How to Deal with Stress During COVID-19
In this uncertain and unprecedented time, there’s no doubt you may be feeling things you have never felt before, or feelings are amplified due to the added stress because of COVID-19. Many people are saying how they feel like everything is falling apart and have no control over anything anymore. I myself am feeling more out of control than I ever have and as a self-declared type-A control-freak, this has me feeling like I have absolutely ZERO control!
Adapting to a New Normal
The activities you would normally do on a day to day basis look quite different than they did just one month ago – going into work, meeting a friend for coffee, going out to dinner with your significant other, even just taking your kids to the park, have all come to a crashing halt.
You likely feel you no longer have control over the simplest things and while this is true in many ways, there are still things that you can do to gain control back in certain areas of your life and we’re here to share some of those ideas with you!
Plan Your Meals and Eat Healthy
In my opinion, this is one of the most important ways we can control an aspect of our lives right now. Given how important our immune health is at this time, it is extremely crucial we are fueling our bodies with healthy and nutrient-rich foods.
This will help keep our immunity up and lessen our risk of getting sick and because we are home more, we have the time and ability to get creative cooking in the kitchen!
Also, with social distancing in place, we are not eating out and grabbing things on the go as often, as well as hopefully only going to the grocery store once per week at most and if possible once every two weeks.
That’s why meal planning is especially handy right now when it’s best to get all the groceries we need at one time. Thankfully, Nature’s has made grocery shopping even easier by creating our Curbside pick-up! You don’t even need to go into the store to get your groceries anymore, we do the shopping for you and even load your car up!
Be sure to take advantage of this service we are offering by placing your order here:
#CrushTheCurveAtNECurb
Now offering contactless pickup at all of our locations.
Orange-Ginger Immune Boosting Smoothie Bowl
Ingredients
- 1 organic orange peeled and cubed
- 1 organic carrot peeled and shredded
- 1 tsp fresh organic ginger grated
- ½ cup filtered water
- ½ cup Riveria Coconut Yogurt
- 1 tbsp Healing Spirit Nutrition Coconut Kefir or The Cultured Coconut Probiotic Drink
- 1 tbsp Prana Chia Seeds
- 1-2 Nature’s Emporium Dates start with one, increase to taste
- ½ tsp Nature’s Emporium Cinnamon
- 1 scoop Genuine Health Fermented Gut Superfood Orange ginger flavour
- ½ cup crushed ice
Instructions
- Peel the orange and shred the carrot and place in a high speed blender, along with the grated ginger and water. Blend until combined.
- Add in the remaining ingredients (coconut yogurt, kefir/probiotic drink, chia seeds, dates, cinnamon, Genuine Health Gut Superfoods and Innotech Protein Powder, if using) and blend until all ingredients are combined well.
- Add crushed ice to chill and help thicken your smoothie bowl.
- Pour into a bowl and top with your favorite superfoods or fresh fruit and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Create a Routine
Having a routine in a time when your life has literally been flipped upside down is another easy way of feeling like you have more control. There is nothing worse than waking up and starting your day feeling frazzled and not being sure of what to do first. Prior to this pandemic you most likely had a routine down – wake up, shower, get ready, eat breakfast, go to work.
Some of you may have even done some sort of exercise or also had a routine with your kids and pets, and this was all before you left the house for work. Now with many of us working from home and little ones being home all the time, our routines may have gotten a little off track with kids running around all hours of the day, or you simply sleeping in a little longer because you can.
I highly encourage you to try your best to stick that same routine you once had to help regain a sense of control back in this area of your life. Just because certain aspects of your life have been changed at this point, it doesn’t mean everything else has to change!
Practice Self-Care
Self-care is essential even during good times, so it’s a must when we are feeling like there is no control left. Self-care is defined as “the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health”, and this is critical in this high-stress time.
Speaking of time, you most likely have more of it since you aren’t getting out and doing the usual things that would often be an excuse as to why you weren’t practicing self-care
Let yourself sleep in on the weekend, start that exercise program you’ve been trying to do since the new year started, do a face mask or have a nice long bath, using a favourite product.
One of my personal favourite ways to treat myself is with a nice hot bubble bath while wearing Acure Brilliantly Brightening Under Eye Supergreens Hydrogels, which is double the self-care and perfect for soothing my tired eyes from not sleeping as much due to overwhelming feelings. Don’t have extra time, that’s okay – self-care doesn’t have to take long. Even just taking 5 minutes to practice deep breathing in the morning, putting on make-up or snuggling up for a quick cuddle with your fur-baby is bound to make you feel better in just a few minutes and give you a sense of control back in your life.
Acknowledging Your Thoughts and Reframing Them
Your thoughts and minds are probably racing at the speed of light right now because of everything happening in the world right now. With all these different thoughts happening at the same time, it’s hard to feel in control of them. How do you stop this from happening, or eliminate the feeling of being out of control of your thoughts?
Acknowledge them! Let your body feel everything it is that you’re thinking. It’s happening for a reason, it’s your mind’s way of adapting to the changing environment and while these thoughts can be consuming and overwhelming, they are there and they are valid.
However, the important thing is to remember to reframe them after you have listened to them otherwise you may end up drawing harmful conclusions that may be far from the outcome.
For example: in the current state, your initial thought might be, “I am never going to see my extended family again”, your reframed thought would be, “While I don’t get to see them right now, this will all come to an end at some point and I will be reunited with them.
By social distancing, I am doing my best for myself and everyone else right now so I can be reconnected with them in the future”. This takes practice, but it is so important for gaining control back of your feelings so you don’t end up consumed by them.
Your Access to Media Coverage
This is probably one of the more difficult things to do with everything that is happening. Every news outlet, television, radio and internet are consumed with COVID-19 stories and information.
While this is important to help us stay informed and educated on the most updated state of the pandemic, it can also drive your fear into overdrive, leading you to feel less and less in control of your own life.
I would encourage you to limit the amount of time you are spending watching the news and media coverage to whatever minimum you are comfortable with. Limiting your exposure is important because it will allow you to regain control of your thoughts by not constantly being consumed by all of the info that is being portrayed every single second of the day by every single media outlet.
I am not saying it is not important to stay informed, but I am saying it is important to limit how much time you are spending doing this. Your mind and body will thank you!
Moving Your Body
As I mentioned before, you likely have more time on your hands since you’re no longer commuting to and from work and what better way to fill this time than adding a little bit of activity into your day. I am not saying you need to join a gym, because well you can’t exactly do that.
You can, however, take this extra time to go for a walk outside in nature, start practicing yoga, or if you need a little more intensity, there are about a million HIIT videos available for you to watch online in the comfort of your own home.
By focusing on adding some activity in your day to day routine, you are going to be able to channel your energy on something else other than the consuming thoughts of lack of control and negativity we are all currently experiencing.
There you have it, 6 simple ways to help you gain back some control in your life! Even by simply adopting one of these helpful suggestions, you will gain a sense of control in your life that you can have control over in this time of uncertainty.
Stay home and stay safe!