Coming Out Of The Fog

As the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel is coming closer and social distancing is now easing up, many of us are feeling as though we are coming out of a fog. Trouble remembering things, irritability, and lack of energy can be traced back to our autonomic nervous system and what is often called “fight or flight”. When we experience threat, our system responds in a way that very quickly moves us from a state of homeostasis or present moment awareness, a state where we can relate to others and ourselves or activated, a state of hyper-arousal or shutdown and detached, to try to make sense of the threat and what’s going on. We have been living with this state for a long time with the pandemic and need to do some relearning to be able to adapt and successfully transition back to normal. Our window of tolerance and ability to manage stress has shrunk over the past year. We can be compassionate to ourselves and others while adapting.

Simple solutions to help pause and recover peace and to re-center ourselves include:

Naming. Label thoughts and emotions, by simply calling a thought a thought and an emotion an emotion in able to consider it more objectively. “I’m having that thought again that I’m not doing enough.”

Simple deep breathing. A long exhale is a calming signal to the nervous system.

Scents. A pleasant scent bypasses the thinking brain and goes right to the nervous system. Try candles, essential oils, or just being in nature.

Sounds. Soothing music can send messages of comfort or safety.

Poses. Planting feet on the ground, yoga poses or a simple touch. Placing your hand on your chest is a primitive message to the nervous system that we are being tended to.

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space and in that space lies our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”   Viktor Frankl