Life After Covid: How To Use Yoga And Mindfulness To Take Care Of Yourself
Written by: Michele Lyman, RYT 500
As I write this blog in June 2021, 41.4% of Americans are fully vaccinated for COVID-19. States are reopening and life seems to be getting back to some sort of “Post-Covid Normal”. Whatever that means. Some people can’t WAIT to get together with friends and hug strangers on the street while other people feel more comfortable staying put in isolation. As the light at the end of the tunnel seems to be shining, you might be wondering why you aren’t as excited to go back to the “way things were.” You miss being around other people in your community, but you just don’t feel ready. I get it! Today I’m going to share with you exactly why you might be feeling this way and how you can use mindfulness techniques to figure out how to best take care of yourself during this post-pandemic transition.
The Mental Impact of COVID
Living with the uncertainty of COVID has had a large impact on our mental health. For the past 14 months, we’ve had to constantly adapt to a new reality while living with the uncertainty and fear of how COVID might impact our own health or those we love.
Here’s the thing - our brains are hardwired to crave certainty. When our brains do not have enough information, they assume our survival is threatened. When this shift to survival mode occurs, fear and worry creep in and start to take over. In order to feel in control over the unknown, our mind ruminates over every possible scenario, or “what-if”. We want to figure out all the ways things could go wrong in order to feel more certain of the outcome. As we worry, we begin to feel stressed and anxious because we think we should be able to control our own future … but we can’t.
We’ve also been dealing with something called anticipatory grief - when we know what the problem is but we don’t know the outcome. Anticipating a loved one’s death, having imagined futures (like a storm coming) or worrying about something “bad out there” are examples. With a virus, this kind of grief is so confusing for people. Our primitive mind knows something bad is happening, but you can’t see it, which breaks our sense of safety.
The prolonged impact of anticipatory grief turns into anxiety. Our mind begins to show us images like loved ones getting sick, loss of our livelihoods, fear of economic depression - we see the worst scenarios, which is really just our minds trying to be protective by planning for the worst case scenario.
And just because we are starting to transition back to social gatherings from isolation doesn’t mean all this uncertainty and anticipatory grief goes away. There is so much conflicting information about what we can and can’t do now that many people are vaccinated. What sources of information do we trust? What happens if we take our masks off or gather too soon with friends and family? Even though there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, the what-ifs still continue! We know that things will be different as we start to experience life after COVID, but we don’t know exactly how.
It’s also important to remember that this new way of living in isolation has most likely become a habitual pattern. And since we are creatures of habit, it might be hard to step away from the habits we’ve created over the past 14 months. It just might not feel “normal” right now to be in close quarters with other people.
Recognizing that we are all experiencing so much uncertainty over so many things right now. And, that everyone is going to have a different level of comfort when it comes to how quickly they start interacting in social settings again.
Self-Awareness and Riding The Wave
I think it’s safe to say that whether you are ready to re-enter society or are still fearful, we will all experience some level of “weirdness” after COVID. Some of us will have intense fear or emotions around being in social gatherings again and others may just feel like it’s “strange” to be somewhere together without masks.
Regardless of your level of comfort, the best tool we all have right now is self-awareness.
When an uncomfortable feeling or experience occurs as you think about re-entering society, you have two choices. The first choice is to “Ride The Wave” and be with it. Riding The Wave means sitting with the uncomfortableness of the moment, letting it come in and letting it move out. However, if your emotions are just too high and you can’t deal with the intensity of your emotions, the second choice is to stay away from the situation altogether or to distract your mind.
You need to turn toward self-awareness to know which path to choose in any given situation. When you start to think about gathering in person again, take a breath and pause to notice how you feel. Maybe the uncomfortable feeling is just noticing how strange things feel and being in a social setting would be OK for you. Or maybe the uncomfortable feeling is pretty intense, so you need to decide if you want to be with it or if it’s too much right now.
If that’s the case, then explore if Riding The Wave feels doable at the moment. If it is, breathe, relax, feel, watch and allow the uncomfortable emotions and thoughts to arise, peak and pass through. Don’t try to change anything or act out. Simply sit with your thoughts and emotions, breathe and watch what comes up. Riding the wave of uncomfortable emotions may just release an old belief or thought pattern that can integrate and heal some of your anxiety.
If your emotions are just too much right now, you can decide to stay home, knowing that you can always explore being with these intense feelings again at another time. All responses are OK. It’s truly about getting quiet enough to recognize if you are ready to Ride the Wave or if you need to lean back and stay put.
Ways You Can Begin to Ease Back Into Society
If your anxiety is high as you think about being around other humans without masks, there are certain techniques you can explore to ease your way back into social settings. The important thing to remember is to take it slow. No need to jump in the deep end if you aren’t ready to swim! Just dip your toe in the water to see how it feels.
Try to get out of your house at least once a day, even if it’s just to take a walk or pick up a grocery delivery.
Plan out how many social events you feel comfortable attending in one day. Really sit with your feelings and make a plan that you can stick to.
Remember that it’s OK to say no to social invitations until you are ready to say yes. Everyone will emerge from this at a different pace so saying no is completely acceptable to everyone right now.
Add mindfulness techniques before, during or after your social experiences.
Practice three-part-breathing or a letting go breath to ease tension and return to the present moment.
Repeat a calming Mantra meditation to yourself such as “I am OK” or “I am safe” as you inhale and exhale.
Take a LiveStream yoga class or attend a smaller in-person class to relax your body and calm your mind.
Journal your experiences in order to identify and to explore the nature of your anxiety.
Begin a gratitude journal to remind yourself all that you have to be grateful for in your life.
Remember, every single person on this planet is going to have a different level of comfort when it comes to how quickly they get back to social gatherings, and that every pace is completely OK.
You just need to recognize your level of comfort to determine how to best take care of yourself during this post-pandemic transition. Self-awareness and mindfulness techniques will help you get there.
If you are ready to come back to in-person classes, even if for just once a week, check out our summer pricing specials.
We hope these deals will help you ease back into your yoga practice and our community!