How to thrive not just survive
What is happening right now is unprecedented. Suddenly everyone’s lives have been turned upside down. We are having to deal with uncertainty about; our health and the health of our loved ones; our finances; our work; our futures. We suddenly must cope with dramatic changes to our living and working patterns.With all this in the mix a degree of anxiety and worry would be understandable and reasonable and frankly, as a therapist, I’d be concerned about you if weren’t a little worried. BUT and this is the crucial point, too much anxiety and too much worry doesn’t help. It doesn’t alter the situation. However, it does compromise your healing and immune system, prevents your higher brain from working effectively, cleverly and laterally, stops you problem solving and makes you think more negatively. In short too much anxiety and worry is counterproductive.
The good news!
Yep! There really is some. All the science shows that you can train your system to be more resilient and remain calm under pressure. Starting today and continuing over the next few weeks we will be sharing some proven techniques to help you do just that.To get us going here are 3 calming quick fixes:
-
Just breathe!
Slow your breathing to approximately 8 breathes per minute for 10 minutes to calm and reboot your central nervous system.(Breathe in for a count of 4 and out for a count of 6, breathing down into your abdomen and engaging your diaphragm as you do so.)
-
Strike a pose.
Help yourself by activating a positive biofeedback loop. To reduce cortisol and increase testosterone, simply get up, move and alter your posture to a high power pose. Think Superman, Wonder Woman – or CEO! This starts to directly alter your body chemistry and deactivates the negative biofeedback loop we can inadvertently get ourselves stuck in.
-
Have a laugh.
The old adage that “laughter is the best medicine” has an element of truth in it. Laughter, stops stress in its tracks, reactivates your rest and digest system and helps you get your higher brain back on line, allowing you to think clearly and cleverly. (The perfect excuse to download a few of your favourite comedy sketches.)Look out for my next blog covering tips on staying home and staying sane.