These are challenging times, sometimes scary times we’re living through and news media is filled with sensational stories about COVID-19 designed to grab our attention.

But there is another virus spreading – The anxiety “virus” and it’s spreading quickly through a phenomenon known as social contagion.

This extreme level of uncertainty gets passed from person to person via social media, driving up anxiety to panic levels. 

Now, more than ever, we need to stay calm and remember that we can view the present situation as an opportunity to reflect and make better choices.

Here are 3 simple tools you can use to support you to feel calm & regain your balance.

Tool #1- Ask yourself Better Questions

As you know our thinking creates our reality and we need to do all we can to manage our thinking to stay calm and avoid anxiety.

Here are some questions to enable you and your families to manage these challenging times in the most effective way.

The Sensible Question
Based on the most up to date advice, what do I need to do to keep myself and my loved ones healthy?

The Self-Management Question
What do I need to enable me to stay as optimistic as possible?

The Challenging Question
What positives can I take out of this?

The Calming Question
What do I need to do to create a sense of calm for me and my loved ones?

The Compassionate Question
What can I do for other people so that they feel supported and are OK?

Tool #2- Strengthen Your Immune System

It’s important to maintain a healthy lifestyle during this disruption in your regular life. 

I encourage you to turn your attention inwards and focus on your health and wellness, rather than listening to the news. 

The immune system uses many mechanisms to combat infection by microbes. These mechanisms work together, and the fully integrated immune response draws elements from many effector systems in order to tailor a response to the specific invading pathogen. Abnormal regulation of the various effector mechanisms can lead to chronic or acute tissue damage. 

Try to eat a proper diet, get enough sleep and exercise

Here are some helpful tips:

• Eat a diet high in fruits and vegetables.
• Exercise regularly.
• Maintain a healthy weight. 
• If you drink alcohol, drink only in moderation.
• Get adequate sleep.
• Take steps to avoid infection, such as washing your hands frequently and cooking meats thoroughly.
• Try to minimize stress.

Track Your macros

Install an app on your phone or computer that tracks your macros – that is, the total number of grams of carbohydrates, fat, and protein you ingest daily. 

I recommend: https://www.myfitnesspal.com/

In tracking your macros, aim to keep the total number of carbohydrates you ingest to less than 150 grams per day.

This can be quite challenging at first, but if you aim to satiate your food needs with protein-rich foods first and fat-rich foods second, I think you’ll find the goal of staying under 150 or 100 if you have inflammation, grams of carbs very doable.

Improve immunity with supplements

These all essential for nervous system and immune system function.

• Have ample amounts of naturally occurring vitamin C
• Calcium
• Magnesium, 
• and standardized levels of vitamins D-3, B-12, and B-6. 

Exercise: for immunity

Regular exercise is one of the pillars of healthy living. It improves cardiovascular health, lowers blood pressure, helps control body weight, and protects against a variety of diseases. 

Exercise contribute by promoting good circulation, which allows the cells and substances of the immune system to move through the body freely and do their job efficiently.

Tool #3- Manage your mental health

Stress and feeling overwhelmed has a profound impact on our mental wellbeing and women tend to be feel the affect, more than men, when it comes to coping with stress, anxiety and overwhelm.

You can improve your mental health by using mindfulness.

Evidence has suggested the benefit of mindfulness to health and wellbeing, with results showing positive effects on several aspects of whole-person health, including the mind, the brain, the body, and behaviour, as well as a person’s relationships with others.

How can mindfulness help?

• Mindfulness can be used as a tool to manage your mental wellbeing
• Mindfulness has been shown to help with stress, anxiety, depression and addictive behaviours.
• Mindfulness can help you lead a mentally healthier life and improve your mental wellbeing.

Deep Breathing for Anxiety and Stress.

To help you feel calm and wash away stress please watch this video.

Remember you don’t need to have it all figured out, you just need to know how to move forward — even in the midst of uncertainty AND maintain an unwavering focus on how you want to feel.

And lastly, I would like to offer you support.

Please join me for a free, informal chat , where I will support you with effective anti-anxiety strategies to help with stress, overwhelm, and overload, and of course, the overeating that can show up at challenging times.

Feel free to share this link to anyone you think might find it helpful.

Sending you and your family love and peace.

Check out https://irenageller.com.au for more from Irena.