Being with Uncertainty and Worry
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
As the media continues its blanket coverage of the Coronavirus, and as worry and uncertainty naturally grow, it seems pressing to pause, take a step back and bring gentle awareness to our own individual response.
It’s no secret that bad news sells. As news channels feast on a story - albeit an important one - that at last offers a complete change from years of Brexit coverage, this new, fast-changing narrative plays directly to our fears around lack of control and uncertainty.
Have you noticed how much media coverage is based around conjecture? The widespread, future-orientated, ‘what if’ narrative feeds our anxiety and naturally sends us in to a tail-spin of worry.
If feels important to ask what steps can we take as individuals to manage our own response to all this.
Be mindful of what news we are consuming, how often, and what affect it might be having on our wellbeing. We have the choice to ration, or stay away, from social media and/or news channels. Do we really need to be constantly reminded of worst case scenarios and of what’s happening on the other side of the world? What does this give us?
Keep things in absolute perspective whilst taking sensible precautions.
Keep practising Mindfulness and Yoga: use Mindfulness practices to be with thoughts and/or emotions of fear or uncertainty with more spaciousness and perspective (more on this below). Practice Yoga to stay connected to, and thankful for, our body, and to calm the central nervous system.
Stay grateful. Cultivating gratitude can be a powerful antidote to stress and worry. What can we be grateful for right now? Think of five things straight away; write them down. Repeat when you wake up, at bed time, and at any time you feel anxious.
A short Mindfulness practice to be with worry:
1) Take a moment to stop whatever you’re doing. What are you feeling right now? What sensations can you feel in your body? How are your shoulders? Where can your breath be most clearly felt? Take five or so deeper breaths, taking time to breathe in fully and gently, and exhale completely.
2) Next, bring awareness to your thoughts. What thoughts are around? Notice gently and with great curiosity: what is here for me? Do thoughts have a strong emotional charge; a ‘what if’ worried flavour? Can we recognise thoughts as thoughts, not necessarily facts? Offer yourself enormous kindness to whatever you might be feeling - not trying to change or push away your experience, but recognising and allowing. If you like, say the words, ‘it’s ok, let me feel this’, and notice where a fear or worry might be felt as sensation in the body.
3) Hold all this is a wide, spacious, gentle awareness. Notice how you feel now and repeat as many times as you need to.
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We also highly recommend checking out meditation teacher Tara Brach’s RAIN practice, to help de-tangle from difficult emotions. This meditation can be done anywhere, by anyone, and is detailed here.
It seems to me that working to remain centred, calm and clear in the midst of all this is a big but crucially important challenge, and one that needs gentle cultivation and a willingness to do look inwards.
Wishing you well at this time.
Lucia is YATM’s co-founder and an experienced Yoga and Mindfulness teacher. You can join her at Yoga at the Mill’s next upcoming Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course, starting April 25 - details here. More opportunities for Mindfulness, Rest and Relaxation are here:
Tuesdays 12-1pm: Mindfulness for Wellbeing class (weekly apart from school holidays) - click here
Saturday March 14: Mindfulness and Yoga Taster Session, 2.30-4pm - click here
Saturday March 21: Mindfulness and Relaxation workshop, 2.30-4pm (profits to animal rescue) - click here
Saturday April 4: Deep Rest Mini Retreat, 2-4.3pm - click here
Friday April 25: Rest and Relax workshop, 8-9.30pm - click here