How to Lift Anxiety and Fear and Shift to More Inner Peace and Calm
What can you do when you are faced with uncertain times? Powerlessness and vulnerability emerge when many of your day-to-day actions are impacted. Things you took for granted like being able to buy products easily at your local grocery store, or going out to eat, or hanging out with a group of friends, or traveling or other simple things, suddenly are changed dramatically.
It becomes difficult to separate truth from anxious thoughts. And many people feel like they are standing on shaky ground. But life does move forward. Everything does not halt completely. How can you best take care of yourself and the people around you?
Part of you says, I don’t want to think about this crisis, and another part of you cannot look away and prompts you to take part in endless internet searches for more information.
In today’s article, I am sharing some techniques and thought reframing exercises.
Techniques and Tips
How you can maintain your personal energy and empowerment:
Get focused and centered.
One big thing that happens when you feel fearful is you lose your focus.
When I feel fear and stress, I get distracted. My words tend to trail off in mid-sentence. This is my signal that I am stressed or have to much on my mind. But when you get focused, then you can think and act deliberately instead of chaotically
A great exercise that helps you to bring your wild and crazy thoughts back to focused and centered thoughts is deep breathing. Three deep breaths can work miracles for keeping your focus.
Do what you can to prepare.
Once you are focused, do what you can to prepare and follow guidelines. Don’t act from a place of fear. Be sensible. Follow the direction coming from leadership, and listen to your own intuition.
Do the things that bring you joy.
Be sensible and find a way to keep doing some of the things that bring you joy. If you created a journaling habit and that gives you joy, do that. If listening to music gives you joy, do that. Exercise, sing, write poetry, play games, and more.
Being creative brings joy. Keep saying, “I’m open to joy. I’m open to joy”.
Don’t let any situation outside of yourself dampen that spirit of joy and that spirit of truly being in your life.
Help others.
When you’re going through something serious like we are in this world today, helping others gives you the feeling like you can do something, that you’re making a difference, you’re making an impact. Some ideas for helping are to support your local small business and foodservice industry workers. Tip generously when you order takeout. Offer financial support if you can. Ask people to let you know what they need. Share helpful information and resources.
Manage your news and social media intake.
A big tip for lifting fear and anxiety is to frequently step away from the news and social media that is toxic. Get updates, but don’t spend hours listening to negative story after negative story. Set a timer to remind you to step away.
What projects do you want to complete?
Focus on opportunities. Did you want to go through all your files and reorganize your home office? This is a perfect time. Other ideas: