Mid Life Stress and Covid-19

Mid-life has stressful situations already. We see our bodies changing, we stress about money and retirement, whether we have achieved our lifetime goals, wonder if we are doing enough, worry about our children and our parents. Thus, is life. 

Now on top of all that, add the stress of daily life dealing with the current COVID-19 pandemic. 

How can we deal with all this stress without going completely nuts?

Anger, anxiety, depression, and fear are all normal reactions to stressful situations. Here are a few things that you can do that have helped me through the stressful days of the unknown. 

1. To begin, take a breath: Put your hand on your abdomen and as you inhale, feel your abdomen expand. Close your eyes and pay attention to one full inhalation and one full exhalation. Do this belly breathing a few minutes at a time and several times throughout the day. Focusing on breathing has multiple benefits. It relaxes us by taking our mind off other things. It gently stretches and tones our core muscles and the natural movement of our body during this exercise helps to strengthen our pelvic floor.  Deep breathing also helps improve our posture as you need to sit tall when you are breathing and filling up your diaphragm.
2. Keep your mind occupied: This can be anything from doing something you love whether it is a hobby (mine is plants, I love to make container gardens), exercising, reading, painting, cooking, etc.
3. Maintain your health: Eat nutritiously and drink plenty of water to hydrate your body. Get some fresh air and take a walk, make a goal to get 5500 steps or more a day.
4. Be a friend: Call or text and check on other’s emotional well-being. If you have the capability set up a video chat or Zoom call with your friends and loved ones.
5. Stay informed but do not leave the TV on: Nonstop news and negative media will just add to your stress. Do not share information unless you know it to be true, this only adds unnecessary fear and anxiety to others. Plus, there is no point to worrying about untrue things or things that are unlikely to happen. One of my favorite sayings from Luke 12: 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his lifespan?
6. Keep things in perspective: This may sound corny to you but put gratitude into practice. It helps bring us back to reality when we have lost perspective. Sure, there are big things going on right now but remember your life portfolio. Your ability to walk, talk, see, hear and love are way more important than the current value of a financial statement. Write down your blessings ― shelter, food, health (focusing on what is working, not just what is not working) and, most of all, the people in your life. Do this every day.

As we tip-toe back into socially interacting it is extremely important to practice safety precautions. There is no way to ensure you have zero risk of infection, so it is important to understand the risks and know how to be as safe as possible. 

People at increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19, and those who live with them, should consider their level of risk before deciding to go out and ensure they are taking steps to protect themselves. Consider avoiding activities where taking protective measures may be difficult, such as activities where social distancing cannot be maintained. 

Here are some things to consider when venturing back out into public settings.

1. Wash your hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
2. Wear a mask, cloth face covering should cover your nose and mouth. Face coverings are especially important when it is difficult to stay at least 6ft apart from others or when people are indoors to help protect each other.
• Cloth face coverings may slow the spread of the virus and help people who may have the virus and do knot know it from transmitting it to others.
• Wearing a cloth face covering helps protect others in case you are infected, while others wear one to protect you should they be infected. 
3.  If going out to dinner call ahead and find out their seating and capacity situation. Of course, outdoor dining would be best but if there is none available ask what time is typically their slowest for diners and consider adjusting your dinner time.
4. Consider changing the time you usually go to the grocery store. Now that days have turned into weeks and weeks into months it is difficult to remember what day it is. It is no longer safe to assume you will be in and out on a Tuesday at 9am or Thursday at 3pm. Here is a tip to find out when the slowest time is to visit your local grocer. Google maps offer a feature that I recently learned about but is by no means a new feature. Simply Google your local grocery in Google Maps. A sidebar will appear in the search results that shows popular times based on historical data.

                                         

There are many factors that can increase your risk for severe illness, such as having underlying medical conditions. By understanding the factors that put you at an increased risk, you can make decisions about what kind of precautions to take in your daily life.

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Until next time, thanks for visiting

Trina