By Xenia S. Estrella
Hahhhh… Metro Manila is back on ECQ. We’re back on “house arrest”. A lot of our countrymen are going to get hungrier. How can anxiety be eased when we seem to be going back to where we started; and at this point, faced with an invisible monster that has gone airborne!
According to Reuters’ coronavirus tracker during the writing of this article, 10.7% of the Philippine population had already been administered the doses necessary to fight the virus. Considering the evolving strains of COVID-19 and the efficacy of these vaccines (which, respectively, vary and may not necessarily even be effective for a lifetime or even past 3 months at the least), however, blood pressures are rising and constant worrying in the communities is clear.
The situation we are facing now reminds me of ‘Outbreak’, a Dustin Hoffman and Cuba Gooding, Jr. movie, that (as I am able to remember at the moment) first introduced me to the terror of being in a pandemic. The characters all did what they could to cope, but the apparent uncertainties undeniably still brought so much tension and fear in everyone. Pretty much like our situation now.
What are we to do in a crisis like this? Panicking is definitely not an option, but what SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and anchored within a Time frame) measures can just about anyone take in order to keep on going and eventually get past this world struggle?
- Take deep breaths. I cannot stress this enough, because I swear by this. For 17 years, I lived with a deformity in my brain, which triggered blood to flow too fast and allowed veins to burst whenever I hemorrhaged as a teenager. With the high probability of danger then, I felt comfort whenever I took deep, long breaths. I felt my brain easing in heaviness, and I seriously believe that I would have hemorrhaged more often than I did if I didn’t keep my cool and do those breaths.
Several studies have shown the importance of purposeful deep breaths coming from the diaphragm to relieve tension and slow down the heart rate. A heart rate within its regular levels is a sign of relaxation. According to the Mayo clinic, “Relaxation techniques can help you cope with everyday stress and with stress related to various health problems, such as heart disease and pain”.
2. Meditation – prayer/chanting/writing. A number of my coaching sessions start with a prayer of praise and wonderful expectations; simply because it moves an individual to be focused on all that is good (positivity beyond all negativities), in order to move our sessions to a place where good vibes may flow and work wonders in and around any situation. Any form of meditation which allows a person to tune in on the essential — peace and harmony — would be good to relieve stress.
Psych Central reported, “For many people, God is a source of comfort and strength, says researcher Matt Bradshaw, Ph. D; and through prayer, they enter into an intimate relationship with Him and begin to feel a secure attachment. When this is the case, prayer offers emotional comfort, resulting in fewer symptoms of anxiety disorders”.
3. Be of service to others. It just feels good to help make other people happy. Nothing can compare to the sense of accomplishment I feel when I know somebody is thinking better about himself and has a bigger smile now, partly because of me.
According to behavioralhealthsystems.com, “Putting other people’s needs before our own can reduce stress and improve mood, self-esteem, and happiness. Here’s how it works: Helping Others Feels Good – Helping others, promotes a rush of endorphins in the brain brought about by positive physiological changes.
Covid-19 has been with us for two years now, and nobody yet knows how long it will stay. One thing’s for sure, though. The citizens of the world are fighting together, in order to win this battle for the human race. Pandemics come; it has happened before. Now that this pandemic is here with us, let us choose to be one with each other, to hold each other’s hand through all this (metaphorically, of course), support each other by following protocol, and to trust in a Higher Power that assures us, “this, too, shall pass”.
Be part of the family!
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