You’ve got your toilet paper. You’ve got your groceries. You’re (hopefully) in a safe place. You are doing social distancing and washing your hands. You’ve done what you can for your physical survival.
But have you thought about how you get through this pandemic mentally? Have you considered what you need to be able to stay positive, focused, and emotionally well?
Most people haven’t, but taking care of your mental wellbeing is at least as important as taking care of your physical survival. And, as we all know, the mind and the body are linked in important ways, so what your mind is experiencing sends messages to your body about whether you should be healthy and well, or whether you should be tuning into disease, lower immunity, and pain.
In fact, multiple research studies confirm that your immune system is stronger when you feel safe, happy, and loved. In this one, they looked at why the immune system is stronger in young women that are in love. In another, they showed that happiness has a profound effect on gene expression that have antiviral roles, and that loneliness increases genes that have a role in inflammatory responses (inflammation is not a good thing in the body, in case you were wondering).
So, how do you create your mental survival kit? Here are my 10 steps to creating one that truly works for you:
1. First, get an actual box or bag that you can keep at hand.
Yes, you are creating an actual kit; think of this like a first aid kit for your mental and emotional wellbeing.
A physical kit (with perhaps a virtual copy) is key here. The reason? When you are feeling overwhelmed and stressed, you don’t want to be searching around for solutions. In that mode, you likely won’t even be able to think about what you need!
The reason? If you are stressed and anxious, you are likely to also be in decision fatigue. Decision fatigue is basically the point you hit when you’ve had to make too many decisions (even small ones) and deal with too many things at once, and you can no longer think clearly enough to make a good decision or come up with a good solution.
If you are not familiar with this concept, I highly suggest you check out the research on it. In doing so, you’ll quickly see that in times like these, you are making tons of little and big and exhausting decisions for your own wellbeing, worrying about others’ wellbeing, reading every opinion on the news and trying to make new decisions on that, and that leads to absolute paralysis when it comes to being able to find a quick solution when you are feeling overwhelmed.
Enter the physical mental survival kit. The idea is that, once created, this should need no thought whatsoever to use. You feel overwhelmed, you go to your kit, you see a whole list of solutions, and from that list, you pick one. No additional thought needed.
Now, start putting it together with these key items:
2. Create a list of friends and family that are supportive and loving.
Connection with others is a critical component to our wellbeing and a healthy immune system. However, the kind of connection is important here. If, for instance, you are connecting with people that make you feel scared, worried, or bad about yourself, your immune system will take a hit for the worse.
If you connect with loving, supportive people, you will feel safer, happier, and your immune system will respond with a boost of genes that strengthen your response.
Who in your life makes you feel uplifted and loved? Who makes you belly laugh? Who seems to always find the good in even the worst situations? Write down a list of those people and put it in your kit.
Then, reach out to some of those people and set an actual time to talk each week. I find that it’s best if you can do a video call, but literally any interaction - from texting to phone to sending a note - is a good one for your mental and emotional wellbeing.
You can also create a group call on Skype, Google Hangouts, Zoom, or FaceTime. If you are really feeling organized, create a calendar that everyone can schedule their own times to have an “appointment” with you.
However you do it, the key idea is to make sure that you are actually scheduling time with these people on a regular basis during this situation. (And frankly, this might be a takeaway from this - even after we are all through it, keep a schedule of connecting with these people who uplift you!)
3. Grab books that inspire you.
We all have books that we can pick up and read even a few minutes and suddenly feel better. What books do that for you?
Make a list of those books. If you’ve actually got the physical copies of the book, put those in your kit. If not, put your list in your kit. When you are feeling off and in need of inspiration, go to your kit and pick one of these books to read for at least 10 minutes. You will be amazed how quickly you shift out of worry and fear into hope and joy with just a little help!
While I am at it, grab a free ebook copy of my book, The Flow Method now.
4. List podcasts that lift you up.
There are many awesome people in the world who have created wonderful podcasts that lift you up and make you feel better and calmer. There are others who have created funny or joyful podcasts that make you belly laugh.
Both of these kinds of podcasts are amazing right now. Make a list of the ones you love and keep that list in your kit. When you are feeling off, tune in to one of these for even a few minutes.
5. List movies or shows that make you laugh or feel happy
As I mentioned at the beginning, happiness increases your immune response. So, now is the time to load up on things that make you laugh and feel truly joyful.
For instance, I just rewatched Naked Gun 33 1/2 and Clue–both classic comedies and both hilarious.
For shows, Schitt’s Creek, Arrested Development, and 30 Rock are go-tos for me.
Find the things that make you laugh and make a list of those. This is not the time for deep, depressing documentaries–this is the time for comedy, love, and joy. Put that list in your kit and grab it when you are looking for something joyful and silly to watch.
6. List activities that lift you up or help you release stress.
While we are staying home as much as possible right now, it’s important to keep in mind activities that will lift you up and help you feel healthier and happier.
For me, things like taking a walk in nature (while social distancing) and taking a drive with my favorite music on are really helping.
Other things you might list:
Yoga
Working out
Board games
Playing with kids in the yard
Working in the garden
Sitting in the sun
Reading a good book
Dancing to great music
Reading spiritual or religious text
Painting
These are just ideas; the important thing is for you to list things that make YOU feel good.
7. Connect with gratitude
There is absolutely no doubt that we are collectively going through a very difficult time right now. However, even in moments of difficulty, there is still much to be grateful for.
One thing that helps me tremendously is to sit down for 5 minutes each night and write at least 5 things that I am grateful for that day. In doing so, I find that there is so much in my life that is beautiful and good, and it connects me with the feeling that life is more abundant than I may feel sometimes.
It also connects with a sense that we can expect more good things tomorrow, and the next day, and so on - and that connects with a higher frequency that keeps you in a more abundant, positive mindset. Setting the expectation that good things come to you helps more good things come to you.
8. Create (or use) a mantra.
If you are not familiar with it, a mantra is either a “word or sound repeated to aid concentration in meditation” or a “statement or slogan repeated frequently.” Either way, it can help you to stay sane, uplifted, and healthy.
There is an impressive body of evidence that mantras have a positive effect, even if you think they whole thing is gibberish. There are a whole bunch of theories as to why this works, but from my perspective, it’s because you are literally creating a new neural pathways that is of a higher frequency than your old one, which creates a better mental state. (See my book for why that works. :) )
You can either use classic Hindu or Buddhist mantras or you can create your own. My favorite Buddhist mantra - and one I use frequently - is Om Mani Padme Hum, which has several levels of meaning, but, in the most simplistic terms, it means that you are taking a path to creating a union of mind, body, and spirit through wisdom and method.
There are lots of other ones to choose from; here’s a comprehensive list. See if one of those speaks to you.
If not, create your own mantra. To do so, you want to use words that have the most emotionally positive response in you. Read these words and see which ones create a feeling of joy, hope, excitement, or positivity in your body:
Resilient
Joy
Happiness
Hope
Oneness
Peace
Goodness
Optimistic
Love
Abundant
Goodness
Better
Safety
Safe
Empowered
Protected
What other words make you feel all the good feelings? Add to that list.
Now, take the words that made you feel the strongest positive responses and create a mantra for yourself out of them. Here are some examples:
“I am resilient and I believe I will come out of this stronger and better.”
“I believe my life is betting better in every way. “
“I am loved. I am hopeful. I am happy. I am wise.”
“Peace. Love, Joy. Abudance. Good health. Safety.”
“I am protected and safe.”
Do whatever feels right to you, but definitely do something with a mantra. When you are feeling anxious or overwhelmed, go back to the mantra. Repeat it to yourself, focusing on your breath and connecting with a feeling of peace, happiness, and love.
Okay, we’ve got a list of things to put in your kit. Here’s what you need to limit or avoid altogether:
1. Social media
In a time like this when we are all having to distance ourselves from one another, social media can be a lifeline. However, if you are going down rabbit holes of negativity on there, reading about the latest illnesses and deaths and getting madder and madder at politicians, then you need to put a hard stop to that.
Make sure that those you interact with and follow are putting out good things that make you feel better. If not, you can easily unfollow people putting out negativity and vitriol, and you should.
If you notice that any time on social media is making you feel anxious and upset, then limit it entirely for at least a day. Notice if you feel better (spoiler alert: you will), and then choose to limit your social media to a few minutes a day or not at all.
2. News
In the early moments of this pandemic, I found myself searching through the news WAY more than I ever would, trying to get some solid understanding of what we were facing and what the government was doing about it. You know what that did? It made me anxious and seriously overwhelmed. I started to worry about how to stop this, how to help people who couldn’t get groceries, how to help people who were stuck in their homes with abusive people, how to get healthcare workers the protective gear they needed - the list went on and on.
Worse, of all the things I was worrying about, there was little to nothing I could specifically do to make it better. All I was doing was completely stressing myself out without any outlet to make a positive change.
I realized that this was not good and not healthy. I also realized that, while there were many things I could not control, there were some that I could. I could stay home and do the social distancing. I could check on people in my life to make sure that they were okay and safe, and if they needed something, I could provide it. I could buy gift certificates to my beloved local restaurants and businesses to offer them support.
So, I turned off the news and focused on the things I could control and the good I could do. I suggest you do the same. Stay home. Flatten the curve. Help those that you can.
3. Interactions with negative or exhausting people
Are there people in your life that exhaust you? Do those people constantly bring you down or hurt you? There has never been a better time to set healthy boundaries and limit or completely eliminate interactions with these people.
Unfortunately, I know that some of you are stuck at home with these negative people. Stay tuned for future trainings on how to protect yourself if you are in that situation.
This is my list for a mental survival kit. What ideas do you have?
Stay safe and healthy, and stay home for now. We will get through this together, and we will get through it quicker if we all take it seriously and stay home. - Much love, Tara
Has this been helpful to you? Be awesome and like and share!
*Here is a list of just some of the research studies that have shown the connection between happiness, love, safety and other positive emotions and a stronger immune response:
How love increases our immune response: https://news.tulane.edu/pr/new-study-analyzes-how-falling-love-influences-immune-system-women
How adverse events (social isolation, negative socioeconomic conditions, bereavement, and other negative experiences) down-regulates genes involved in the immune response and up-regulates genes responsible for inflammatory responses: https://www.pnas.org/content/108/7/3080
Great article with many studies on how happiness influences our immune response: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-happiness-boosts-the-immune-system/
Scientific research on the effectiveness of mantras: https://buddhaweekly.com/science-mantras-mantras-work-without-faith-research-supports-effectiveness-sanskrit-mantra-healing-even-environmental-transformation/
