Dealing With Stress and Anxiety in Uncertain Times

The pressure and uncertainty of the covid-19 situation is causing a great deal of distress and anxiety.  As human beings we crave certainty – it’s one of our fundamental human needs.  As the uncertainty continues, it’s not surprising that you, your family and your colleagues may be affected by stress and anxiety. 

Because of this we all need to
stand together, look out for one another and be mindful of our physical, mental
and emotional wellbeing. 

Employers – I invite you to share this information with your teams to help them respond to the situation, equipped with tools to boost their resilience. 

Below are a range of practical
strategies to proactively increase your resilience and restore calm.  I shared
them in a live online session via zoom.  You can watch the replay of this below
to hear stories, and science behind these strategies, and experience some of
the practical techniques with me. 

Before I get into any strategies however, there are a couple
of things to note. 

There are two branches to your autonomic nervous system – the
sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic (PNS) arm.  Your SNS is where fight,
flight or freeze occurs whereas the PNS is the calm, rest, restore and digest side
of that autonomic nervous system.  When you switch into the SNS side, your body
sends more blood flow to your skeletal muscles enabling you to fight or run for
your life.  At the same time it downregulates what it sees as non-essential
functions – such as your digestive system and immune system. 

So the more time you spend in that SNS, fight or flight response, the more your immune system is compromised.  Practicing the techniques below to switch back to your PNS is important both for your mental health but also for your physical health as well. 

That being
said, stress is not necessarily harmful for your body. 

This is really important to understand, and many people are
still unaware of the facts around stress and our perception of pressure. 
Studies have shown that it’s not stress that is harmful to your body, but the belief
that stress is harmful.  That statement may be difficult to get your head
around, so I invite you to watch Kelly McGonigal’s TED talk “How
to Make Stress Your Friend” which shares this brilliantly. 

When you see stress as positive and helpful in times of
pressure, and understand that it’s your body’s way of responding and performing
at your peak you can actually thrive despite difficult situations. 

(Watch the video from the 11 mins 15
time marker for more on this.) 

It’s also important to ensure you don’t spend all your time in
the SNS. 

That leads me into my first strategy…

1.  Oscillate

Your body is designed to perform
under pressure, but it’s not designed to stay on high alert all the time.  To
cope when under pressure, you simply need to oscillate from that high performance
state to a recovery state, and to do so regularly.  The key is to engage your
body’s natural relaxation response. 

One of the best ways to do that is
by influencing the one part of your autonomic nervous system that you have some
control over, and that is your breathing. 

(Watch the video from the 26 mins 40
time marker for more on this.) 

2.  Breathe Intentionally

Practising diaphragmatic breathing is a powerful tool in periods of stress and the number one way to counter anxiety.  Athletes, performers and even military Special Forces use breathing techniques to shift their physiology into that calm PNS state, so they can perform at their best.  Practise breathing in and allowing your belly to expand like a balloon, and relax down and in as you breathe out, keeping your shoulders and buttocks relaxed. 

Try taking 5 slow deep breaths like
this at various points throughout your day.  See if you can link this to a routine
task as a trigger to remind you regularly throughout the day.  The more often
you come back to natural diaphragmatic breathing the more time your body will
spend in that PNS state. 

(Watch the video from the 28 mins 29
time marker for more on this.) 

3.  Maintain Your Routines

Human being loves certainty.  Your
brain constantly scans the world for patterns and loves routine, so keep up
with as many of your normal routines as possible, or create new routines to
help you stay centred. 

(See 6 mins 27 and 15 mins 10 time
marker for more on this)

As a parent it is especially important for your
children to maintain their routines as well.  If anything, invest a little extra
time in things such as bedtime routines, having a chat, being available,
spending time. 

As an employer your staff need to maintain a sense of
routine and certainty.  So if your team are now working from home, keep up
regular contact, maintain meetings – in online formats.  Focus heavily on clear
and consistent communication to reassure your team how things are progressing
and any give advance notice of any likely changes in advance. 

Maintain a sense of control by empowering those around
you to make informed choices.  Now more than ever this is a priority. 

4.  Build a Resilient Mindset

Your physical wellbeing stems from
your mental wellbeing.  So here are some of the most important keys to a
resilient mindset:

Focus on what you can control

There
will be plenty of things outside of your control, yet always plenty of things that
are within your control as well.  Direct your thoughts to focus on the things
you have some control over.  For example, your response, your attitude, what you
do right now in this moment, what you eat, how you move, when you go, who you
talk to etc. 

Monitor what you feed your thoughts

This
is especially pertinent when so many people are closely following various media
and at times getting information from a wide range of sources.  Be selective and
use quality sources of information so as not to get caught up in the fear the media
can create. 

Ask yourself “is this helpful or harmful”

For
example, consider whether it would be beneficial to switch off the news feed
and get outdoors for a walk, make a healthy snack, phone a friend and do the
thing that is most helpful for you right now. 

Avoid thinking traps and catastrophizing

Download
this list of thinking
traps to help identify the ones you may be falling into and start to be
aware of your thoughts.  When you raise your awareness, you can choose to avoid
common traps such as catastrophizing, labelling and black and white thinking. 

(See the 17 mins 31 time marker of
the video for more on this)

5.  Be Present and Mindful

Often we spend a lot of time in our
own heads either replaying situations from the past (perhaps wishing how things
had unfolded differently) or worrying about the future (where we often spend
time playing out a range of scenarios, most of which will never eventuate.) 
This can be mentally exhausting.  An antidote to spending all this time in the
past or future in your thoughts, is to focus on the present moment. 

One way to bring yourself back to the
present, is to get in touch with how you feel physically and to pay attention
to your surroundings – the things you can see and hear, your breathing, how you’re
feeling and to focus on what you’re grateful for in this moment. 

(See the 36 mins 42 time marker of
the video for more on this)

6.  Adopt an Attitude of Gratitude

Gratitude is one of the most
powerful ways to shift how you’re feeling.  Your brain cannot focus on two
things at once.  When you’re feeling worried or anxious and you choose to focus
on what you’re grateful for, it can instantly shift your thoughts and as a
result your emotions

(See the 38 mins 45 time marker of
the video for more on this)

You can also check out this TV
interview where I share four strategies to practise an attitude
of gratitude. 

7.  Sleep Deep

Sleep is absolutely fundamental to your wellbeing.  There are a number of keys to ensuring you get deep qualify restorative sleep.  These include:

sleep hygiene (having a very dark, cool, comfortable place to sleep, free from technology),

sleep regularity (getting to sleep at a similar time and waking at the same time each day)

having a regular bedtime routine (and using it to ‘catch the wave’ as soon as you feel sleepy so you don’t end up over-tired)

using sunlight to deepen sleep (getting daylight into the retina of your eyes early in the morning and around midday each day)

remembering that your day sets up your night (getting your heart rate up in the earlier parts of the day, eating a wide variety of different coloured real food, avoiding stimulants, particularly later in the day)

There is much more to cover on this topic and especially now, worries may be keeping you up.  I will do a facebook live video on my page with further tips and advice around getting to sleep, what to do if you’re wakeful during the night.  Feel free to post any questions here. 

(See the 41 mins 10 time marker of the video for more on this)

8.  Add Movement

Add positive movement into your
day.  Your body is designed to move and not only does physical movement improve
your health, most importantly it’s great for your mental health. 

Make sure you get movement in every
day.  This could be what you think of as a typical “workout” or even just a
simple “snack on exercise” for 4 minutes a day.  This concept is all about
fitting short bursts of movement in as an uplifting and integrated part of your
day.  Check out my 2018 TED talk on this
concept and feel free to check out the examples 1 and 2 minute videos in the
videos tab of the facebook page for instant ideas you can use at home or the
office. 

If you can get out for a walk in
nature for example for even longer that will give you even more benefits and
consider how you can add more restorative movement to your day – such as a low
impact stretching/strengthening routine. 

If you’d like some home workout
ideas, feel free to checkout my online store for poster
sets, circuit cards and resistance bands to help you workout from home. 

(See the 45 mins 00 time marker of
the video for more on this)

9.  Maximise Your Veggie Intake

Your immune system is made up of
everything that you consume, so support your body’s physiological function by
eating lots of real food and minimising processed food.  Aim to keep it simple
and ensure you have a wide variety of colours so that you’re getting a wide
range of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals to support your health. 

Yes, eating real food will mean some
preparation time.  If you’re busy and have limited time, get into the habit of
quadruple batch cooking so you can create a “library of meals” in your freezer. 
This way you only need to cook two nights a week and you have every other night
off.  If you’re interested in more about that and how to make sensational salads
in seconds, feel free to check out my book real food less fusswhich explains
how to do this and much, much more about simplifying life so you feel amazing every
day. 

(See the 47 mins 00 time marker of the video for
more on this)

10.  Shift Your Posture

As Amy Cuddy explains in her TED
talk, your posture affects how you feel and how you show up every day.  An
incredibly simple yet effective technique to be more present, and to feel more
in control is to adopt expansive postures.  Often known as power posing – you can
find out how and why this works in her talk “How
your body language may shape who you are”

You can instantly lift your mood by
smiling, lifting your gaze (count the lights or look at the sky), and raising your
arms in a V.

(See the 48 mins 52 time marker of the video for more on
this)

11.  Embrace Laughter

Find ways to add laughter to your day.  It’s never more important than right now.  Check out a funny video on youtube, someone like Michael McIntyre “Sellotape and Scissors” or “People without children have no idea.” 

Even if you have to pull faces at yourself in the mirror until you make yourself laugh, laughter is fantastic for your body’s physiology. 

Make a point of smiling at people
as much as you can – even if its via technology.  We have things called mirror neurons that
make us want to smile back, and the more we smile, the more we send messages to
our brain that we are calm and happy. 

(See the 50 mins 43 time marker of the video for more
on this)

Now more than ever it’s vital you boost your resilience by employing the strategies above. 

One thing is certain amidst all the uncertainty – we will get
through this. 

Take good care of your loved ones, colleagues and friends and most of all, take good care of you.