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Personal Growth Fueled by Chaos and Crisis

Even if we manage to maintain our physical health during this global pandemic, it may be impossible to avoid the mental and emotional distress caused by COVID-19.

We are facing situations that we’ve never imagined.  We’re being asked to isolate ourselves, remove ourselves from the very spaces that bring us joy and a sense of connection.  Work is different, home is different, recreation is different.  Most of us didn’t come into these circumstances with the mental fortitude to manage such drastic change with no foreseeable end to the turmoil. 

This is a time of significant distress, and we’re being expected to deal with it without some of our favorite (and most effective) coping strategies.  No socializing!  No going out to eat or grabbing drinks with friends!  Shopping? Not at Nike or the Apple Store.  Your gym closed. Your spa appointment got canceled. Your favorite sporting events are no longer happening.  The world is upside down!

You’ve got a lot more time to sit with your own thoughts and feelings.  At a time like this, that can be scary.  However, if you want to use this COVID quarantine as an opportunity to gain some valuable skills, following the outline below will help build an incredible ability to relax…even in the face of a global crisis.

We can’t just snap our fingers and be more mentally and emotionally fit, so we need to dive in and start cultivating our relaxation SKILLS.  The best place to start is with guided relaxation exercises.  That may sound simple, but there are literally thousands of guided relaxation exercises available online.  Some are definitely better than others.  Some will sound like nails on a chalkboard.  It will take you some time to find one that fits your personal needs and preferences. 

Just follow these steps and you’ll be feeling calmer in no time.

1.  Find a guided relaxation exercise that you’re willing to do on a regular basis.  Find a voice that you like (man vs. woman, accent vs. no accent).  Pay attention to the music or lack of music.  It may take 30 minutes or more to find an exercise that works for you – be patient, and keep looking until you find something that you can stick with.

2.  Keep your expectations realistic.  Practicing the skill of relaxation in an intentional way can be a challenge.  There may be moments of discomfort.  You may doubt the benefits in the short term.  Just like any other new skill we’re trying to master, relaxation can be awkward at first. Over time, with consistent practice, your skill will improve.

3.  Initially, practice for no more than 10 to 15 minutes at a time.  Remember, consistency is the most important factor.  If you need to modify your goals, reduce the time of the exercise rather than frequency.  Two minutes, five times per week, is better than ten minutes once per week. 

4.  Understand that different exercises focus on different aspects of de-escalation. Try out a variety to see which works best for you.  Try any of the examples at http://infinitenorth.com/resources/  

Use the following categories to explore on your own.  You’ll notice several these types of exercises in the resources offered at www.infinitenorth.com

Mindfulness – These exercises focus on controlling attention, nonjudgmentally, in the present moment. Headspace is a great comprehensive app for mindfulness.

Autogenic Relaxation – These exercises focus on the transition to a sense of warm, heavy calmness throughout your body.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation – This is a slightly more active exercise focused on practicing tensing and relaxing major muscle groups.

Controlled Breathing or Diaphragmatic Breathing – These exercises simply focus on the breath, helping to increase awareness and support healthy regulation of our breathing patterns.

Guided Visualization or Guided Imagery – These exercises create relaxing mental escapes that we can retreat to whenever we need a break from reality (or just from our stressful thoughts).

Loving-kindness – These exercises focus on building a sense of compassion and connection.

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Dealing with Test Anxiety

When preparing for a test, a major component of being ready is about managing our stress effectively.  That means making sure our body and mind are setting us up for success. By practicing these guidelines, testing can be much less painful.

1.  Relax your body
Find a mindfulness or relaxation app (https://www.headspace.com/, https://www.calm.com/, https://breathball.com/) that helps you de-escalate from common symptoms of test anxiety (increased heart rate, dysregulated breathing, stomach aches, etc.).  Once you’ve got the app, practice the skill of de-escalation.  If you’re in a situation where you can’t use an app, simply focus on slow controlled breathing.  Inhale through the nose for 5 seconds then exhale gently through the mouth for 5 seconds (repeat as necessary).  Practice a minute or two of relaxation before during and after study sessions, and do the same thing for testing.

2. Manage your thoughts
When we experience stress or anxiety, our minds can become more rigid and it’s easier to believe distorted thoughts that are typically extremely unhealthy (i.e. “I’m gonna fail” “My life is over if I don’t ace this test” “What if I’m the only one that does badly on this test?”  “I should have studied another 10 hours.”)  Each of these examples will only intensify the emotional experience, leading to more suffering and probably worse performance.  You can learn more about distorted thinking patterns and how to challenge them from the series of blogs starting here.

3. Align Your Behavior to How You Want to Think and Feel
Our behavior influences our thoughts and physiology, so sometimes we need to make sure our behavior isn’t becoming an obstacle on our path to a happy successful life.  Engaging in nervous habits, distractions, avoidance, or procrastination tends to exacerbate the stress in the long term even if there is some mental and emotional relief in the short term. For example, Netflix and Youtube are designed to be highly effective distractors, yet when used to excess, time for things like studying and sleep can quickly be lost.  Read more about how to avoid distraction and procrastination here: http://infinitenorth.com/avoidance-the-burden-of-dodging-burdens/

4. Willingness and Acceptance
Be willing to feel a little anxious and stressed about your test.  School can be difficult and exams are intended to be a challenge in order to assess your understanding.  Just because you’re worried, doesn’t mean you’re not prepared.  If you constantly fight to not be anxious, or you consistently distract yourself from the discomfort of anxiety, you’ll end up enduring more suffering than you need to. You can find more information and a guided acceptance exercise here: http://infinitenorth.com/tricky-business-of-sincere-acceptance/

Through it all, be kind and patient with yourself.

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Stress Management and Relaxation Workshops

As I’ve developed as a clinician, I’ve slowly molded my view of mental well-being into what it is today.  My perspective has shifted, expanded, conformed, stretched, and reformed.  Preventative mental health care has become increasingly important.  Diagnosis is not a prerequisite of well-being.  No one has to wait until after a heart attack to initiate an exercise plan.  No one demands that you only see a medical doctor when you’re ill.  In fact, regular check-ups are encouraged.  I’d like to see mental health head in the same direction.  One of the ways I’ve decided to move toward preventative intervention is by offering a stress management and relaxation workshop in my community.  If you’re local, you can register here

The three hour workshop will introduce a variety of relaxation and stress management techniques for those occasionally (or frequently) overwhelmed with significant transitions, work responsibilities, family obligations, or life’s less specific burdens.  By developing a greater understanding of the emotional, mental, physiological, and behavior components of stress, strategies for managing it become much more accessible.  Signing up allows you to join a small group (eight or less) engaging in practical exercises and discussions aimed at cultivating a bit more peace in your life.

Choose any one of the four workshops offered and if you find it useful, feel free to up again to repeat the course.  You can join us in Poulsbo City Hall on:

Saturday April 23rd, 2016 from 9:30am to 12:30pm

Saturday May 7th, 2016 from 9:30am to 12:30pm

Saturday June 18th, 2016 from 9:30am to 12:30pm

Saturday August 20th, 2016 from 9:30am to 12:30pm

If you’d like to have this workshop tailored for staff training or as part of an employee wellness plan, contact me directly to discuss details. [contact-form-7 404 "Not Found"]

 

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Think You’re Relaxing? You May Just Be Distracted.

What do you do to relax?

  1. Read a book
  2. Take a bath
  3. Watch a movie
  4. Go for a walk
  5. Talk to a friend
  6. Drink a glass of wine

Those are the most common responses I get when I ask people how they relax.  Video games, social media, television, shopping, eating, and listen to music all make the list of frequent flyers. Everyone gets stressed, anxious, worried, or overwhelmed at some point, and we all find our own ways to cope.  Some strategies, however, are more helpful than others.  If you nodded your head in agreement as you read through the list above, you may be approaching relaxation very inefficiently.

In many circumstance, that temporary reprieve is enough to “reset” your thoughts and feelings back to baseline. 

Reading a book, watching a movie, or chatting with friends functions as a distraction from the physical, mental, and emotional discomfort you’re experiencing.  In many circumstances, that temporary reprieve is enough to “reset” your thoughts and feelings back to baseline.  The movie is over and you’re worries have subsided.  The riveting mystery novel pulls your thoughts away from the dangerous world around you and allows you to ruminate on which character is a red herring and which is the criminal mastermind.  An engaging conversation sometimes provides resolution, occasionally escalates stress, and often allows focus to shift away from your problems onto someone else’s concerns.

Taking a bath by candlelight can provide an alternative, more comfortable, physical experience.  A bath also requires a certain level of unplugging from the day-to-day grind.  Hopefully, you don’t take your laptop or phone into the bath with you.  When you’re in the tub, you’re not expected to cook dinner, fix the faucet, finish homework, fold laundry, pick up the kids, clean the house, or mow the grass.  You’re relieved of those obligations (momentarily).  A brisk walk serves a very similar function in terms of alleviating the sense of obligation and opening yourself up to new sensations – beautiful views, the smell of fresh air, a warm breeze on your face, etc.

The glass of wine chemically alters your experience.  Alcohol is a depressant, so it can mask some of the physical discomfort associated with elevated stress levels.  Some people use wine as an add-on to one of the other strategies.  A good book and wine.  An exciting movie and wine.  A bath and wine.

These strategies are, at best, inefficient methods of relaxation. 

The whole list would best be described as distractions.  Distractions that sometimes help to momentarily reduce stress.  These strategies are, at best, inefficient methods of relaxation.  That’s not to say they don’t work for some people, and they certainly don’t need to be altogether avoided.  Relaxation, I argue, is a skill unto itself.  Therefore, the only proper way to relax is to intentionally and directly practice relaxation.  I know it’s circular logic. “In order to relax, you have to relax.”  Here’s what I mean.  Relaxation is an active reduction in physiological arousal.  It’s a skill you can improve.  With practice, you can achieve deeper relaxation in less time.  All the changes that occur when we are stressed – increased heart rate, muscle tension, altered breathing patterns, increased blood pressure, disruptions to digestion, mental fog, pressured speech, and general unrest – can be actively managed.  Relaxation exercises such as controlled breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, autogenics, mindfulness meditation, and guided imagery offer a concrete tool to reduce the symptoms of stress and anxiety.

By practicing the skill of relaxation, you can effectively move your baseline level of stress.  If you run through your day with baseline stress of 65/100, and when it hits 80, you give yourself permission to regroup with a glass of wine in a warm tub, chances are, by the time you towel off, you’re down to a 65.  Now, 65 is normal, so it feels like you accomplished something and that the bath was effective.  By practicing relaxation skills like the ones listed above, you can shift your baseline.  With consistent practice, 50  (or 40…or 30) becomes the new normal and you’ve got much more bandwidth before you get overwhelmed.  Additionally, the relaxation skills toolbox is filled with strategies that can be applied much more pervasively.  Stressed at work?  Good luck sneaking away to some dark corner to watch a movie.  Anxious about traffic?  There’s no way you’re taking a walk or slipping into a bath.  The most useful strategies for relaxation can be used anywhere at any time (I’m especially talking about controlled breathing here).

This way of looking at relaxation parallels physical fitness.  You don’t go for a jog exclusively when you’re sick, injured, or otherwise sub-optimal in terms of health.  You exercise consistently in order to ensure that your overall fitness helping you enjoy life.  Most days you don’t need to be incredibly fit, but it sure is nice to have it when you need it.  The same goes for relaxation.  You won’t need it every day, but if you haven’t been practicing, you won’t have it when you need it most.

You won’t need it everyday, but if you haven’t been practicing, you won’t have it when you need it most.

Give yourself a week or two, genuinely practicing active relaxation.  Take five to 15 minutes daily to listen to one of the exercises above, and let me know how it changes the way you experience stress.