If you’re feeling extra anxiety these days, you are not alone. We’re all in a state of uncertainty as we’re facing the coronavirus, its economic fallout, and the social disruption sweeping through the country. None of us are going to come out of this year unchanged. 

Living through such collective trauma can be extremely disorienting and unsettling—and fuel anxiety, especially for those of us already susceptible to it. Anxiety feeds on uncertainty. When under chronic stress, we can get overwhelmed and regress easily, often without even realizing it. Stress can bring out the worst in us.

I’ve lived with high levels of anxiety my whole life, mostly unaware of it running the show. At times it served me well, kept me safe, and propelled me forward without being much of a disruption. Yet, most of the time I felt like I was drowning, swimming against the current, unable to settle and find inner peace. 

Anxiety for me most manifested in negative thoughts taking over, and adding to the chaos of the situation. In stressful times I had a tendency to gravitate toward the worst-case scenarios, and instead of focusing on solutions, I’d get lost in thoughts about what went or could go wrong. 

Over the years, as I worked through my healing process and tackled anxiety head-on, I learned to shift out of anxious energy and into a more balanced approach to life by adopting healthy mind-body-soul habits that countered the negative effects of living with uncertainty. 

3 Mind-Body-Heart Practices For Coping With Uncertain Times

1. MIND—Shift to living in the present moment.

The hallmark of anxiety is excessive worrying about what’s to come. To counter our worrying tendencies, we can practice mindfulness to help us cope with uncertainty.

The times we are living through now are giving us plenty of reasons to worry. Whether it’s getting sick from the virus, losing income due to massive layoffs, being stuck indoors missing friends and family, or the long-term mental health consequences of going through it all—these are all valid and substantial fears, no doubt about it. Access to many of our coping tools is largely gone too, whether it was going to the gym, in-person sessions with a counselor, or hanging out with our social support circle. 

The first line of defense is the realization that we are not alone—we are all going through this collectively right now. Reframing our struggle with anxiety as a part of the human experience can help us step back from being engulfed by it, and hold it in balanced awareness without being completely absorbed by negative feelings.

One way of practicing is by meditating. Meditation teaches us to be an observer. We learn to observe our thoughts as they come and go—and learn detachment. Sometimes we get hooked on thought but eventually—since we’re not distracted by the outside world—we realize we’ve gotten lost and we come back to the breath, and the now. With practice, we get lost less and less. We learn that thoughts come and go, like waves of the ocean—and we can just notice, allow, feel briefly, and then let go before we notice the next thought and the next. 

The core of mindfulness—and where the real change happens—is learning to come back to the present moment when we notice getting lost in our thoughts. This is of course difficult. Our minds are largely operating on autopilot and under the influence of our subconscious. The good news is that we can rewire our brain with practice.

This ability to observe what’s going on in our mind is a powerful tool against anxiety. Recognizing when we get lost in our worries is the first step in stopping the thought train before it spirals out of control. With practice, we learn not to buy into our thoughts and instead allow them to come and go without getting too attached. By doing this, we live more in the present awareness, allowing and accepting life as is. As anxiety drops away, we learn to flow with life.

It’s good to establish this habit before you’re in a state of acute stress. Throughout the day, take a moment to practice mindfulness: pause, take in a few slow breaths, notice the sensations of the air going in through your nose, and exhaling out through your nose. As you breathe in, say, “May I be happy, healthy, and peaceful”, and as you breathe out say, “May I be free of suffering”. Feel it vibrate through your body fully.

2. BODY—Get out of your head and into your body.

Anxiety has us living in our head, with worry thoughts circling around in our mind. This is especially common for those of us disconnected from our body, whether due to trauma or living with unchecked stress and chronic overwhelm for too long. One way of combating this habitual overthinking is by reconnecting with the body.

We can do it in a lot of ways, most simply by reconnecting with our senses: sounds we’re hearing at the moment, the sensation of our hands or feet tingling, or the sight of a tree dancing in the wind. This helps us come back to the present moment, and center ourselves.

In your daily mindfulness practice, notice any sensations arising within your body—pain, tension, pressure, temperature points, tingling. Allow any feelings to come up, breathe into those spaces, and offer yourself compassion for any discomfort you may be feeling.

Returning to our senses in the moment of stress is very grounding and can shift us out of anxiety. Taking it a step further and adding movement and exercise is even more beneficial. Whether you love yoga, running, swimming, dancing, gardening, hiking, or biking, being physically active will benefit both your body and mind unlike anything else.

Chronic overwhelm means that the body’s stress response is continually turned on, accumulating to the point of tension, pain, and disease. Movement is how we remove that tension and bring our body back to a relaxed state. The most rewarding for me personally, yoga integrates physical movement with mental control and breath, connecting body and mind, the nervous system, and the respiratory system. Like meditation, yoga is a self-healing practice you can easily incorporate into every day. 

Beginning each day with gentle yoga practice is a great way to set a positive mood, enhance the flow of energy around your body, and reconnect with yourself before taking on the day. Then find an activity that you love that works your body hard and incorporate it more into each day to help you release stress and tension on an ongoing basis.

3. HEART—Surround yourself with nature.

Nature is one of the most grounding elements that we have in life. Given that we are in front of screens much more than we used to, spending time in nature is especially critical now.

Whether it’s growing food or flowers, exercising outdoors, or being around animals, surrounding yourself with nature can benefit us physically, mentally, and spiritually. Taking time to be mindful of all the beautiful green spaces around you, watching the birds, or listening to bubbly spring will have a calming effect and take you out of your head.  

While taking a ‘bath’ in the forest to recenter yourself is best, that’s not always possible, especially these days. The good news is that even short walks in your local park can help you clear your head, reduce cortisol levels, improve your mood, and reduce anxiety. Another commonly accessible way of surrounding yourself with nature is by gardening or taking care of house plants. 

Spending time in nature is therapeutic, so surround yourself with green spaces, whether through hiking, gardening, or getting more plants for your home. Create rituals and habits that will foster your connection with nature, like watering your garden in the evening, repotting plants on Saturdays, and long walks around a lake on weekday mornings. Soak nature’s energy in as often as you can—it’s healing.

—

Mindfulness has been practiced for stress reduction in general and coping with uncertain times specifically for decades and that’s because it works. Learning to live more in the moment, connected to our body and the natural world around us can shift us out of the stress of worry and into a more present and connected state of mind, building resilience along the way.

We learn that while we can’t avoid stressful events, we can have a different relationship with what’s going on outside of us—we can learn to surf the waves. And that is empowering!