Some Basics

WE ARE ALL EXPERIENCING A TIME OF GREAT UNCERTAINTY. BELOW YOU WILL FIND A LIST OF LINKS AND RESOURCES TO HELP YOU COPE WITH THE MANY DIFFICULT EMOTIONS YOU MAY BE EXPERIENCING:

Some basics to keep in mind:

• We're in this together. Be kind.
  • Stay kind, your neighbor is not your threat.
  • Smile at people when you go out, wave to strangers.
  • We all need to feel like we belong and are loved and lovable.​
• Go outside. Every. Day.
  • We are all feeling anxiety and research supports the positive effects of the outdoors. 
  • Getting outdoors will allow you to see others and smile and keep you feeling connected.
  • Getting outdoors helps you connect with your body and gets you out of your head and the scary thoughts that are swirling in there.
  • Moving your body boosts your mood.
• ​Meditate. Even if it's just for a minute​.
  • Meditation allows us to get out of our heads-- the rumination, worry, overwhelming thoughts. It breaks the "alarming thought, alarming body sensation" cycle that we can get stuck in and brings us back to the present. Being in the present and noticing our breath calms our nervous system immediately. You don't have to be a Yogi to meditate.
  • Try it:
    1. ​​Bring your awareness to your breath. Just notice how your breath breathes itself.
    2. Notice the rise and the fall of your breath and where you feel it the most (chest, belly, in-between).
    3. Begin to count your breath in your mind. "1" on the in-breath, "2" on the out-breath and continue until you get to 10.
    4. Start over at "1" and repeat this cycle.
    5. Do this just for a minute.
    6. Reflect. What happened? How do you feel? Did you leave your head just for a bit?
• ​​​Stay in the Present and Embrace Uncertainty
  • ​Future plans are really just an idea. Our futures are always uncertain but usually we are in denial about that. This pandemic is stripping away that denial. This time is an opportunity to try to embrace the existential reality that we don't really know what our next minute brings.  Our only for-sure experience is the "right now".
  • Notice what's happening "right now" to stay in the present. No matter what you are doing--- washing dishes, washing your hands, giving a hug ---be present with that. 
    • Use your 5 senses (what am I seeing, hearing, tactile feeling, hearing, smelling?) to notice what is happening right now.
    • Just observe, try not to judge, as if you were describing a painting.

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Additional Resources

A guided meditation for anxiety by Tara Brach, PhD: "Calling on your Awakened Heart"

Having trouble sleeping? Here's a 6 minute YouTube video from Jud Brewer, PhD, MD on why anxiety makes it hard to sleep and 3 things you can do about it.

Three free tapping meditations  to reduce anxiety (download of app required).

Free guided imagery for kids and adults by Belleruth Naparstek, LISW. She releases a new guided imagery every day at noon.

A wonderfully-positive post by Jeff, Personal Trainer and Owner of Surefire Fitness in Ames.

Another positive article about being comforted and staying kind by Andrew Penn, Psychiatric RN.

Help and understanding about the emotional process of going through this pandemic by Andrew Penn.

Two beautiful, carefully-curated compilations of visual and listening resources by the On Being Project. "A Care Package for Uncertain Times" and "For the Exhausted and Overwhelmed".

Brené Brown's recent podcast on strategies for falling apart, staying connected + kind, and giving ourselves permission to feel hard things.

A very brief and interesting tutorial on proper hand-washing. It explains why the 20 second rule is important. Very helpful for kids (and adults)!