Developing anxiety during the COVID 19 outbreak is completely normal, but harbouring too much stress isn’t good for your body and mind. Increasing your resilience requires thought, dedication, and effort to accomplish. It isn’t a one-time thing. Building resilience is a continuous process of establishing connections, coping with stress, adjusting your thought process, and fostering physical strength. In order to facilitate resilience in your system, it’s important to take some steps to ease the pressure on yourself.
Maintain Relationships
We all need someone who can stand as the pillars of support in our lives. Building a support network of empathetic and supportive people helps you feel less lonely in this time of crisis. Make time for video chats to connect with your loved ones. While the mental exhaustion might lead to thinking that isolating yourself is best, communicating with your friends daily will help you through this difficult time.
Image Source: Unsplash
Learn Coping Skills
We all need to hone our coping skills in the face of this crisis so we can work our way through the emotional shifts. Deep breathing can help you soothe your nervous system and works whether you’re experiencing panic or extreme discomfort. In addition, daily exercise is a great way to release stress. A number of apps can assist you with getting into the habit of daily exercise.
Adjust Your Thought Process
Staying optimistic when the future feels uncertain is a difficult terrain to take. Even so, you should try to harness positive thoughts to help yourself visualise better times ahead. Whenever you feel drowning with negative thoughts, own them. The foremost essential point is to realise that it is your thought that is the real culprit. When you say your thoughts out loud, the negative thoughts lose their power.
Some people shy away when mental health is being discussed. The biggest challenge is recognising their body’s stress symptoms. But there are treatment programs designed to help these people cope up with and recover from their illnesses.
Focus on Physical Wellness
Stress can weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to illnesses. This, in turn, can negatively impact your emotional being. Focusing on your physical health is essential in establishing resiliency within your system. As you take the holistic approach to physical wellness, you are in the essence of taking care of your mind too, since body and mind are interconnected. Here are the basics to get into the habit of self-care:
Make sleep a priority.
According to the National Sleep Foundation, people have different sleep needs at different ages, but stress interferes with sleep, no matter what your age is. Older adults tend to sleep for only 7 – 8 hours at night but may need at least an hour nap during the day. Young adults should get 7 – 9 hours, while teens need 8 to 10 and children should have 9 to 11.
Focus on a healthy diet.
A recent study suggests that what we eat also affects the way we feel. If you crave salty or sweet foods when you’re under a load of stress, that’s normal. Stress is associated with the increased hunger hormones, which let you crave unhealthy foods. In a crisis like this, many people want to binge on comfort food; but balanced, healthy eating is best for your physical health.
Do physical activities.
Engage in mentally stimulating activities such as reading, writing, playing games to enrich your mind and spirit. Find a hobby that complements your existing skills.
Recognise your body’s stress responses and find a way to get through rough patches and bounce back quickly no matter what. Pay attention to your thoughts; see if they are leading you to a negative direction. Then ask yourself: will you follow?