9 Tips for Reducing Stress and Anxiety During COVID-19

In the past, on a good day, you might experience mild stress and/or anxiety. Today, however, with COVID-19 still rampant around the world, it seems like we’ve all been forced to deal with higher than usual levels of stress and anxiety. Just the idea of leaving our home for essential work or duties seems to raise our blood pressure. And with the nagging, underlying worry that we or someone we love may contract the disease, it’s scary, stressful and it’s taking a toll on our overall health and wellbeing.

We want to help. Here are 9 tips for reducing stress and anxiety during COVID-19 and after:

1.     Breathe. It sounds so simple, yet if you stop what you’re doing now and then throughout the day, you may find that your breathing is shallow. We recommend setting an alert on your phone for at LEAST once per hour to stop, pay attention to your breath and take several long, deep breaths. You’ll cleanse your body with oxygen and it feels great!

2.     Meditate daily. Meditation is a great way to ease anxiety and stress. People are often scared off by the word “meditate”, but it’s really very easy to do any time anywhere…well, not while you’re driving, of course! The easiest thing to do is to close your eyes and focus on your breathing. I imagine I’m looking at the tip of my nose and focus on the air as it comes in and out. There are also many great, free guided meditations on YouTube…from five minutes long to an hour. I’ve listed some of my favorites at the bottom of this article.

3.     Close your eyes. Just like taking deep breaths, you can set a timer to remind you to stop what you’re doing, close your eyes for several minutes and just sink into yourself. This is a way to practice mindfulness throughout your day and may help calm you down.

4.     Get moving. Moving your body is really important for your state of mind. You can go for a walk, do some stretches, go for a swim, or – my favorite – put on some music and dance for a few minutes. It feels great and instantly improves my state of mind!

5.     Hydrate. I don’t know what it is, but I do notice that my stress and anxiety levels seem to be higher if I haven’t been drinking enough water. I’m not sure if there is anything scientific about this, but it does seem to make a difference. I’ve read that it’s recommended to drink half your body weight in ounces each day, but you probably know what YOUR body needs.

6.     Use essential oils. There are several essential oils that help from an aromatherapy perspective. My personal favorite, is lavender and it seems to instantly calm me down when I take a whiff of it! Other oils that are said to be calming are Rose, Ylang Ylang, Bergamot, German Chamomile and many others. My friend, Kimberly Rose is a DoTerra representative and she knows a TON about essential oils as she uses them in her massage practice. Check out her site here: https://www.doterra.com/US/en/site/kimberlyrose

7.     Eat these foods. Foods that are high in Selenium may help reduce stress and inflammation. Brazil nuts have a lot of Selenium. Also recommended are foods with high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin D and Zinc. Check out this article with a lot of great information about foods that may help combat stress and anxiety. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322652#nine-foods-to-eat-to-help-reduce-anxiety

8.     Tap it away. Have you heard of EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), also called “Tapping”? Tapping is a very easy thing to do wherever you are, as it doesn’t require any equipment. The idea is to focus on the problem (stress) and tap on meridian points throughout the body to release the trapped energy that is causing the situation. My favorite site for learning about this is: www.thetappingsolution.com. There are a lot of free tapping exercises and you can also purchase a membership.

9.     Sleep. Did you know that melatonin is natural and has been studied to assist an getting a good night’s sleep? Our CBD Softgels with Melatonin are a favorite of our customers. Whether you use melatonin for sleep assistance or choose other ways to sooth yourself to sleep, getting the right amount of high quality sleep can make a huge difference on your mood. Check out our article “Five Health Facts About Sleep You Should know”.

BONUS TIP: Turn off the news.

There’s no denying that there is an unprecedented amount of global stress and anxiety right now. Your Good JuJu Team wants to support you. If you’d like a free phone consultation to learn about how our products may support your emotions and mindset, please complete the form below and we will arrange a time to chat. We love you and want you to live your best life regardless of what is happening around us. To your health. Namaste, Claudia

Favorite Quick Meditations on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF52J0AiKRI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d6TriLBQmE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KMngzCWgTw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR57rug8NsM