When things feel out of control, the best place to start is YOU. We know that stress lowers our immune response, which is the exact opposite of what we need right now.
Due to the current situation you probably experienced some kind of stress or anxiety putting your hole system in a state of survival which decrease some functions in your body.
Here are a few tips you can use to help regulate your nervous system :
1. Breathe
Practicing breathing techniques on a regular basis is one of the easiest way to regulate your nervous system. How do you do it? Start in a confortable position, it can be lying down on a mat or sitting at your desk, close your eyes and place both hands on your chest or one hand on your chest and the other one on your belly. Breathe in through your nose for 5 and exhale through your mouth for 5. Connect with your breath and just notice if there are any area of tension in your body, areas you might feel stuck. Just notice them
2. Rest
All this stress and anxiety might make you feel even more tired than usual. Take advantage of having this time spending at home to rest, listen to your body. You don’t have to be super productive right now. Make sure you have a sleep schedule where you go to bed at a regular hour and if you can , wake up naturally.
3. Connect
Right now it is really important to connect with what makes you feel good. Connect with Yourself ( meditation/ journaling), your Family/friends via facetime or WhatsApp, your pet, nature and disconnect from the news and social media for a while or whatever puts pressure on you. Stay informed but limit yourself to social media exposure for just a certain amount per day.
4. Nourish your body
Eat nourishing whole food at regular hour and drink plenty of water. Lots of greens that are rich in magnesium, nuts and seeds, whole grains, dark chocolate… all those goodies will help your nervous system and your gut to produce serotonin such an important molecule in the stress response. Get creative and try some new recipie.
5. Avoid alcohol, refined sugar and too much caffeine
For obvious reason as they create stress in the system, try to limit them as much as possible.
6. Move your body
Try to be active every day, just go for a walk, do a 20 min bodyweight exercise or a gentle yoga flow, put some music and have a dance party in your living room for 5 minutes.
7. Work space
If you get to work from home, try to stick to a schedule with a starting time, plan regular breaks to move around and finish at a certain time where you don’t look at your laptop anymore , no more phone calls, no more emails . Organize a workspace in your house if you can where you can maintain a proper posture, make it nice and clean with proper lightning.
8. Express your fears
Grab a journal or just a piece of paper and write down all the stresses and fears that are on your mind right now. Maybe it is finances, maybe it is your health or the health of your loved ones, maybe it is that feeling of powerlessness over the situation, maybe it is a sense of being stuck in your house, maybe it is your kids…be specific and write everything down. Then ask yourself do I have control over it? If it is completely out of your control then let go just accept it is the way it is, worrying won’t change anything about it except being more in overdrive. If you do have control over it ,then make a list of solutions, things you CAN do right now and take actions.
9. Focus on the positive
Despite it all. What positivity is this experience bringing into your life? Maybe it is being able to spend more time at home reconnecting with what matter the most and learning about yourself, practicing more self care, maybe it is a chance to create new routine and do more of what you like, maybe you can see how connected we all are despite social isolation, maybe it shows you more possibilities for your life and all the resources you might have, maybe you start to be optimistic for the health of the planet with the pollution going down. Whatever it is, even if you can see only one little positive thing. Focus on it .
Stay Well, Stay healthy ,
