Many of us are experiencing emotional distress from the pandemic which can affect each of us in different ways, but often presents as increasing anxiety, worry, sleep disruption, feelings of helplessness, panic, and/or depression.
The shrieking headlines don’t help do they? So what can we do to manage these feelings and feel stronger emotionally and psychologically as we prepare ourselves to face the difficult days ahead?
As a psychotherapist who has practiced for many decades, I have some ideas that can help. So if you are interested, read on.
We are going to make a customized anxiety toolbox. One approach doesn’t work for everyone, pick and choose what feels right for you. Of course I’m including relaxing photos intermixed in this post because looking at positive images is an objective and powerful anxiety reducer. What you perceive influences how you think and feel.
ANXIETY TOOLBOX:
Self Talk Reframing (Cognitive Therapy)
Guided Imagination/Visualization
Exposure Management
Progressive Relaxation
Distraction in Action
Self Soothing
Spiritual Meditation/Prayer
Second Voice
Exercise, Diet & Good Health Practices
This topic will be broken up into separate posts, and start with Self Talk, Guided Imagination and Exposure Limitation. These are the tools I use most frequently to manage my anxiety. Yes, I have anxiety, and now pandemic anxiety, and I don’t like any of it, so I have learned over the years to better manage all of it.
Self Talk is one of your most powerful anxiety busting tools. It can be best understood through the ABC Model:
A: is an objective event that occurs (Covid 19 for example).
B: is what you immediately and silently say to yourself, sometimes many times a day, about this event, usually without conscious awareness (“Oh no, we’re in a high risk group, we’re gonna die, badly,” is my example). Insert your personal pandemic negative self talk here.
C: are the feelings that immediately arise in response to our self talk (Anxiety, pandemic preoccupation, worry and/or panic)
In this case my self talk was awfulizing , which is the tendency to assume the worst possible outcomes will happen to me or the people I love. I can challenge and change this self talk by making it more realistic. An example for me might be, “Stop thinking the worst. Most high risk people survive. You can take steps to improve your chances.”
I use self talk reframing in combination with guided imagination everyday. These are two of my most trusty tools and they work synergistically with each other to reduce anxiety, each making the other more effective. Like any learned skill, the more you practice it, the better you get at it.
Guided imagination is exactly what it says it is. When you are resting, napping, or going to sleep, don’t let your imagination run you. You run your imagination. Guide it to a place, a story, a visualization, that engages your mind, and is positive, happy and fun. Challenge yourself to come up with imaginative stories that involve you. This is wonderful for your mental and physical health. Make yourself a central character in your story. I have ongoing stories that I return to everynight before I fall asleep. I come up with new stories when the old ones start to lose interest.
This kind of guided imagination reduces stress hormone levels, aids sleep and reduces anxiety. It can even positively influence, or guide, our dreams which is beneficial to our mental and physical health. It is harnessing the creative power of your brain to control its own production. Long term prison inmates report using this technique to escape their cells and fly free. If they can do this, so can you and I.
And finally, reduce your exposure to news. Yes, it is important to stay well informed and safe, especially in a pandemic. But constant media onslaught can be psychologically overwhelming and add to an unhealthy level of anxiety. So take charge of the news in your own best interest. Consciously limit your exposure according to your best choice about how much you can absorb without becoming overwhelmed. This is truly important in managing your anxiety during pandemic times, and really at all times.
Switch from the news after you’ve had enough to stay informed, and read blogs or a book. Watch a movie. Look for positive imagery. Write blogs and stories. After all, you are bloggers! You have awesome creative imaginations. Use your imaginations in positive ways to help you, and your readers, stay on even keel during the coming stressful days.
Cheers & calm to you from me at The Holler~
Note: Australian birds in order, New Holland Honey Eater, Gouldian Finch, Superb Fairy Wren.
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Excellent advice Cindy for a world in turmoil. Definitely need these calming actions. Are you back home now?
Yes we are home. I wanted to come home because my family are all here. But it it weren’t for that, Australia seems to have a far better medical system and proactive medical response them we do at home. They are already trying effective medication combos on patients that seem to eliminate the virus in ill people. They did genetic sequencing of the virus while I was there and they did it in a short amount of time, and they issue really calming, honest statements about what they were doing to keep people safe. Plus they did all this right after the fires. I was really impressed. Stay self and well Pauline <3
Yes I think we need to be near family in these uncertain times. So far Australia seems to be coping well, being so far away from many other countries and an island is in our favour. Maybe you will get back when all this turmoil is over. Stay safe Cindy
I do hope to get back to Oz and see all my bird friends. You and Jack stay safe too my friend <3
Thank you very much, Carol! Very appreciated. We will win the game! Best wishes, and stay well, too. Michael
Thank you Michael. I will try! ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
👍
This is excellent advice, Cindy!
Thank you Jennie. A daily anxiety reduction program really helps. Stay safe my friend <3
Yes, it does. Turning off the news and stepping outside can be a great tonic. So can Cindy’s photos.
Awwww ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
I feel relax already by looking at your beautiful images. Indeed, the recent news and as well as social media messages recently just too much. We need to take a break, by reducing our exposure to news and stay positive. Thank you so much for your advice and tips!
It is so true. The news has become a toxic mix of anger, argument, polarity and doom. It is no longer calm and objective as journalism should be. It is no longer helpful to me, and is in fact harmful and skewed. I want to stay informed, but reducing my exposure to news media of all sorts helps me.
Thank you for your sage advice, Cindy!
You are very welcome. Stay safe my friend ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
You too, Cindy. xxx
♡´･ᴗ･`♡
Thank you so much for this helpful free therapy. My phone is flooded with news about Covid-19 and I just stopped reading them. Koala-ty pics as always. Stay safe and healthy, my dear friend. ♥ᕙ(^▿^-ᕙ)♥
Koala Bears have to have the most powerful anxiety busting mojo in the world! Just looking at them lowers blood pressure and creates immediate smiles. Be well my friend & thank you ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
♡♡(.◜ω◝.)♡♡
♡´･ᴗ･`♡
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Thank you my friend & stay safe and well ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
For the first time I see pretty long post from you. Thank you, Cindy. You care. You use your professional knowledge to help. The set of pictures is awesome!
Of course I care. I have wonderful friends I want to protect, like you Alexander. Be well & stay safe <3
Thank you, Cindy. Having this kind of friends nothing scares me. We have to live and live with pleasure. There are no other choices.
Take care ❤️
Amen <3
Thank you for your advice, Cindy. I appreciate every word that helps me stay calm and hopeful.
Awww, I am glad. We all have within us much more power than we know to stay calm in the storm. Be well my friend <3
<3
Wonderful advice Cindy 🙂
Thank you Michele <3
Calming images to soothe our spirits, thanks. Gardening and nature are my distractions and healers. They take me to an inner place of joy.
It’s wonderful and powerful when you learn you have the resources within you to create your own joy and escape. I am so glad you know how to do this Sally <3
Thanks for all this good sense. I was directed here from Leya’s blog.
You are most welcome and thank you to Leya for sharing and caring ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
Your photos are beautiful (particularly the flowers! What are they?)
Guided visualizations no longer work for me as I lost most of my ability to visualize due to a conflict between two prescribed drugs I was on in the 90s (I’ve written about it in my ‘Something about me’ page), but I paint instead. 🙂 Just seeing and applying the bright or pastel watercolours relaxes me, and that’s what I’ve been doing recently. I also quite severely limit the amount of news I’m exposed to, and I don’t use Facebook or Twitter.
I love that you shared this because it so important. Anxiety reduction tools are not a one thing fits all solution. As Buddha said, ‘there are many paths up the mountain.” The important thing that you are doing is learning which tools work for you and employing them on a regular basis. Your painting sounds wonderful and I am glad you have such a wonderful gift. I agree with you completely about FB and twitter, neither help me, so I don’t use them, and the news, I read in a controlled, limited manner because the hysteria doesn’t help. Be well my friend and thank you for sharing what works for you. It will help other people <3
Cindy, heartfelt thanks for this post.
I woke up this morning in the middle of a panic attack… and haven’t been able to settle myself down all day. This is good.
Be well, be happy, my friend. Hugs on the wing.
I am so sorry. Panic attacks are frightening and these pandemic days can definitely trigger them. I like using self talk for panic. The first bit of my self talk is something like this, “It is understandable that I am feeling panic. These are very scary days. It’s not my fault that I feel this way.” The important thing here is to acknowledge your panicky feelings and not blame yourself for having them. This acceptance of how you feel, of your panic, will already help you start to relax. Next just feel the panic for a bit, acknowledge it, let it have it’s moment. Then you move into progressive muscle relaxation and diaphragmatic breathing. I am going to post on these two tools today if the wifi will allow me to upload. You combine the breathing and muscle relaxation with guided imagination. Go off somewhere amazing in your head. You have one the most remarkable imaginations I have seen Teagan. It is much more powerful than fear. Use it to over-ride your fear. You don’t have to do things exactly like this. Pick and choose what works for you and make your own customized program. This will definitely work the more you employ it. Love & understanding to you Teagan <3
Hello friend, me again … after ages … again! This was different from your usual, but so timely and needed. I find that shutting my eyes to take a stroll in my summer garden chases away the darkness of the world outside. Counting my blessings is a phenomenal spirit-booster. And prayer, of course. Thank you. Look forward to the coming posts. Big hugs, Sonali xx
Yes I love all of these! I love your stoll in your summer garden and know just what relaxing this would be. I am very glad you do this. Prayer is like hope on wings. It brings instant comfort. I have several prayers that I use regularly and I soon as I start reciting them, my whole body relaxes and I can feel it immediately. Take good care Selina & thank you <3
What a wonderful post, Cindy. I had no idea that you were a professional psychotherapist!! These are all wonderful techniques. Most of which I work hard to utilize daily. I can freak myself out faster than anyone else. I just keep saying to myself and to others that I don’t catch colds, flu’s or viruses. And I don’t but still take precautions to avoid unnecessary exposure. I probably mentioned many times that I DVR the news and everything else. I watch the new is fast forward with the sound off. If it’s something sweet like a puppy, animal or a cute baby, I will watch happy stuff in real time. I’m informed but not bombarded. I’m technically in high risk group. Over 70 and with lung disease but I’ve been holding that at bay longer than expected too. I tell myself daily that I’m going to make liars out of the statisticians who predict how long I can last with this. I read a lot of uplifting spiritual information that puts my mind and attitude in charge. I add that to your toolkit and see my therapist once a month to keep me focused on living fully. I am concerned for those that this is impacting financially. So many small businesses are being hit hard. But I can’t fix it so it doesn’t help to worry or panic. I have everything we need here and if I don’t we’ll do without for awhile. Panic serves no one. My daughter will be working from home for several weeks too. This will be interesting but doable. 😉 I am such a lucky person. Thanks for sharing your toolbox. I’ll keep this list handy in case I get lost. I am still taking walks outside 5 days a week. Exercise is a great stress reliever. So is nature and my daughter is in love with your birds. The sweet Koala melts the heart too.
You have already put in practice so many helpful and positive tools. The trick is to take the tools that work for you and adapt them so they are fun and comfortable to do on a daily basis. This way they become a necessary and enjoyable part of your daily life. You are already doing this which makes me happy. You are taking good care of yourself. Good on you Marlene. Stay safe and be well my friend ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
Gorgeous as always.🍹
Stay safe my friend and thank you ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
Reblogged this on firefly465 and commented:
A wonderful and extremely helpful post from Cindy knoke.com This will truly help us all in the coming months.
Lots of us actually have time now to practice and incorporate anxiety management into our daily lives, so this is an opportunity. Thank you Adele & take good care <3
I have been following your advice, thank you. <3
I am glad. Take good care <3
Thank you so much, Cindy, this will help loads. <3
I’m glad. These techniques help us get a sense of control over our emotions during scary times. Be well my friend and stay safe <3
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Thank you for your thoughtfulness & take good care <3
I needed to read this today. Thanks for sharing. Hopped over from Adele Marie’s Blog Firefly465.
Thank you & Adele Marie <3
Reblogged this on Mary J. McCoy-Dressel ~ Contemporary Romance and commented:
Hey, Folks, I really needed this post today from Cindy Knoke’s Blog. Maybe you do too.
Thank you for passing this on Mary. I hope it is helpful to people. Cheers to you & it is lovely to meet you~
My pleasure. Lovely to meet you too, Cindy.
♡´･ᴗ･`♡
https://www.eldiario.es/fotos/puede-verse-Papa-Francisco-higienico_EDIIMA20200315_0520_19.jpg
nos manipulan , nos meten miedo……no hay ningun estudio cientifico serio.. en que se pueda creer y ver…nos mienten en la cara…un gran bluff…instalado por quienes controlan el Planeta.. y tu te lo has creido.
Muertes anuales por Coronavirus alredor de 5800
Muertes anuales por gripe común mas de 600.000
🙂 Thank you for such positivity. I know..not a word, but it clearly should be. 😉 I have a cabin in a beautiful meadow by a river. I can describe it to you in intimate detail. I visit often in times of stress. I do things there, relaxing things. I bake pies, sit by the fire, meander down to the creek. I made this cabin in my mind when I was young. Nature has always been my respite. I often wonder if I could just will it into existence and purchase it. LOL It’s so real in my mind I can literally feel the things I do there. This is definitely the upside of being able to visualize and feel things so intensely. I don’t have to tell you the downside. LOL Stay safe sweet Cindy, you always bring peace and joy to those around you with all your wonderful photos.
Your cabin sounds like a place I would love to be and I am happy you have the ability to escape there in your mind. This is precisely what I do and it is immensely relaxing. I read this book awhile back by Tony Judt called, ‘The Memory Chalet.” Tony had ALS. The swiss chalet he went to as a child was where he went to all the time in his mind to escape the progression of his disease. This type of guided imagination is extremely powerful. I am glad you practise this and know what I am talking about. Thank you for your very kind comment & stay safe my friend <3
Good advice during these echo chamber days. Nice pictures too, I never really thought about Australia as being a bird watcher’s paradise.
Oz definitely is bird paradise and this is the reason I went back a second time. I will never get enough of Australia’s birds.
Thanks, Cindy, for such valuable, practical help. Although I’m aware, at a certain level, that the mind is a powerful tool at my disposal, it’s not always easy to programme it for yourself. Lying in bed, ‘thinking’, is often the worst. At least once I’m up I can do things to distract (and the house does need a good clean 🙂 )
I hear you. Thought stopping is hard. Distraction, like cleaning your house, is a good alternative, and you get the very clean house!!! 😉
🙂 🙂
Your pictures alone always make me smile 🙂
Your kind comment just made me smile 🐨
You are amazing, Cindy. Thank you for valuable help ♥
Awww…..friends like you make it all worthwhile Leya. You are more than welcome 🐨
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Thank you so much for these excellent ideas. And thank you for the gorgeous photos to brighten my morning!
You kind comment just brightened my morning, so thank you too!
Reblogged this on Musings on Life & Experience and commented:
Anxiety Management During Pandemic Days
Thank you caring and sharing Patricia and stay safe my friend <3
Such wise advice, along with beautiful images, Cindy! Thank you for this!
I have been long absent from even reading blogs, but hope to get more engaged again. Peace!
Peace back to you & stay safe my friend. Its nice to have you back ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
😘❤🤗
Hi Cindy, thank you so much for sharing these helpful techniques with us. The guided imagination exercise is particularly interesting to me. Oh, and the photos really help as well. I hope you and your family are hanging in there.
We are hanging in here Stephanae, thank you. I love guided imagination. It works wonderfully for me and is lots of fun too. Thanks for stopping by my friend & stay safe ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
You too!🤗
♡♡
Reblogged this on The Unsaid Words of Untold Stories and commented:
Helping to Pass Through Difficult Times
Thank you Anjum for caring, sharing & helping. It makes a difference ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
welcome dear Friend Cindy..you are a great writer..doing the most needed work for humanity -May Allah bless you with the best amen. I admire you much
Awww, so very kind of you Anjum and so appreciated. I send blessings and amen back to you my friend and return the admiration as well. Stay safe & well my friend ♡´･ᴗ･`♡
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Thank you for sharing, caring & helping! Stay safe & well <3
Lovely photographs that of themselves help to calm fears and put the mind in a better place. Great helpful advice as well. I am fortunate that not much panics me but I do have my worries. Nature is a great escape from the world’s troubles.
Thank you Steve! I am so glad that these images are calming to you and appreciate you letting me know. Nature is soothing balm. It is necessary for my life and keeps me happy. Stay safe & take care.
It is no wonder there are over 350 comments on this succinct, uplifting and visually beautiful post Cindy. Thank you. <3
Awwww, thank you sweet friend. You make me happy I posted. Stay safe & take good care <3 <3
<3 <3 Yes. Stay safe. Stay in! x
♡(｡・‧̫・｡)♡
Love this Cindy! I have six specific strategies for kids. Really important time for us all to look after our mental health. Would love to know your thoughts;
https://behaviour101.com/2020/03/20/6-ways-to-help-anxious-children-during-coronavirus/amp/
I love your strategies and think it is really important that we not forget anxiety in children. I did visualization and progressive relaxation exercises with my kids when they were little. They loved it and kids respond really readily to relaxation programs. Thank you so much for emphasizing such an important topic and for coming up with goo solutions. Kids are anxious about coronavirus and adults need tools to help them.
thank you for the advice! It’s gotten tiring listening to all the mainstream talking points about anxiety during such a difficult time. These are actually really good strategies. Check out my recent post about acknowledging & accepting ‘coronanxiety’ here: https://hurricaneheatherjane.wordpress.com/2020/03/20/20-3-2020/
I read your post with great interest and agree with your points. I also salute you for having the courage to acknowledge your anxiety publicly. You just took some of the power and shame away from it. Good on you! Anxiety is peculiar beast. I have found ways to take power away from it. Acknowledging it to others, as you just did here, is one way. Accepting and not blaming yourself for having anxiety are other ways, which you are also doing. Anxiety is a protective reaction to an unsafe situation. Tell me what part of the world is safe. Giving anxiety a moment to breathe before working to subdue it also helps. After all, as you point out, anxiety is understandable, but subduing it is helpful. Good luck to you and I commend your courage in writing this. Anxious people are often quite brave, especially in crisis situations. It’s dealing with the hum of anxiety before the crisis that is the challenge.
Even the photos alone are peaceful to my mind, thank you.
Thank you for a very beautiful picture
Impressed!
You are most welcome and thank you for the appreciation (♡´❍`♡)
Thank you for the kind words 🙂
Have a nice today for Cindy
You too my friend and thank you ღ
Have a good time~ 🙂
As always Cindy such wonderfully sharp and colourful photographs, thank you for sharing.
Best Wishes
Kevin
Thank you Kevin. I am cooking up a storm these days and am applying some of your soup improvement suggestions to good result. Thank you for posting them. Cooking and eating well these in times of stress and uncertainty is a big comfort. Stay safe my friend (♡´❍`♡)
Reblogged this on ckbooksblog and commented:
Lovely images to view for stress management.
Thanks for spreading positivity Christine & stay safe my friend (♡´❍`♡)*✧ ✰ ｡*
Thank you, Cindy, for sharing your expertise with this timely and sage advice. These are essential mind tools in our modern-day life, and especially helpful now to combat the anxiety that even the most stoic of us are feeling. Stay safe and be well. And thank you for your beautiful photos of all things wonderful; nature and animals.
All things wonderful;
“nature and animals.”
I couldn’t agree with you more!
Lovely pictures and great tips, Cindy! Stay safe.
Thank you & take good care Cynthia ღ
Reblogged this on Smorgasbord Blog Magazine and commented:
As a psychotherapist who has practiced for many years, Cindy Knoke is highly qualified to share coping strategies during this very frightening pandemic we are living through. In this post, she combines some of her beautiful images and talks us through creating an anxiety toolbox. Essential reading for all of us, particularly if you are self-isolated alone or who have younger family members who are finding it difficult to cope.. #recommended
Awww, kind Sally. The world is such a better place because of people like you! Thank you for caring & sharing and spreading positive steps we all can take. Stay safe & well my friend. ♡♡
Thanks very much for a very helpful guide to navigating through this crisis..stay safe.. hugs ♥♥
ღღ
Thank you Cindy… invaluable strategies and advice. Living here in Ireland with sisters and a brother in lock down in the UK at the moment, it is also that feeling of powerlessness to help in any practical way. Thank goodness for the Internet with its positive applications such as video and email etc to keep in touch… ♥
Yes, helplessness regarding those we love is the hardest. Acknowledging our powerlessness can help a bit. I like the serenity prayer for this especially. And birds inspire me. They are helpless too, but they always sing! Love to you Sally & to your family. ♡♡
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog.
Hi there, just to let you know I am nominating you for the Vincent Ehindero Bloggers Award. I hope you accept. Take care Morag
Thank you very much for the very good advices, Carol! Hope you and yours are staying well, and save. Best wishes, Michael
Thank you Michael & take good care my friend. ♡♡
Thank you too, Cindy! Will do. Seems it will be a longer walk. Michael
It will be დ
:-))
Reblogged this on From guestwriters and commented:
When living in Lockdown places, even in cities when still able to go some kilometres away from home, even if it has now become more limited in several places, those not limited by (1-1-1 or 1 person 1 meter from home at a time) may be happy to count themselves to the lucky ones who may still move around and should be enjoying to see all those things for which they previously had not taken enough time to notice them.
“… should be enjoying to see all those things for which they previously had not taken enough time to notice them.”
I love your words Marcus! They speak such truth. Crisis brings unexpected opportunity to see and do things differently. Stay safe my friend & thank you.