Fear and Panic with Coronavirus—2 Tips to Navigate Using Mindbody Wisdom
Fear and Panic with Coronavirus—2 Tips to Navigate Using Mindbody Wisdom
Mindbody Wellness Clarity Tip
Dear Awesome Woman,
What a time we’re living in now! Such fear and panic percolating around the coronavirus as well as nonchalance attitudes and even mockery. Different opinions and different advice with so much yet unknown.
So what can you do? I’d like to share two tips that involve using your Mindbody system’s wisdom:
Tip #1: Know when you are in fear or panic: what’s the difference?
Fear is a free flowing emotional energy that alerts us to get focused and take action.
Let’s give some examples of how the emotion of fear shows up in mild situations. If you are a student and you have a test coming up in a few days, you may feel a bit of nervousness in your stomach. Since emotions are “energy in motion” and are in the body as physical sensations, what could this nervousness be sharing with you? It says pay attention—something important is coming up that you need to prepare for, that you need to take action on. You could put your hand on your stomach, resting it there in a comforting measure and say “thank you” to your body. You can let it know that you are taking action and then do so—decide when you’ll be studying to be prepared for the exam.
Have a trip coming up? The emotion of fear will arise perhaps as a bubbly sensation to alert you that prep needs to be done—you’ll need to pack. Thank your body again and take action or decide when you’ll be taking action in that direction.
Fear is also the emotion that arises in dangerous situations to protect us—there is a threat to our safety and well-being. This can be from a person (Gavin de Becker’s book, “The Gift of Fear” illuminates this) or from a situation. An example of the energy of fear helping in regards to a situation was when I was driving one winter day on slick roads and my car started to slip down a hill towards a red light. The alertness and presence of free flowing fear that took place in my body and mind allowed me to react quickly by turning the wheel towards the curb to stop.
When I reached my destination a few minutes later, there was still a buzzing sensation in my body with my heart beating rapidly. I stayed in my car and did a quick temper tantrum release—I got really big with my energy (this is one of my favorite mindbody techniques, the shortened version of what I now call the ROAR© process. It’s excellent for your health! If you suffer from pain symptoms, autoimmune disorders (like fibro), trauma wounding or anxiety, schedule your free Clarity Call today).
I also put my hand on my heart and became present to its fast beating. I gave myself a kind, compassionate message of acknowledgement: “that was scary.”
By taking a few moments after a frightening situation to tune into my body, release emotional energy, validate my experience and comfort myself, I was ready to move on with the rest of my day with my mind clear. If I had not taken that short amount of time for that mindbody self-care, my brain would have stayed stuck on the trauma by ruminating and energizing the event.
Now let’s talk about panic. Panic can happen when we don’t pay attention to the sensation of fear which is telling us to get present—something needs our attention— and for us to take action. It’s like the emotional energy of the fear is being ignored or suppressed. It then becomes stuck in the body, goes wild and overwhelms our senses as the mind brings up visuals of a frightening future. We drop into full emergency survival mode which is not always the most helpful place to be.
For panic, it is best to ground in the present moment with a sense meditation. Feel your feet on the floor wherever you may be. Notice the solidness of the ground and put your attention on your soles. Wiggle your toes and notice that wiggling. Let your mind’s awareness drop to that area of your body. Then you can listen to the sounds around you, take a breath in and smell what you smell, and see what you see around you. This takes only a few minutes and is allowing you to get really present to the physical safety of the moment. Afterwards, when you feel calmer, you can ask yourself: “What do I actually need to be doing now? What action would be helpful to take?”
Tip #2: Decide from your body’s wisdom of fear how much preparation you’d like to do in regards to the coronavirus. Would you like to stock up on toilet paper? Some people laugh about this, but if this is what feels good to you to do, then take action. Toilet paper can always be used when the situation calms down.
If going out and about and just being careful to wash your hands feels good to you, then great! Just do that. I know a sprite, young-in-mind-and-heart woman who is in her eighties and lives in New York. She told me that she is continuing to go to the gym, exercise and get out with her friends. She is choosing to go about her day as she always has. She also has food in the freezer and is well stocked up with what she needs.
Another important point: please throw pressuring self-judgement to the side—that just causes stress and tension in the body which lowers the immune system. And especially throw other peoples’ judgements to the side. You are discerning how you want to take action now.
Also, listen to your body’s wisdom and be kind to you—what other actions feel good to keep your stress levels down as much as possible? Going out, staying in, resting, eating well, enjoying comedy videos, gathering with friends, watching less news—what is going to keep you in compassion and a well frame of mind? Give that compassion to yourself and it will also radiate outwards to the world at large.
Need a helping hand? I invite you to schedule your Free Clarity Call today. As a Somatic Healer, Clarity Coach and Relationship Expert, I help empower women to trust themselves through the wisdom of their bodies and intuition. Marriage tune-up, toxic relationship healing, career decisions, goal setting, emotional and physical pain relief, and trauma processing can all be accomplished through an integrated somatic process in person or over the phone. Download your free eguide: ‘3 Secrets to Solve Burnout and Get Energized the Mindbody Wellness Way.’ Also, please visit MiriamRacquel.com for more Mindbody Wellness articles. Looking forward to connecting!
In a client’s words:
“Each session with Miriam I become more deeply acquainted with my inner being both past and present. I am feeling an “at home” feeling in my body that I have never known. I have opened a beautiful space for my voice to be heard and for me to be seen as the kind sensitive soul that I am. Miriam’s intuitive wisdom and fail-proof techniques have allowed me to release deeply held feelings through my body and my voice creating space for my intuition and creativity to come through. I have tools to stay grounded.”
– L.A., Boston, MA
Feel free to forward this newsletter to friends and share the light of healing.
Sending love and blessings,
Miriam Racquel (Meryl)
Somatic Healer & Clarity Coach
MiriamRacquel.com
