The fear of the Coronavirus COVID-19 is sweeping the world and regardless if you think people are overreacting, the fact is that this is now considered to be a pandemic. I’m seeing a lot of people and small business owners panicking, empty shelves at stores, and people are worried about themselves and their families. A lot of people don’t have faith in our leaders, our healthcare system, and they can’t afford to get sick.
After taking a few days to sit in my own fear and anxiety I asked myself, “What can I do to help?” I am a believer in the collective consciousness that is felt by every single person on this planet. “The term "collective consciousness" has been used to refer to the overall social atmosphere that arises from the thought and behavior of all the individual members of a community or society.” (HuffPost Blog)
If everyone is focused on fear and worry, how do we heal the collective consciousness?
1. Be prepared but don’t panic
Follow guidelines like washing your hands and using hand sanitizer, practice social distancing, and self-quarantine if you believe you’re sick. Make a list of everything you need especially if you’re working from home and your kids are home from school. Stock up on essentials, but don’t hoard for the love of all things good, please! Turn off the news and put down your phone, get outside, read a book, or watch a movie to take your mind off of things. I truly believe fear is more contagious than this virus and it can destroy our social, economic, and healthcare systems.
2. Focus on how you want to feel
Feeling anxious and out of control can weaken your immune system and make you more likely to get sick. I love doing this exercise for myself and sharing it with my coaching clients, it’s so easy to focus on your negative feelings causing even more anxiety and stress. This exercise can help you take your power pack and help you decide how you want to feel.
First write down all the negative feelings, fears, and worries that you’re having. After doing that write down how you DO want to feel, then decide what you need to do to feel the way you want to feel. Download your Positive Focus Exercise worksheet.
3. Tap or meditate to ease anxiety
I love meditation to help me feel more calm and centered but if you just can’t seem to get into it or you need something more, tapping may be perfect for you. I tap to deal with my anxiety and it helps me tremendously. You can find a tapping video specifically about dealing with the fear of the coronavirus here. If you’re new to tapping there is a beginner video in the notes section of the linked video.
There are tons of videos online about tapping to help release anxiety so if that one doesn’t resonate with you I encourage you to find one that does. My tapping mantra right now is…
“Even though I feel this fear and anxiety, I am safe and everything is working out for me.”
We are social beings, it’s in our nature to want to help others and we can do so much good by asking ourselves, “What can I do to help?” I’ve seen ideas on social media about supporting restaurants by purchasing gift certificates directly from them and using it when this pandemic ends. I’ve seen people post about helping children who may be home from school and they don’t have enough food to eat, I’ve had friends text me offering me toilet paper if I need it. That’s the good that’s going on in the world, find it, hold onto it, and do what you can to help others.
If you’re a business owner and you’re worried about how this will impact your business consider ways you can move your business online. It’s a good time to get creative and to think outside the box. If you’re moving your business online because of the coronavirus or have questions about how to, let me know in the comments.
If you would like to work together to help you ease your anxiety send me a message, I work with clients one on one via online video from anywhere in the world.
Stay safe.
xx,
Kim