Let’s just say it: This “new normal” brought on by COVID-19 has been a bit tricky to navigate. We’ve had to adjust to new routines, ways of working, and being distanced from those we love.
If you’ve felt more than your typical dose of anxiety, worry, or fear, know that there’s a physiological reason for those emotions to flare: a little stress hormone called cortisol.
Cortisol actually does a lot of helpful things in our bodies: acting as an anti-inflammatory, controlling blood sugar and influencing memory, for example.
So what’s the trouble? While cortisol is there to help our bodies respond to stressful situations, if our bodies release too much cortisol for too long, it can do us harm.
“Cortisol is our ‘fight or flight’ hormone and can cause higher levels of blood pressure and increased heart rate. We don’t think as clearly and don’t interact with others as easily as we would otherwise,” says Christy Shaft, PT.
Controlling What We Can Control
But Christy shares a secret about cortisol: There are practices we can implement into our daily lives that can help us limit the harmful release of cortisol, cope productively with stresses, ditch the negativity, and even thrive.
“We want to figure out how to have healthy coping to stress,” she says, noting that, while we should be attentive to what’s going on in the world, and take the necessary measures to keep ourselves and our family physically healthy, we should also be focusing on the things we can control.
Here, Christy offers six healthy habits that we should start practicing to keep our minds, bodies, and spirits healthy during this time of social distancing.
Healthy habit #1: Minimize your attachment to the drama.
What does Christy mean by that? While it’s important to “face the facts, listen, be proactive and protect ourselves,” when it comes to the latest COVID-19 developments, she says that tuning in all day, every day turns on that flood of cortisol.
“Turn off the news and social media for the majority of the day. A morning or evening update is sufficient. Constantly having it on can be really upsetting. Just turn it off,” she says.
Maybe you don’t have an attachment to the news, but are there other things you could have developed attachments to during this crisis—say, toilet paper or hand sanitizer, to name a couple examples from Christy—that you should try to let go of? Controlling those attachments can have powerful effects on our response to the stresses.
Healthy habit #2: Make it a point to say three things you are grateful for every single day.
Gratitude is the top feel-good emotion that helps alter the release of cortisol, and can halt anxiety in its tracks. That’s because gratitude boosts the neurotransmitters serotonin and dopamine, your body’s very own mood-enhancers.
One way to put this habit into practice is to keep a gratitude journal that you record in daily. It can be of the classic pen-and-paper variety, or you can use that ever-present mobile device and keep a running tab of things you’re grateful for in a notes or journal app.
Want an exponential boost? Express your gratitude out loud to others. Studies show that gratitude is positively correlated with stronger interpersonal connections.
Healthy habit #3: Do nice things for other people.
“We’re social distancing, but that doesn’t mean we’re social-isolating,” Christy says, adding the caution that, “Social isolation can trigger depression. We need to stay connected.”
To do this, some people are practicing “distant socializing”: video conferencing, FaceTiming, or even setting up camping chairs across the street from one another as a way of socializing in person while maintaining physical distance.
Even better than social time, Christy says? Do service for others. This is every bit as effective in reducing cortisol as is counting our blessings and those things we are thankful for.
Christy suggests writing letters by hand and sending them via snail mail (yes, that’s still a thing!), calling someone on the phone to check in (also still a thing), or delivering baked goods to neighbors. And if you’re quarantining with family members, you can still get (and give) the benefits of service by doing thoughtful things for those within the walls of your own home.
Healthy habit #4: Get out and move.
Maybe you’ve noticed that your neighborhood sidewalks are a bit busier than they usually are. More people are out for lunchtime walks with their dogs. Entire families are taking to the streets together on bikes. Neighbors are even organizing scavenger hunts for neighborhood kids (to be completed with proper distancing, of course).
Christy says that using this time to get outside provides amazing physiological benefits: “Movement creates blood flow, promotes lung development, is good for our hearts, and releases positive neurotransmitters.”
If that weren’t enough, going outside also gives us access to all that vitamin D. “Vitamin D is so important for our immunity, and there’s a connection with low vitamin D levels in people who have COVID-19,” Christy says. “We are so lucky to be here in Arizona. Just get out and take a walk and absorb some vitamin D. It also helps with digestion and circulation.”
Healthy habit #5: Take deep breaths.
Taking the time to breathe deeply—whether in a quiet space at home or even in line at the grocery store—is a great way to safeguard your mental and physical health, Christy says. “You know, movement is exercise for our body, but stillness is exercise for our mind. In times like this, our mind is going a mile a minute, and if you’re just thinking negative thoughts, it increases your anxiety and your blood pressure,”
She recommends countering that mounting anxiety and panic by simply taking 60 deep breaths, or trying one of the many guided meditation or deep breathing practices available via meditation apps or YouTube, or even listening to your favorite music.
Healthy habit #6: Drop expectations about what your life is “supposed” to look like during this time.
With your typical routines completely upended, you may have newfound frustrations: homeschooling may feel like a lost cause; you may feel like you’re not getting enough done working remotely; and that bread that looked so perfect on Instagram came out like a flat lump of misshapen dough.
During this time in particular, it’s important to let go of any expectations. “Let go of judgment, competitions, and comparisons to other people. Realize that homeschool might not be perfect,” says Christy.
And that’s ok. “The biggest thing is really trying to think more about the positives, and be logical about protecting ourselves, without going overboard and getting dragged under” Christy says. “Take action, try something new, and bring on the positive vibes.”
Here at Spooner Physical Therapy, we are committed to doing our part to keep your whole self healthy: Mind, body, and spirit. We want to keep you moving, even during this current health crisis. Our clinics are still open for physical therapy and hand therapy, and we are also providing Spooner Telehealth PT visits! Contact us to learn more.