When survival gets triggered, go back to these four basics:
1. Ritual & Routine: In a time of pandemic, it is likely that our normal routines can get bumped or replaced by watching the news or taking actions that can disrupt the comfort of the familiar framing of our days. Routines and rituals are powerful and can help ease our fears; they give us a sense of grounding in our days and allow our minds and bodies to relax by creating a sense of safety and familiarity.
2. Rest & Digest: Our bodies and minds are always “talking to each other,” influencing and assessing. This means when our minds are on high alert, we organically communicate that message to our bodies, which then responds in-kind. As above…so below. If we don’t calm ourselves at least periodically and clear out some of those fear-driven thoughts, then our mental and emotional and physical digestion will likely become problematic. Any practice (i.e., deep breathing, walking in nature, listening to music, gardening, meditating) that takes you out of the fight & flight mode brings you into rest & digest.
3. What you Focus on Grows: It is so important to check-in with yourself multiple times each day, even each hour, to notice what you are focusing on and thinking about. These thoughts create an emotional response. What you focus on is driving your life. When you change a belief, you change everything.
4. Gratitude: Appreciate and appreciate more. Let the feelings flow freely so that you can feel the positive energy in your body. Having gratitude for what you have puts you in the right state of mind to receive better opportunities and opens your mind making you a magnet for what you desire. Gratitude and appreciation is the energy of acceptance and nonresistance. Appreciate everything, even the ordinary…Especially the ordinary. – Pema Chodron.
