Difficult times and difficult feelings
The unfolding of the events during the past week has been incredible, and seeing for the n time in my life the invasion of a sovereign state, and war starting once again is horrendous, painful, and it really seems to live in a nightmare once again. For this reason I thought about 6 tips to manage stress and difficult emotions that can be helpful in this moment to balance our day to day and help us manage our feelings.
The display of solidarity towards Ukraine has been incredible, and it is going in hand with many sanctions against Russia, in an attempt to do everything possible to stop this madness and prevent a nuclear war.
Images of war and of people fleeing the war zone is heart breaking, and feeling hopeless and frightened can be overwhelming, so much that we might find ourselves unable to deal with our emotions and/or incapable to cope with what is going on.
Please consider as well that we are coming from a very difficult couple of years, after having experienced fear, isolation and worry due to the pandemic, feelings second only to the ones that a war can produce.
Be realistic about what you can do
Awareness is very important, showing support and helping within one’s capability is crucial, but the constant feeling of worry and fear is not helping ourselves (or any other person for that matter!) and can instead lead to burn out and depressive feelings. And that has really only detrimental effects, no benefits for anybody.
So, how can we cope with what’s going on? How can we deal with these feelings without simply (and uselessly) hiding our head under the sand?
6 tips to manage stress and difficult emotions
There are a few things we can recur to that might help us, and in the spirit to help ourselves in order to be able to help others, I believe we should focus on trying them out!
1. Find the right measure.
Watching the news all day is definitely not the right thing to do, and I believe avoiding them completely is not a good option too (being removed from reality is not a good idea, to be honest, as you might risk an even worst impact the moment you are forced to face what’s going on).
Try to find a balance and watch the news only once per day, you’ll still be up to date, but you can avoid the induced feeling of fear of insecurity that a constant exposure to the news might create.
2. Try to list the things you can actually do, and focus on those only.
It might not be much, but we have to acknowledge what it is really in our power at the moment! Manifesting is a way to push for our country to take action as much as possible, but in many countries manifesting might still be discouraged by the pandemic, and people could be scared to go for it.
Surely sending money is a good way to help, so why not searching for a reliable intermediary to send founds to help Ukraine. I have seen many activities starting, Ukrainian business owners asking for support on social media; and here you can find the link to a reliable source to donate money, but please feel free to do your own research, you might find further channels to send your economic help.
Can’t do none of the above? There is no shame in it, as the pandemic left many people in a critic situation, and money excess might be a blessing you do not have at the moment. You could anyway try to simply raise awareness on the various ways to help, and bring somebody who actually can to give his economic support. What is important here is not to stress about things you do not have power over: that stress is useless, detrimental, and if you cannot do anything about it… What’s the point?
3. Take care of yourself
I know, I say and suggest that a lot, but even here is vitally important that you remember how important it is. Self care is what literally enables us to be fully functional and helpful to others, and although it might seem egoistic, on the other hand, your stressing and fucking up all of your health routine won’t surely help anybody, so try to overcome the feeling of guilt and futility and stick to a wellbeing practice.
Focus on the most important things: enough sleep, proper healthy meals, movement to maintain your body healthy, and your mind focused.
4. Acknowledge your feelings and transform them
Avoiding our feelings is not going to be helpful, but drowning in them won’t either, it is right and normal to feel this way but do not let them overwhelm you. There are a few emotion management techniques, and you can try to find out what works best for you.
You can try with mindful meditation (here is a link if you want to know more) to bring back awareness on the present moment, on the here and now, and help you put things into perspective. Here you can find to seven minutes mindful meditation that you mind find helpful!
If you are willing to go with a guided meditation, you might want to try one to help you release excessive fear and worry, and gain clarity to do what you need, for yourself and others. You tube is an incredible source, have a look at this helpful one created by Marisa Peer, a world-renowned Rapid Transformational Therapy trainer, and you might find many more on her you tube channel.
5. Don’t underestimate the power of prayer
Praying can be an incredible help, and it is not necessarily linked to religion. The original form of prayer has something in common in all the main religions, and behind it resides its power.
According to Joseph Murphy, an acclaimed major figure in the human potential movement, what is really important is how we pray. He states that it is not the thing that is believed in that brings an answer to one’s prayers, but the mental picture or thought that we are able to strongly hold on to when praying, that actually prompt an answer from our subconscious mind. Many people from different religions get an answer to their prayers, despite the enormous difference between their specific beliefs. And this is because is not important what you believe, but that you believe it in the first place. The key to prayer is to ask for something and be grateful as if you had already obtained it.
You need to have faith and believe that what you are asking for will happen, and feel the emotion in yourself as it has actually already happened. (Joseph Murphy “The power of your subconscious mind” is the wonderful book that explains with extreme clarity all of the above).
If you want to know more you can check this video and understand better what we are talking about.
6. Find the beauty and the happiness in the small things.
Always find the time to appreciate what you have and celebrate life, count your blessing and be grateful. Focus on it and set aside time to do it if you have too! You owe this to yourself and to others who might not share your blessings.
I hope you found these 6 tips to manage stress and difficult emotions helpful, and you’ll be willing to try some of the above to improve your wellbeing and cope with the difficult feelings that might arise in this historical moment. Let me know in the comments if you already have an effective way of coping with this stressful situation!
IMAGE CREDIT: pixabay