Have you been feeling off lately? Angsty, more anxious than normal? Participating in some unhealthy patterns that seem to be getting stronger? 

• You’re not crazy. 

• Something isn’t wrong with you.

• You’re not the only one.

You, me, we all need to hear this so we can normalize some of what’s been happening lately. 

When something like Covid happens, the fear around it not only signals danger in a significant consistency, it puts you into survival mode because, after all, this could mean your life, right?

Then there is a constant, steady drip of this repeated through the media all day, every day. Then you pop a handful of social media scrolling sessions hearing people’s horror stories and wash that down with a big glass of looking at the world and everyone in it as a potential life-ending germ and a sweet recipe is conjured up for some serious adrenal and mental fatigue. Then the anxiety and angst comes rushing in. 

Okay, okay so we’ve identified the problem. But you may be asking “What the F$#% do I do about it?”

Here is a short list that will help (I’m going to keep it short so as to not add to the overwhelm). 

• Stop Forgetting

It can be too easy to forget the power that you possess. Your mind can work for you or against you. When you are inundating your mind with fear based media, conversations, and your very own thoughts—you are forgetting how powerful you are.

Right now, you have the power to get yourself to shake in fear or revel in excitement and joy. You don’t even have to move, you can do this all by sitting right where you are. That’s power. Be careful who or what you give your power to cause this will take you out of whack very quickly. 

• Detox

I promise you the world won’t fall apart if you take a 3 day detox from all media.

I’ve recommended this over the last few years to various clients that I work with privately and many in my group programs and I have not had one client that didn’t feel at least 30% better, most reporting they felt 50%-75% better and less stressed.

We are so trained, okay fine…addicted to bad news and incoming danger that our brains tell us we cannot let up being vigilant for a second. But this just isn’t true. You don’t need to hear something 20 times to be more prepared, unless you’re back in school taking a test, learning a language or studying an instrument. For those things, you need repetition. You want to train so that you take it all in. So that you remember, so that you think in that way.

You do not, I repeat YOU DO NOT need to train yourself to be more fearful. In a natural disaster or life threatening situation, believe that you will get up and run! You don’t need to hear all day and night that you need to be ready to run, stay on your toes and ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. It’s not healthy!! 

In ancient times, It was the way of the world and also healthy to, in short bursts, run from wild animals to protect yourself, but not have adrenaline and cortisol (stress hormones) running through your body daily like we have in our modern lifestyle. 

In fact, I’m having more conversations than ever with people who are now having health issues that have cropped up or worsened in the last year. You are not a bad person for taking a 3 day break for mental health and to care for yourself.

Don’t let anyone else, including yourself, shame you for not “plugging into” the news 24/7.

• Don’t Fly Solo

We used to be in a tribe. Most animals have some form of pack, pod, herd, or other support systems. They are not solo.

Please remember you are NOT alone!

In the day and age of self-sufficiency (the movie HER showed this years ago) we need other people. More specifically, we need to talk to other people about what is going on.

There has been an uptick in people seeking out various therapy modalities along with coaching because people are now in enough discomfort to finally get them to take action and reach out for support. Please don’t wait until you are in pain to reach out.

Talking to a professional to sort out what is going on and then learn the necessary tools so that you can remember the power and faculty you have will be a turning point in your life. 

Remembering how powerful you are and that you can just as easily use your mind in ways that increase love, joy, excitement, connection and success the same way you may have been using it to search for fear, danger, negativity and angst.

It takes some training to shift this, but the reward is profound. I believe we are in this giant washing machine and we have a chance to dry ourselves off and get warm or stay wet, damp and remain cold. 

As I continue to work with people in these exact areas, I continue to share what I’m seeing and as always, reminding you of the power you have. The choices you may not know exist right now and the possibility that you are in the midst of a grand opportunity—mastering yourself more so that you can get a pen, pull out the paper and write how your story (your life) looks from here on out, not just based on your stories of past experiences. 

Reach out if you need support in finding the right tools to help you through.