stressful.
The following are some mindfulness techniques you can use to cope with the realities of working from home during COVID-19.
- Acknowledge Your Feelings
Human beings have been wired to feel strong emotions to environmental cues of potential danger. This “fight or flight” response is what has kept the human race alive for hundreds of thousands of years.
Ignoring any feelings of fear or anxiety doesn’t make those feelings go away. Quite the opposite. So it’s important to acknowledge any negative feelings you may have right now from your present situation. By doing so, you automatically take your psyche out of the “danger” cycle and into a calmer, more rational one.
- Learn to Control Your Emotional Responses
Whether it’s from hearing nothing but doom and gloom coming from the television or dealing with the stress of having your children unexpectedly home for weeks while you have to take client calls, you are likely going to be feeling strong emotions that, if not handled properly, might get the best of you. But the good news is, you can begin to train your nervous system to better control these emotional responses.
Start by thinking of something that makes you feel calm and safe. This could be a place from your childhood or another person like a parent or grandparent. Feel this feeling deeply for a few seconds.
Next, allow yourself to feel stress and worry over the current situation you find yourself in. Feel it fully for a few seconds.
Now switch back to the calm feeling. Practice moving back and forth between the calm and stressful feelings. This will train you to be able to summon the calm and pleasurable feelings even in the midst of a very stressful or anxious time.
- Be Present in the Moment
Take some time each day to simply be. Use all of your senses to really see, smell, hear and, in some instances, taste and feel the word around you. Listen to the birds and watch the changing light outside your window. Pay attention to the flavors of the foods you eat. Really feel your dog’s fur when you pet him.
There is so much LIFE happening around us all the time. So many simple but amazing pleasures that we forget when we are faced with a crisis.
I’d also like to mention that it might be a good idea to speak with someone should you begin to feel frustrated, angry or sad about what’s going on in the world. If you think this would help, please get in touch with me here.
Sources:
https://psychcentral.com/blog/5-mindfulness-techniques-to-reduce-stress-and-anxiety/
https://psychcentral.com/blog/using-mindfulness-to-treat-anxiety-disorders/