5 Rules For Staying Emotionally Healthy During The COVID-19 Crisis

 
The online courses and events are shooting out of the ground like mushrooms in a warm rain! People seem to be as busy as ever, now going out not physically but digitally.

After taking some time last week to feel what I really need, I realized that in this Covid-19 crisis:

I crave connection.

I crave intimacy.

I crave telephone calls with close friends.

I crave Zoom calls with small groups.

I crave cuddles.

I crave real conversations.

I crave simplicity.

How about you? How are you feeling in this crisis?

Last week I wrote about the importance of caring for yourself first so that you can be there for others. I decided to make a couple of rules, which I feel have had a good impact on my health:

Do one thing a day only for pleasure. Forget about being productive or reaching goals and choose to do something only because you love it! You could eat your favorite chocolate, watch a series on Netflix or read a novel.

Do one thing a day only for your body. With so much sitting indoors we need to move. Find an online Pilates class, dance to your favorite song or take a walk.

Check in with yourself every day to see how you feel. Holding back how you feel for too long will make you feel tense and uneasy. Checking in with yourself will stop you from bottling up your feelings.

Do one thing a day for others. Compassion helps our brain to rest a bit. See how you could be of service to others. Maybe help a neighbor, call a friend who feels anxious, tell someone how much that person means to you or offer your expertise to a colleague.

Read news only twice daily. Control how much you read the news. Make sure you don’t check social media too often and avoid getting into a discussion with people who think differently about this crisis.

When I keep to these rules I worry less and can be there for myself as well as for others. My experience is that when we concentrate on fewer things we end up having more energy and feeling less stressed.

In times of crisis we primarily have to think of our basic needs such as SLEEP, FOOD and LOVE.

When we sleep enough, eat well and give and receive love, we not only protect ourselves from the virus but also from staying in fear for too long.

My first week was about calming the feeling of panic, the second week was about allowing myself not to be a superhuman and acknowledge my feelings, and now, in this third week I’m ready to add something new to my schedule.

Is your need to help aligned with your own resourcefulness?

I heard this question during a podcast last week and I decided that I would check in with my resourcefulness before I offered something new. I feel ready to ask myself now how I can be of service to people outside of my family and my current clients.

Coaching offer:

If you are in need of support right now or know someone who is I offer one-on-one coaching sessions either at my practice in Berlin or over Skype. Schedule a free of charge consultation to see how we could work together: https://calendly.com/katarinastoltz

Stay healthy!