No matter where you are in the world, this current Coronavirus Pandemic is a tough time for everyone. From cancelled events to school closures to constant bombardment of news or updates, social distancing may make it feel like you are not even ‘active’ or ‘presence’ in your life or let alone your social life. From usual habits of chatting with your co-workers or friends to even your regular fitness routines, there are things that may feel missing and lost during this time which anxiety and worry may have filled. Two strategies to try:

Identify that your worry or anxiety is completely normal. You are not alone. If the feeling is around latest news around COVID-19, of course that is completely understandable – but please make sure that you are using reliable and vetted sources like World Health Organization’s site with your information along with taking breaks from constant consumption of news.

Mindful distractions. I know we are taught about efficiency and limited our distractions but when we are under difficult times, it can be helpful to re-examine the current struggles that you face and interrupt them. For example, re-examining your thoughts, feelings, and problems into two approaches – item you can do something about (ie direct action in your control) or item you can do nothing about (ie action not in your control). You will soon realize that most things that we worry about fall into the latter, which then in turn could be interrupted by mindful distractions to occupy our time and mind with instead of focusing on items that you can do nothing about.

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