How To Protect Your Inner Peace During The Pandemic

It felt like a horror movie come true, and it still feels that way for most people. The shock from the breaking news, and frightening reports, all mixed with conspiracy theories, and even more dramatic lock downs was intense. It felt like the world was going to come to an end in 2020.

It was chaos on a global level. The international market was a mess. Money lost value, and even more, people lost their jobs. Thousands of people got infected and the death tolls kept shooting up without any signs of slowing down. It was an exponential increase of not just the virus, but of anxiety, fear, panic, and mental illnesses.

Many people took to distracting themselves with video games, Netflix, alcohol, and anything they knew could teleport them out of this seemingly burning world.

Though the world wasn’t at war, it was at the brink of collapse, at least it felt that way…

But this is far from the reality. Yes, the virus is still out there (as of the time of this writing) and there’s no denying that the fear of the invisible enemies is still looming and threatening the world. 

The truth is that there is great uncertainty, but the world governments are working tirelessly to get everything back to normal. 

However, uncertainty is a condition we (humans) are terrible at dealing with. We are instinctively drawn to thinking the worst. This is the reason we have so much panic in the first place.

And all these – fear and panic – is bad for our mental health: it leads to cycles of nightmares, depression, worry, and overall misery. It pushes us to make bad decisions and impedes our performance in general. It strips us of our inner peace.

This is why it is important now more than ever, to learn to protect our inner peace – even amidst the confusion and uncertainty.

8 STEPS FOR PROTECTING YOUR INNER PEACE

You are not alone in feeling a bit worried and even troubled about the pandemic. In fact, it is a natural and normal response. 

But, since it is not a nice feeling, nor something you should sit with, below are the most practical steps you can adopt to protect your inner peace during this troubling time.

1. Filter Your information: With a lot of false and outdated information being thrown around, it is crucial that you limit your channels of getting information to trustworthy and regularly updated sources only. You should go to sources such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and The World Health Organization (WHO). They both have websites and handles on social media platforms that deliver trustworthy information.
2. Know The Facts: Even though there is a lot of uncertainty, it doesn’t mean we have no clue what we are dealing with at all. We know that 80% of the cases are not life-threatening, and only very sick or aged people are at risk of dying. And, whilst this isn’t particularly good news, it makes you realize that the whole situation is less grim. So, know your facts.
3. Acknowledge and Talk About Your Fears: There is no use in denying that you are scared. You should accept this fact because you’re not alone. Once you’ve accepted that you are scared, you can then proceed to talk to someone who is calm and more knowledgeable than you are. The result is most likely going to be a general sense of relief and hope.
4. Meditate: Practice calming your mind – or letting go of worries. Fear is caused by thinking about a future negative outcome, therefore, you can combat the fear by putting yourself in the present moment. Just breath in and out gently. Be calm.
5. Face Your Worst Fears: It sounds counterproductive, but you can deal with your fears by pushing yourself to think about the worst possible outcome. Here is the thing, once you’ve envisioned the worst possible outcome, you become less terrified by it. This is not being pessimistic, it’s about building mental toughness – resilience, inner strength and immunity. By being brutally honest with yourself about your fears, it gives you time to raise your defenses or avoid it entirely. It also enables you to wear your masks, take vitamins, get enough sleep and wash your hands (always) because you know those are your protection from danger. And by doing so, you prevent your worst fear from ever happening. 
6. Exercise More: Incorporating workout sessions in your daily routine would help clear your mind and keep you in the moment. It also helps your body eliminate toxins and brings you into a better state of mind – a calmer one.
7. Occupy Your Mind With Other Meaningful Activities: Reading, taking courses online, or getting creative and working on a project can keep you from worrying about what you cannot control – by giving you something to be in control of.
8. Develop A Routine: And finally, you can restore a sense of control and certainty in your life by developing routines and rituals. Once you’ve assigned each moment of your day to something meaningful to you, you become less and less worried about the events outside your control. You essentially create a safe haven for yourself – even if it’s in the middle of another lock down.

Having said that, don’t lose yourself during these trying times. Just hang in there because worrying is not helpful and will get you nowhere. The best you can do for the world and yourself in moments like these is to keep your peace even when the going gets tough.

Photo by Mor Shani on Unsplash