Feeling anxious about this election is very normal.
After months of social distancing, prolonged economic uncertainty, and racial and political unrest, anxiety levels are at an all-time high. The events of the last seven months have left even the most chilled-out people feeling frustrated and stressed.
Five Tips for Maintaining Your Sanity:
- Create social media guidelines for yourself. For instance, decide what platform you’ll visit and how many minutes a day you’ll spend. Then, set an alarm for yourself and abide by it.
- Spend the first 15 minutes and last 15 minutes of your day doing a mindful activity like yoga, journaling, a walk outside, or a gratitude practice.
- When you find yourself in an anxious thought-spiral, do a cross-lateral movement exercise. For instance, alternate touching left thumb to right forefinger, then touching right thumb to left forefinger for two minutes while breathing slowly and deeply. (This serves to increase electrical signaling between the left and right hemispheres of your brain and helps to break the thought-spiral.)
- Pull an old hobby out of the closet. Preferably, choose an activity that’s both creative and physical like magic tricks, juggling, board games, sewing, etc. This is fantastic for distraction and flooding your nervous system with feel-good endorphins.
- Play the gratitude game. Remind yourself and your loved ones to spend time throughout the day expressing your gratitude for the small, specific actions or character traits of those in your life.
Remember…
“You have survived exactly 100% of the worst experiences in your life.”