How to Thrive in Uncertain Times
Effective ways to manage your emotional states
Stressed? Anxious? Or thinking about when is COVID ever ending?
Take a deep deep breath. And another one. And another one.
Learning to be present in the body is one of the most powerful ways to reduce stress and return to a state of balance and calm. My exploration of mindfulness has allowed me to gain a growing awareness of how my emotions are manifested physically — whether it’s tension in the shoulder, tightness in the chest or anxiousness in the belly. Understanding the mind-body connection is key in helping us move through the fear, anxieties and low mood that may heighten during uncertain times.
Here’s a simple mindfulness framework (3 minute ABC) you can use to help you find more ease:
A — Awareness and acceptance
What thoughts are going through your mind at this moment? What are you feeling? Just notice and accept as sensations and feelings arise. Adopt a curious and open mind as you do this for a minute.
B — Breath and balance
Use your breath as a focal point and tune into the physical sensations of breathing, placing your attention gently on your belly. Find a sense of balance and ease with each breath and adjust your body if needed.
C — Connect and core release
For the last minute, after checking in with your mind and body, connect fully with your whole self and focus on exhaling any tension and stress from the core (belly). You can also let out a big sigh if you want!
This is a simple exercise you can do at any time and it only takes 3 minutes to cultivate more breathing space in your life.
“You are the sky. Everything else is just the weather.” — Pema Chödrön
As you continue to practice body awareness and pay attention to your breath, you will discover that you will gradually be able to find that stillness from within, regaining a quiet mind that can help you move forward during difficult times.
Fact-checking thoughts and narratives
As you practice noticing your thoughts and sensations, it’s important to note that how we feel has a lot to do with how we think and interpret things.
Do you ever spiral into an overwhelm cycle where you feel overwhelmed about feeling overwhelmed and constantly say things like “I’m so stressed all the time” or “I’m just such a worrier.” Perhaps you have identified yourself with being an anxious person? But is it true? What is the cost of you believing the story? What’s a more empowering story you can tell yourself?
A lot of times, uncertainties cause us to adopt a fearful narrative that causes more panic and stress. What we want to do is look at all our fears through a fact-checking, observing lens and focus our energy on things within our control. Essentially, it’s the mindfulness of thoughts that allow us to know that we are we are NOT our thoughts and at any moment we can pause, and make a different, better choice.
If you’ve enjoyed this piece and would like to learn more about mindfulness and mindset work, you can receive my exclusive tips for readers here.
Here are also some of my other relevant work that you may wish to explore:
