Free Yourself From Fear: Coping with the Coronavirus, COVID-19. Day 5

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Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash

A colleague, Dr Naomi Baum, has written a free booklet, which I will present here, with her permission. It is a 7 day journey, which I will present over the next 7 days. Her website: naomibaum.com

WHAT YOU WILL NEED

Before getting started, I recommend that you get a notebook that will accompany you as you read this book and do the exercises. Any size notebook will work. I personally favour notebooks with nice covers, but that is up to you. This notebook will be your Journal. Keep it near you, as you read this book, so that you can do the exercises that require writing and track your progress.

HOW THIS WORKS

The is written as a seven-day journey. That means that each day covers a different topic. You can work through the book in one week, choosing one exercise from each chapter. However, many of you may prefer to take it more slowly. In order to do that, you may turn each day into a full week, and spend some time over the week doing the exercises, trying out some new behaviours, and reflecting on what worked for you and what did not. There is often more than one exercise suggested. Feel free to experiment. Be forewarned. Not every suggestion here will work for every person. Each one of you is different. Find what works for you.

This course, written by Naomi Baum, uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT.

There are many other forms of psychotherapy, such as psychoanalytic psychotherapy, which is called the talking therapy, after Sigmund Freud. There is no "one-size-fits-all".

DAY 5: FEELING YOUR FEARS

Now that we have spent some time identifying our fears, and working on our thoughts associated with them, in this chapter we will explore how we are feeling about our fears. We will examine what sensations the fears create in our bodies, and what words we can use to express these feelings and sensations. After that we will look at ways to moderate our feelings.

EXERCISE: HOW DO YOU FEEL?

When you experience fear or worry, how do you feel?

Anxious

Nervous

Scared

Frightened

On edge

Panicky

Terrified

Petrified

These are just some of the words people use to describe how they feel. You may add words to this list.

1. From the list above, pick one or two words that best characterize how you feel when you experience your fear of .

2. Write them in your notebook.

3. Now, rate each feeling or emotion on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being "hardly at all", and 10 being "totally."

4. As you consider the emotions you feel, notice what you are feeling in your body, and where.

 Do you feel a clenching of your stomach?

 Do you notice a tightening of your shoulders?

 Are your thighs trembling?

What else do you notice in your body?

Pay attention to the bodily sensations that accompany each of your feelings, one at a time. Write each one of them down.

5. Review what you have written. Are your surprised? Is this what you expected?

The relationship between thought, feeling, bodily sensation and behavior is circular. Each element affects the other. Let us have a look at an example.

Fearful Thought: I have been coughing a lot. I think that my cough may very likely mean that I am getting Coronavirus.

Feeling: I am feeling anxious. I feel that my life is in danger. I am downright terrified that I may die.

Body: My heart is racing. I am feeling sweaty, weak, and I am having difficulty concentrating. Thought: I really do not feel well. I am sweating and my heart is beating so fast that I feel weak. I really must be sick. I am coughing a lot. I am sure this cough is bad. It can only mean one thing.

This circular relationship sets up a downward spiral as we make ourselves more and more anxious. In the previous chapter, we identified the thoughts related to the fear, and worked with the thoughts to reduce their strength and impact on feelings and bodily sensations. We can also try to intervene at the level of feelings. If you are feeling the symptoms associated with anxiety, what can you do?

Remember our "Minute of Mindfulness"? This would be a good time to practice that. But before we begin let's measure how relaxed you are feeling.

EXERCISE: MINDFUL METER

1. Open your notebooks and draw a line, with 0 at the left end and 10 at the right, something like this:

0_____1_____2_____3_____4_____5_____6_____7____ _8_____9_____10 Not Relaxed Very at All Relaxed

2. Close your eyes for a second to determine what your level of relaxation is and mark it on the line.

26 3. Follow the instructions below for a minute of mindfulness.

4. When you are finished, draw another line like the one above, and mark off how you are feeling now.

5. Was there a difference before and after the "Minute of Mindfulness"?

Minute of Mindfulness

1. Sit comfortably in your chair, feet on the ground, one hand on your belly, the other on your chest.

2. Breathe in through your nose to the count of four.

3. Hold your breath to the count of two

4. Breathe out through your mouth, SLOWLY, to the count of 5 or 6.

5. Repeat three more times.

6. Notice how your body feels in the chair from the top of your head down to your toes.

7. Notice any sounds.

8. Notice how you are feeling inside.

Interestingly, the more you practice this minute, the easier it gets to relax on command. If you are able to, expand the minute to two, three and even five minutes. Try to do this at least twice a day, during this entire week.

You might want to try some other relaxation exercises or exercises using guided imagery as well. While guided imagery is beyond the scope of this book, it is helpful to know that guided imagery uses our imaginations in a positive way. When the mind creates images, they can seem almost real. The body responds to images almost as if they are actual events. If we imagine food, we begin to salivate. If we can imagine a safe and beautiful place filled with people who loved us and were sending us good wishes, would we feel safe and cared for? You bet. A particularly good source for relaxation exercises and guided imagery is at Health Journeys.