How To Decompress During Stressful Events (Like the COVID-19 Stay-At-Home Order)
Many fearful emotions have been surfacing across our communities over the past couple of weeks. One of the most powerful things you can do during this time to maintain a lifestyle of health and wellness is to learn how to decompress during stressful events like the COVID-19 Stay-At-Home order.
Let’s start by naming the source of those fearful emotions that seem to control us in times of uncertainty.
We are social animals by nature. We thrive in environments where we can interact with the world and the people within it. But right now, social distancing is essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, so our in-person interactions are limited.
When we’re alone, we try to fill our biological need for social connection. For many of us, it’s instinctual to turn to social media. But what we don’t realize is that too much of a good thing can have negative effects.
When we spend too much time on social media, it doesn’t take long before we’re overwhelmed and bombarded with frightening news from all over the world. Even if we’re safe physically, we can find ourselves feeling immense fear and emotionally drained.
If you’ve been experiencing anxiety that you can’t seem to shake, then I want to share with you the science-backed approaches that I use with my clients (and myself) to decompress by focusing within.
I was so happy to be able to share these tips with Trisha Stetzel of ResultsXtreme Business Solutions and her audience in a recent interview. If you missed it, here are the most important highlights for you to begin feeling genuine relief…
Take Action to Shift Your Mindset
When we wake up in the morning, many of us tend to reach for our phones. Although we may have good intentions when doing this – whether it’s checking the time or looking at our calendar to plan for the day – it’s very easy to get swept up in notifications.
We begin reading frightening news articles and warning posts on social media, and before we know it, within 5 minutes of waking up…
Our shoulders and face are tense, our heart is pounding, and we’re breathing shallow and fast.
These are physiological signs of fear.
I want to encourage you to go within. Ask yourself…
“What are my actions doing to me emotionally?”
Are you actually afraid, or are your social media interactions driving you into a physiological fear response?
To reset your mind, focus intently within yourself and on your immediate surroundings. Remind yourself to come from a place of hope and gratitude. You can start by using some simple approaches to induce a more relaxed state.
How To Decompress During Stressful Events
So how can you shift yourself into a more relaxed state? Here are a few ways to decompress during stressful events such as a Stay-At-Home order. It all starts by focusing within yourself.
Give Your Immune System A Boost
One of the best ways to decompress is by naturally boosting your immune system. Many people take these simple tips for granted, but when you put them into action there is no denying the results! Here are a few easy ways to get started.
Be Present in Nature
One of the most overlooked ways to boost the immune system is by getting out in nature! It’s really that simple. Take a visit to your local park for some fresh air and sunlight.
Being present in nature helps you to decompress in two major ways.
First, the vitamin D you take in will give your immune system an energy boost.
And second, being consumed by natural beauty will help you ground yourself in the present moment – and away from stress. Plus, nature has its own immune system that helps us boost ours.
Nourish Your Body
Ensuring your body gets the external nourishment it needs is just one way to boost your immune system. The other way is by giving your body internal nourishment.
- Hydrate well. Make sure you’re staying hydrated by drinking plenty of pure water.
- Eat well. Focus on eating whole foods.
- Sleep well. And be serious about getting enough quality sleep each night.
These small changes will go a very long way in helping you boost your immune system and make it easier to decompress during stressful events. On April 20th, I’m launching a free 5-Day At Home Quarantine Reset where I will coach you on how to…
- Stay focused on your nutrition (even though your routine has been disrupted)
- Balance your plate and remove some of the inflammatory foods
- Include more fresh, whole foods into your diet
- Decompress during these times of stress
You’ll also receive recipes, tracking sheets, and support by yours truly!
Click here to claim your seat.
Unplug, Literally!
When people tell you to unplug, they normally mean to stop staring at your electronics.
But I mean this literally. Unplug!
Turn off your WiFi router. Unplug your tech. Turn off your phone.
Many people already know that electronics can impact us emotionally by exposing us to content that makes us anxious. But they also impact us physically through radiation.
WiFi And Wellness
The wireless technology we use to communicate everyday exposes us to in electromagnetic radiation (EMR). Radios, microwaves, and even the sun’s UV rays emit EMR waves.
Energy from natural sources like the sun is good for us. But once again, too much of a good thing can cause us harm. That’s why we get sunburn when we’re out in the sun too long. Being overexposed to the sun’s rays causes damage to the DNA in our skin cells.
How is sunburn anything like EMR from our tech devices? Years ago, we didn’t know that UV radiation could lead to skin cancer. Today, we know.
Experts don’t know the full impact of newly introduced 5G radiation on our health yet, it’s still under active research.
Take some time each week to decompress and focus on wellness within by unplugging.
Reset Your Nervous System
As I always say, our bodies are intelligent machines. They want to help us stay well. We have inherent biological responses in the body that are designed to keep us alive when we’re under stress. This is called the fight or flight response.
When we enter into a state of panic, the body physically prepares us to fight or run from the stressor. Our earliest ancestors were mostly afraid of predatory animals. If they saw a tiger, they ran from it for their own safety.
But in modern times, these fight-or-flight responses typically don’t arise in response to tigers. When we panic, it can often be because of things that we can’t necessarily run from.
In this case, you’ll want to reset your nervous system. The easiest way to do this is through deep breathing. It’s simple, and can be done anywhere at any time.
The Box Breathing Approach
The Box Breathing Method is an approach to deep breathing that Navy Seals use. How does it work?
Breathe in for a count of 4 …
Hold for 4 …
Breathe out for 4 …
Hold for 4 …
Repeat this for a minute, and work your way up to longer periods of time. Focus on filling your stomach with air rather than puffing out your chest or shoulders. When breathing out, focus on pulling your belly button in towards your spine.
By doing this simple breath work, we are sending a powerful physical message through our body to tell our brain it’s okay to relax.
I’ve done this exercise with a room full of type A business professionals who spend most of their day on-edge. After 1 minute of this powerful breathing technique, the entire dynamic of the room shifts to calm.
Try it out and see how well it will work for you too.
If you found this blog helpful and want to learn more, you can find the full interview here or jump to a particular topic below.
Focus on Wellness Within
[8:46] Boost Your Immune System
[10:03] Take Precautions With WiFi
[10:40] Deep Breathing Work
Take Action Now for a Healthy Future
[14:19] Engage In Positive Relationships
[15:22] Drink Water & Eat Whole Foods
[15:41] Get Enough Sleep
You don’t have to wait for inner peace to arrive on its own. You can focus on wellness within today!
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