I’ve had anxiety for as long as I can remember. So explaining it to people always proves difficult because for the longest time, I never knew other peoples’ minds were any different than my own. I thought everyone replayed every single conversation over and over in their head. I thought everyone got nervous when out in public alone and pinched themselves. I didn’t know that this came off as irrational to other people until well into college.
The best way that I’ve described it is like having a very full mind. The other way I’ve described it is being like Toby from “The Office.” Your thoughts are annoying, unnecessary and never seem to go away; hence the full mind. I can literally have three separate thoughts at the same time, and at times the made-up scenarios I play out over and over in my head can start to seem real.
With anxiety, we often jump to the worst possible conclusion and that’s the scenario we play out over and over. And for someone without anxiety, that seems ridiculous –and it is. But doing so helps me to prepare for if that scenario does happen. Right now there’s so much unknown in the world. When will we be able to go back to work? When can we visit our friends again? Are our parents and grandparents going to be okay? These intrusive thoughts take over and we cannot even being to process how to deal with them other than panic.
Over years of dealing with anxiety I’ve found several things that bring me comfort during any kind of anxious periods I face, this pandemic included. The first way is going to sound very cliché but yoga. Yoga is the single most positive thing that has helped me with mindfulness. Before all of this happened, I was going at least once a week and it was always one of the highlights of my week. I loved the time to unwind and unplug from everything even if only for an hour. I started using some of what we would practice in class outside of class. Before work, I would always lay in child’s pose, (which can help an upset stomach, which for anyone with anxiety it’s often a physical side affect) and just focus on breathing. Almost all yoga practices really focus on the breath more than anything because it is truly the root of creating a sense of calm and control. Especially during a panic attack or when you feel uneasy, really taking control of your breath will be the quickest way to help yourself calm down.
The other thing that I find that helps me with mindfulness is writing. Writing for me is very cathartic, regardless of the form of writing I find just sitting and taking time to put pen to paper helps to create a more mindful self. Whether is a poem, a funny short story, a journal entry or even a list of goals for the day. I find that putting my thoughts onto paper helps me to organize them better than letting them all float around in my head. It’s chaos in there, so taking a few things out helps to create a better sense of control. Even people who aren’t writers can find solace in this. I’ve seen so many people creating daily affirmations or daily lists to help themselves throughout the day. The affirmations you can go back to when you start to feel overwhelmed, and the list will help you achieve a sense of accomplishment and accountability.
I’m also a huge fan of TV and movies. Like, maybe too big of a fan of television; I always say that I am weirdly obsessed with TV shows. I find TV comedies to be very comforting in times of high stress and anxiety. Sometimes distracting and distancing from the problem for a little bit can help you to come back to it with more peace and a clearer mind. I find that a comedy can help brighten your spirits when you’re especially down. Finding a show you really love can really help with the comfort aspect. A show you already know the plot line and can quote right along with will help you to relax more. When my anxiety is especially bad I always watch “Friends.” I find it can sooth me when I’m anxious and also make me laugh. For a long time I couldn’t fall asleep without “Friends” playing. It was huge in helping me overcome my most anxious times.
Unplugging is the one that seems almost impossible right now, but the payoff will be the most rewarding. You want to stay informed and aware of what’s going on, but I find that I’ve been obsessive about it, looking at every article I can find and trying to be as knowledgable as possible; but while doing that it’s been creating more panic and has been making me more anxious.
I’ve been trying to devote more time to things that don’t involve my phone, like writing or reading. I’ve also been playing more games recently and have been playing Scrabble almost nonstop and really enjoying it. I love that I feel like I’m actually using my mind and not just mindlessly scrolling through posts for hours on end. Although it may seem almost irresponsible to unplug at a time like this, it can be vital to your mental health to help you create a better sense of security.
Be mindful about how often you’re reading about this pandemic and how often you let it rule your conversation. When you’re calling friends and checking in on them, ask them how their day is, ask them about their schoolwork or how they’re handling working from home or not working at all. Ask them about them, don’t just converse back and forth about what should be done and what shouldn’t be done — that isn’t going to be conducive for mindfulness for either one of you.
This is a scary time for everyone and people with anxiety and mental health problems are having an even harder time with trying to cope. Having ways to help yourself create mindfulness can help youth better cope with what’s going on. It often feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders with anxiety; you feel the problems of everyone else and you want more than anything to be able to fix it. Everything feels so heavy, problems of people you don’t know but read about on the internet weigh you down. Although you may not be able to irradiate the problem, you certainly can do things to help yourself and others with creating mindfulness even with a full mind.
