Unwinding Tips during Pandemic Chaos!

Rainbow Abegg
Jul 29, 2020
4 min read

Chaos is identified as a state of disorder and disruption. It is by its very nature stress inducing. When our ‘normal’ is interrupted and life feels scattered our brains identify this as a threat. Even good changes like getting married or having a baby will rank you higher on tests for stress levels. Just imagine what happens in your brain when the threat is an unseen virus that is infecting the world at an astronomical rate. That’s pandemonium in the amygdala that reacts with strong survival instincts. We can calm it with techniques.

When your life feels under pressure it can flood you emotionally and give you a sense of being lost, lonely, overwhelmed, dysfunctional, and a host of other reactions that actually increase the stress levels. You may identify it as depression or anxiety when it hits you.

Please seek medical attention or therapeutic intervention if you feel beyond hope or if you are spiraling into despair. John Lennon said, “It will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.” Please use self awareness to guide you in your journey. Try these tips for self help and don’t hesitate to reach out to professionals if you are unable to get on track with coping strategies.

Name it! First and foremost identify what you are experiencing! Just start where you are and name what you feel and follow that trail to find the real story behind the story. You might become overloaded and lose it with someone you love. Do some reverse engineering to name what is really going on. I am stressed. Name what is behind that. I am bored and feeling pressure from work (or lack of work due to unemployment). Name what is behind that. I am afraid. Typically it will lead to this arena at some level.
Find it in your body. Speak to it with a calm voice of love and breath into your body some reassurance and stable thoughts. You can create a storm in your own mind and with practice you will be able to create calm.
Exercise. Get your body moving. You have too much stuck energy that wants to get out. Direct it in a healthy way. Take a walk or go big and run. It doesn’t matter just get your body moving. If you are unable to do that then stretch. You will always have something you can do. First you must decide to create a calming action, then take action. The pay off will be worth it. Use the pandemic to get into shape physically. It’s doable. Little bits will lead to improvement.
Mindfulness. Meditation is the gateway for this but just being in the mindset to stop rushing and start pay attention to whatever you are doing. When I go grocery shopping and my mind starts to race with worry or my to do list I remind myself, “I am just shopping right now. Be here now.”
Find a new hobby. Find an outlet to explore. There are some really interesting things you can try if you open yourself to new things. Bird watching and discovering the interesting habits of the birds in your area. Star gazing. Get an app on your phone or grab a book and go outside at night and learn the stars and their patterns. Find the constellations. We love to pull a mattress out in the backyard and study the sky. We’ve seen some pretty magical things in the night life of the stars, planets and the moon. Crocheting, wood working, writing, photography, painting, etc there are endless ideas that you can do while you are isolated and you can build the portfolio for your life and become a more interesting person while you do it!
Strengthen your resume’. What skills would make you a better candidate? Learn a language, develop a resource, create a prototype, invent something, take an online class, create an online class!
Give yourself a doable schedule. Most people get overwhelmed when their brain says you need to have all of this done right now! Yesterday was even better. Create time blocks for yourself so you know where you are going and pace it. A little each day is going to make an impact but if you get overwhelmed and just binge watch something you will not take a step forward. Direct yourself and stick to it for one week and see what you learned about yourself then adjust what was working and what isn’t.
Give yourself a break. Everything is out of control in many ways and that feeling alone will make stress a constant. Mario Andretti taught, “If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.” It’s all perspective. Take a chill pill and let go of control.

I invite you to check out my YouTube channel at Rainbow Abegg and find more ways to grow and direct your life. Please watch the videos to the end to boost my analytics and like, share, and subscribe for weekly Intel on how to create the life you dream about even during chaos!

Blessings,

Rainbow