The COVID-19 crisis has a firm grip on our everyday lives. We do not influence external events, but we do change how we deal with them. As severe as this epidemic may be, it offers fantastic opportunities for insight and inner growth from a mindfulness perspective.
COVID-19 scares many
Corona creates something in humans. Not always the best. In any case, the most natural thing, because the situation of a worldwide pandemic triggers our survival system. That makes toilet paper a question of survival. Still, one remains level-headed while the other builds up supplies as if the world is approaching. However, we should not smile at hamster purchases of toilet paper and food, and certainly not morally judge them.
Whether a person reacts to the situation in a relaxed or fearful manner has causes that are sometimes far behind. Those who were often exposed to insecure and afraid conditions in childhood and experienced little security could now tend to overreact.
When discomfort turns into fear
Fear patterns are indeed in us created, but we are not on its set. With the help of mindfulness, we can have a healing influence on it. The corona crisis is a productive area of ​​practice for this: we can currently learn a lot about our fears and how we can take the worry out of us.
It is helpful to take a quick look at our brain. The human capabilities of differentiated thinking, association, planning, and social interaction are relatively young from an evolutionary perspective. They arise in the prefrontal cortex of the brain.
All information related to the COVID-19 epidemic is also processed there. We sound out the situation and try to assess the scope of what will happen to us, and we take carefully considered precautionary measures. Even if we feel a bit uncomfortable, we generally keep a cool head up to this point.
When fear turns into panic
Tilting does the whole thing when it becomes unpredictable. Lack of information allows a clear assessment of the situation – and perhaps its foreseeable end – initially leads to uncertainty and nervousness. Our inner system sees its survival threatened in the apocalyptic future scenarios that our prefrontal cortex simulates in the form of endless mini-films.
Here we act primarily based on instinct and out of fear – which, evolutionarily speaking, is our oldest survival mechanism. Given a pandemic, a normal and healthy response is a real threat. The only question is where it will lead if the vast number of people on this planet are thrown back into thinking, feeling, and acting on intelligence-free pre-ancient survival mechanisms.
We are currently getting a foretaste of this, for example, from the widespread theft of disinfectant bottles in hospitals, which are torn out of the wall together with the holders.
Fear is contagious
In psychology, there is the concept of social contagion. Even if we are relatively calm even in the COVID-19 crisis, worrying news on television or social media can unsettle us. Talking to someone who “shares their fear with us” can stir up our fears. Suddenly, thoughts circle compulsively that our loved ones do not become infected, and we imagine what would happen if we lost our job due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
Calm anxiety to avoid COVID-19 panic
When fear gets out of hand, the emotional fever rises and leads to overwhelming panic with uncontrollable instinctive behavior. The smarter areas of our brain have gone offline.
Fear can neither be suppressed nor “imagined”. In case of doubt, the survival system always has priority. So an excellent preventive measure is not to let it get this far. It is helpful to understand, for example, what is going on in the brain in an emergency.
Giving thoughtful direction in thoughtfulness
By stopping and pausing, we can carefully reflect on what mode we are in and where our actions are leading: Does our intended work calm the fear in the long term, or will it increase it?
Our brain likes good behaviors. So we can replace panic-fueled thoughts with pleasant, more pleasant thoughts. For example, if we notice that we are facing each other, we will replace the panic thought with a more rewarding one. By stopping and pausing, we give our smart prefrontal cortex time to speak – to go “online” again.
Exercise a mindful brain
Then we may become aware that we have just washed our hands, that we have not touched anything in the meantime, and that the likelihood of infection is therefore rather low. The more we use mindfulness to recognize stress and anxiety-promoting thoughts, the more often we can replace them with more healing and appropriate ideas. This, in turn, promotes a more stable internal general condition in the long run.
11 tips to get the corona fear under control
1 Practice mindfulness meditation regularly
In times of crisis, there is a tendency to sink into a depressive brooding and to be overwhelmed by fears. Mindfulness meditation proves to be helpful to regain consciousness; it calms excessive feelings and makes thinking free and clear. The Mountain Meditation, Self-pity meditation, and walking meditation prove to be a real help in times of emotional distress. Breathe deeply on panic and exhale twice as long. Also, try the 1-minute meditation.
