As the Coronavirus continues to spread across the globe, and daily stress and anxiety levels rise to new heights, I’m reaching out to you to offer a free download on my website which has been written specifically to help people deal with the daily uncertainties they are facing about the virus.
Studies have shown that facing uncertainty is often scarier than facing physical pain.
The human brain over millennia has developed an aversion to uncertainty. It is a carry-over from our inherent “fight-or-flight” reaction to threat. In our constant quest for certainty in our lives, we are wired to “catastrophise” – to view a given situation as worse than it actually is.
And this leads to worry, which in turn leads to anxiety.
For many of us who have never experienced events that have an enormous impact on everyday lives, these are unprecedented times.
Some people may already suffer with low-level anxiety and have found their symptoms have ramped up recently; others might be feeling new physical and psychological strains for the first time.
The lack of answers to questions raised by the current uncertainty – “What will happen?”, “What is in the future for us?”, “What if my livelihood is threatened?” – can lead to frustration, anger and aggression.
And awareness is the key. It is our superpower.
Feelings of uncertainty can be mitigated by the following:
• Be conscious of the “worry story” you tell yourself – and try to distance yourself from it.
• Focus on your breathing – take long, slow breaths.
• Recognise the need to rise above “fight-or-flight”.
• Accept the uncertainty – and allow yourself to stop the struggle against it.
I’ve spent years helping people to cope with and reduce their anxiety.
The techniques I teach my clients, whatever the trigger for their condition, can also be applied successfully in this current pandemic. I’d encourage anyone who is feeling stressed or anxious, whether they are directly affected by Coronavirus or are just generally worried about it, to download my session and see if it helps.”
The 18-minute English-language audio recording can be accessed from any computer or device, and simply requires the listener to be settled in a safe, quiet space, where they can fully engage with the words I’m speaking. Even just taking 15-20 minutes out of your day to focus on yourself, rather than the latest virus news update, can help you regain a sense of balance and focus. It’s all about relaxing your mind, deflecting the negative thoughts, and replacing them with calm, positive ones.
I would advise you to schedule a ‘worry window’, so you can better manage any negative thoughts and feelings by containing them in a predetermined time slot, and free up the rest of your day by banishing intrusive thoughts.
To some degree it’s natural to worry, and we all do it – it’s how our brain handles problems or potential problems.
But it stops being useful if we become stuck in a cycle of negative thoughts about things that are out of our control.
We should instead focus on those things within our control, and how we choose to respond to them.”
One such way people have been trying to exercise control and diminish their worries is by the unhelpful practice of ‘panic-buying’ goods, such as hand sanitiser and toilet roll.
One of the drivers of this behaviour is down to an overload of the ‘fight-or-flight’ response that’s hardwired into our DNA and is being further fuelled by images of empty shelves in the media, and on social media.
It’s an exaggeration of a natural reaction – we think we’re fighting for our survival. Suddenly, certain items take on much greater significance than usual and just possessing them seems to calm our fears, that is until the next bout of fear takes hold about a different ‘essential’ item.
This pandemic has many repercussions beyond the actual virus. One is the potential impact on mental health and wellbeing as people try to manage an increasingly stressful situation.
And if Mike can help ease that stress in just a small way, he believes it’s worthwhile trying.
Click here to listen to the free download
Mike Holland is a professional, fully qualified Clinical Hypnotherapist registered with the National Council for Hypnotherapy (NCH) and the General Hypnotherapy Register (GHR).
He is also a fully qualified & registered Mindfulness Teacher and teaches Mindfulness Meditation in 1-1 and group sessions and during the current coronavirus crisis, is providing all of his services online through Zoom and Skype sessions, so all people need is a decent internet connection and a device such as a smartphone, laptop iPad to access them.
He is currently supporting the NHS frontline staff by acting as a Check in & Chat volunteer and is on duty every day to talk to people suffering from the stresses and anxiety that isolation can bring.
Through his work, Mike has helped to improve the lives of hundreds and hundreds of people and is ready to help you to beat the uncertainty that this situation is causing many people.
For more information on this and the other services Mike offers, please contact him on mike01holland@gmail.com or text/call him on 07446 005472.
