Is The Coronavirus Pandemic Negatively Impacting Your Creativity?
/10 Emotionally Supportive Tips & Tools To Navigate You Through Coronavirus
Have you noticed how challenging it is to make a decision when you’re feeling stressed, anxious, agitated, angry or scared?
Survival Psychologist, John Leech reports that only 10-15% of us can handle a potential crisis with a calm and rational mind.
So, what happens to the remaining 85%? Are you one of them?
How on earth are you supposed to be creative when all you're thinking about is the fact that your next gig/job has been postponed or cancelled due to the impact of coronavirus or that a different business is not paying your invoice as planned because they've shut up shop?
During episodes of anxiety and worry, you should know that you’ll lose the ability to make positive decisions.
Don’t worry though because it’s only temporary. What's actually important is how quickly you recover.
So, here's my 10 TOP TIPS & TOOLS to assist you in managing your emotional state throughout this crisis, build your decision-making recovery muscle and learn how to connect deeper with your body rather than just your mind.
1. Freaking Out Is OK!
Give yourself time to freak out but know that it can't go on forever.
You'll need to make a positive decision at some point so that you can move forward.
2. What's The Truth?
In order to make decisions, you must know the facts.
Whether it's about you wanting to research an idea or knuckle down to prepare for an upcoming gig/job, you must soothe your mind by getting to know the facts about what's stressing you and what's preventing you from taking action.
This will invoke feelings of inner power together with self control that can guide positive decision-making and steer your thoughts away from catastrophising.
It will move you further towards the reality of what's really happening and reveal the truth of the situation.
3. Find Your Safety
We become scared and live in fear when we feel unsafe.
Ask yourself what tools you can put in place both mentally and physically to create an anchor that grounds you in the moment and reminds you how safe you really are.
An example of this could be a mantra. Mantras are words repeated for positive effect.
What if you created a personal mantra that took you away from your overwhelming thoughts and more into the power of sound made through the words you say and the vibrating sensations within your mouth and on your lips.
You might like to try repeating the following when you feel unsafe in the moment:
“In this moment, all is well and I am safe.”
4. Acknowledge Your Emotions
More than likely, when you're ignored by someone you'll feel a moment of anxiety or confusion as to why. You'll tend to question their actions and unwaveringly look for answers.
Your emotions are no different.
If you continually ignore them they'll do everything they can to get your attention. As a result, you'll feel uneasy, confused, agitated, distracted and unfocused.
YOU MUST ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR EMOTIONS!!
It's ok to feel scared or upset. Sit with the feelings, determine the cause and know that you can shift them with intention, a strong inclination and breath.
This will give you mental space to focus on resolution and tap into your inner power.
5. What Can You Control?
Many of us focus on the things we can't control without realising how much energy this takes. It’s exhausting!
Let's focus on what's within our capabilities to make space for problem-solving and clarity of the situation.
6. What’s The Worse That Could Happen?
Ask yourself this question.
Consider your worse case scenario and rather than fully focus on it, acknowledge what comes up.
Where can the glass be half full rather than half empty?
Can you make lemonade from crushed lemons?
How might you learn from this experiences?
If you don't already, start to believe that you're stronger than you think you are and see it as your truth.
To do this takes much courage and a tenacious desire to move away from overwhelm and fear.
7. A Breakdown Can Also Be a Breakthrough
When we have a breakdown, we're often led to believe that it's very final with little hope of a positive way back.
What if your breakdown in the moment is your mind and body's way of rebuilding you?
Can you see breaking down and falling apart as a part of the process that moves you closer towards your wellness, greatness and genius?
I invite you to consider that your breakdown can also be your breakthrough.
8. Don’t Forget To Breathe
When we take complete, full breaths in and longer, stronger breaths out we send signals to the brain and nervous system that everything is ok.
We physiologically give ourselves permission to relax.
Taking slow, deep breaths in with an audible sigh out will allow oxygen to fully circulate the body and brain and release constricted muscles, prevent the ‘shut down' of certain body systems and halt the release of stress hormones that magnify feelings of anxiety, agitation and fear.
9. It's Not Just About You
Yes, you might be feeling absolutely rubbish but what about the impact that can have on those around you? What if there are people in your world less able to cope than you who are also challenged by this present pandemic?
We all want to be seen and heard, so first attend to you by acknowledging and listening to what’s occurring within. Then, when you've found that place of ease attend to those in need around you.
Listen to them, even when they make no sense.
Ask them what they need. They'll know, so avoid trying to fix them.
10. Safety Is A Human Need
In order to move further away from fear, surround yourself with what you need to feel safe, grounded and accepting.
Is it being around friends and family, warmth, eating good foods, reading, listening to music, bathing or exercising that does it for you?
Continue to drink plenty of water for clarity of mind, eat high protein snacks like hard boiled eggs, tuna and peanut butter and stay away from sugary foods.
Most importantly, ensure that you make time for plenty of rest as emotional spiralling can be majorly exhausting.
Final Words
Be kind to yourself and know that it's ok to be emotional.
Better still, emotional feeling will guide you towards your inner strength and a belief that you can overcome any challenge that’s placed in front of you.
With that growth mindset, how can you not be motivated and ready to innovatively create your next idea for the world to see even when all around you appears to be unsteady.
You can also watch the YouTube video that accompanies this blog here.