We are all now well and truly entrenched in physical and social distancing and for many people this means working from home. All sorts of new thoughts, feelings and stressors are joining our lives.
In our business, we have really noticed significant changes in the last few weeks from the initial panic and shock and distinct fear that many people were verbalising, to increased anxiety and anger at the situation. Clients are asking for support for their staff who are feeling increased levels of stress and anxiety with this isolation. Many are finding the unknown and uncertainty around the end date for COVID-19 extremely unsettling. These feelings parallel the loss cycle that many people experience with grief and understanding this will help you (and others) to normalise these feelings and realise that having such extreme reactions is part of a process of coming to terms with what is no longer. The important thing is to keep moving through the stages until you are able to find acceptance and a way to move forward. This requires effort, energy and intention.
There was a very interesting virtual talk (Getahead Festival) last week on stress and how it relates to energy. How energy cycles in turn feed back into stress and when this stress becomes a ‘struggle’, you are effectively incapable of making clear decisions or having clear thoughts. It’s imperative to find relief from this struggle in order to close the cycle of stress. Tools that are essential for this are sleep (where you body and mind can recover from stress); exercise, talking; journaling; touch or hugging; breathing; vision; music or sharing. Our brain’s natural default is social cognition, so for us to re-group and re-charge, we need to allow it to make these social connections.
Just a few things to think about as we battle on through the coming weeks.
Stay safe and let us know if we can help in any way: ase@mrtconsultants.co.uk
