10 Tips for Building Resilience During COVID-19
1. Acknowledge feelings
Identify and recognize any feelings that are arising. This action does not mean that you are trying to change the feeling or wrestle with it; it simply means that you say to yourself, “I feel anxious” when you feel anxiety. When you name it, you can tame it by feeling it and encouraging movement through your awareness.
2. Ground yourself
Bring your awareness to your physical body, noticing where your entire body is in the space around you, and do a mental scan from your toes up to your head. Notice the quality of your breath and see if you can focus on taking three slow, gentle breaths. By getting out of the mind and back into the body, responses to ourselves and others have more awareness.
3. Normalize your feelings and reactions
You are having a normal reaction if the stress of this pandemic is aggravating or triggering past trauma. Everyone carries a “backpack” of trauma, whether it’s big or small; sudden, big changes and uncertainty can cause more awareness of the weight of old hurts more than before the world changed. Communal traumatic experiences affect strong, “normal,” healthy people, too. Be patient with yourself and others. Take breaks. Taking a moment for a deep breath is powerful. Unpack your stress backpack by talking about how you are reacting to the pandemic with someone supportive, who will keep your conversation confidential.
4. Acknowledge the losses
What we are experiencing globally is a radical change, and aspects of our lives have changed dramatically. Much of the adaptation involves some kind of loss - of graduations, of birthday and holiday parties, of even simple activities like going to the movies or hanging out with friends. Collectively, we are grieving for these losses and are also dealing with anticipatory grief because the future is uncertain. Our emotional brains are reacting to this uncertainty, feeling like we’re unsafe even if we are doing everything we can to be safe and our thinking brains are trying hard to stay in control. Thinking about letting go of what you can’t control can be helpful.
5. Break tasks into manageable pieces
One day at a time is more than just a saying, it’s a proven stress management tool. When handling ongoing change amidst a crisis, it’s natural to feel like you can’t keep up with it all. Taking things day by day, or even hour by hour, can make an uncertain time feel more manageable. Set small, attainable goals and celebrate those goals when you reach them. Acknowledging that once-easy tasks can feel overwhelming in times of stress. Be realistic with your expectations of yourself, practice setting boundaries and saying “no” to other’s requests, and let yourself feel satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment for small victories like sending an email you’ve been avoiding or making yourself a healthy lunch.
6. Engage in regular gratitude and strengths-based reflection
A regular gratitude practice can soothe the nervous system by training our brain to “look for what’s strong instead of what’s wrong.” They are most effective when regularly cultivated. Take time at the end of each day to name three good things from your day. Intentionally check in with a friend or colleague and reflect together on what is going well, coping methods that are working for you, or how you can be proud of your response to current events.
7. Engage in regular creative expression
Any activities that involve the flow of your creative juices inspire innovation, reflection, inspiration, and creativity. A regular time to write, make art, dance, sing, brainstorm new projects, or pretend play with your kids. Engaging in the creative arts can be a way to communicate thoughts and feelings that might otherwise be difficult to articulate. Artistic practices can also cultivate mindful and meditative states, helping to move into flow and out of the emotional brain that could be stuck in anxiety.
8. Stay socially connected
Staying connected with people we love and care for is critical. “Social distancing” is the extremely important way to fight the spread of the coronavirus; however, it’s the “physical” distancing that we need to follow, not the “social.” Talking with others can make feelings less intense, give a sense of control, help reduce isolation, find meaning in what’s happening, and re-engage with life.
9. Be intentional with your media consumption
Take breaks from following the COVID-19 spread and statistics from its global impact, especially fearful images. Being on the receiving end of bad news on a consistent basis is unhealthy, and can impact our “thinking” brain response, too. Turn off the news (including social media news feeds) and seek other sources of inspiration and engage in sharing uplifting, solution-based news.
10. Increase compassion practices
Everyone has different levels of fear and grief, as well as different sizes of their trauma backpacks. Responses to the stress and anxiety are coming out in different ways that may not be what you would normally expect, and this includes you! Be patient. If you have an interaction with a family member, work colleague, or neighbor that is unpleasant or upsetting, think about who that person usually is and not who they seem to be in this moment.