You would be kidding yourself if you thought you weren’t emotionally affected in some way by the anxiety and fears we are all forced to deal with right now.

What we all need to do is more self-care. Stop the inner guilt trips about eating or drinking a little too much or watching too many movies or playing on your computer. We are all in uncharted territories and whatever it takes to escape to your happy place is where you need to go. 

Controlling Stress during a Global Pandemic

I thought I had my act together until I went down hard with a severe attack from my ulcerative colitis. I hadn’t seen that ugly stress-detecting monster for years. You can’t lie to your body about stress – it always knows.

I had to remember how I would “think myself well,” every time this happened over the years. 

First, you start by eliminating the stresses in your life that you have control over. If the news stresses you out, stop watching it. Never watch the news at night and then try to sleep. Take the weekends off from all news.

Methods for Relieving and Controlling Stress

Listen to meditations for sleep, inner-healing, deep relaxation, or whatever your mind and soul needs. You can buy CDs or download apps that you can easily access on your phone. Listen to a morning meditation and a sleep meditation. It’s amazing how this can help heal your inner-self.

Every meditation I have listened to begins with the request to breathe. I guess we forget to really breathe when we are stressed. Listen to yourself breathe in and out, allowing time to focus on your inner-self. 

I was watching an interview recently with Jay Shetty, a former monk turned storyteller and author. He was talking about ways to self-care. He was asked how we find gratitude at this point in our lives. He said, “When you’re present in gratitude, you can’t be anywhere else. You can’t have a negative thought.” 

He also suggested we reach out to a bigger group of people for more intimate conversations. Find five or 10 of your friends, whether by phone or Facebook, and share your lives. 

My daughter taught me how to “Marco Polo” online and it is really cathartic. You talk about whatever you want and for as long as you want. Then when the other person can give 100 percent of their attention, they check your Marco Polo message and send one back to you. Living in separate states, I enjoy seeing my daughter’s face and hearing her voice as she shares her thoughts and feelings with just me – her mom.

Only you can control your inner-care. It’s time to start taking your life back – beginning from the inside.