A little piece of comedy bumped across my Facebook feed recently that I found apt, amusing and provoked me to realise that we can be in control of how we react to a situation. Not to downplay the seriousness of what is happening right now, but this little bit of humour reminded me that in this time where suggestions and alarm and forboding is coming at you from all angles, it doesn’t hurt to take a moment to indulge in a little bit of joy. After all, joy has so many physical and emotional triggers in our body that help with our immune system and our overall sense of wellness and well being. This makes us resilient and there is a real need for resilience right now.
It’s not about being flippant when we are challenged and may even feel a little helpless and in dire straits, but it is about choosing to have your moments where you ingest some joy, laughter and happiness into your day. It is perhaps one of the best things to do in the face of adversity, to neutralise the hysteria a little and try to keep your own vibe positive and upbeat . It isn’t an easy ask but a consideration, especially those of us with children, who are already confused and unsure and perhaps looking to us for cues as to how to act. It can be difficult to remain upbeat when it feels like such actions are just wishful thinking, but part of that is about taking control of what you can control. You never know you may just convince yourself that you are on a little ride of joy at the same time.
Coveting a little bit of joy creates chemical reactions in your brain. Frontal Lobe activity regulates emotion and the Thalamus regulates how you express or act out this emotion. These actions create release of neurotransmitters that affect the circulatory system (heart, veins, blood) and your Autonomic Nervous System (breathing and digestion).
“Smiling can trick your brain by elevating your mood, lowering your heart rate, and reducing your stress. The smile doesn’t have to be based on real emotion because faking it works as well.”
And so in this spirit, I say find a proactive action that you can do to take back a little bit of control. Finding and establishing a routine is possibly the best thing you can start with. Getting yourself into a mode of regularity that helps to keep you from slipping into a desperately dull situation of sitting around and not knowing what to do. I imagine this is where schedules are really going to come in handy. Make those lists and keep to a checklist of things to tick off. No matter how miniscule they can be.
The other option is to get onto something new. Maybe this week is the week that you finally start that course you’ve been promising yourself to do? Or invest in some educational areas of interest online. There’s lots of companies and organisations that are actually starting to stream and publish digitally to provide ease of access. Grab that book that you got given for Christmas three years ago and give yourself 30min a day to indulge in reading a few pages. Allow inspiration to come at you from all sources. You may even find that you will be struck with some new creative ideas when your mind is allowed to sit and delve into the recesses of your creative potential.
I was also passed some information from my coach at MoveMethod who published this helpful little guide to general actions. It comes from a Dr who has been working with the Coronavirus team in China itself. This is a list of safeguards that they have issued due to studying the behaviour and nature of the virus. These are not medical precautions but everyday things that can help us to be aware and as diligent as possible:-
1.Drink lots of hot liquids
coffees, soups, teas, warm water, in addition take a sip of warm water every 20 mins because this keeps your mouth moist, and washes any of the virus in your mouth into your stomach where the gastric juice neutralises it before it can get to the lungs.
2. Gargle with an antiseptic and warm water daily
Use vinegar, salt or lemon everyday.
3. The virus attaches itself to hair and clothes any detergent or soap kills it, but is recommended you take a bath or shower when you get in off the street. If you cannot wash your clothes daily, hang them in direct sunlight which also neutralises the virus.
4. Wash metallic surfaces regularly
The virus can remain viable on these surfaces for up to 9 days . Take note and be vigilant about touching hand rails and door handles.
5. Don't smoke
6. Wash your hands every 20 minutes .
Use any soap that foams. Do this for for 20 seconds
7. Eat fruits and vegetables
Try to elevate your zinc levels not just your vitamin C levels.
8. Animals do not spread the virus to people.
9. Try to avoid getting the common flu
Already weakens your immune system, try to avoid cold drinks and foods.
10. If you are feeling a sore throat or cold like symptoms ensure you use the above as soon as possible. This virus remains in the throat for up to 3-4 days before it passes top the lungs.
Taking control of what we can, will help us to feel that we still have some sense of stability in our day to day world. Routine anchors us. In times of great uncertainty, having a base plan can help us to find structure and create more space in our day to prioritise health and the self. It also helps to downgrade a stressful response to stimuli as we have a routine that carries us through a motion and accesses the Rostrolateral Prefontal Cortex which focuses on keeping us consistent with our actions. This in essence helps us to multi-task as well as use routine as an anchor when moments of change are upon us, creating some stability to approach other more volatile situations.
The other big thing is exercise. This is a fast track way to illicit happy drugs into your system. Apart from the neurotransmitter response that exercise illicits, it also helps to draw our focus away from ourselves and our contemplative mental state. The firing of different motor pathways through our body requires the body to divert energy and blood to the motor areas of the brain, drawing our focus away from the concerns and troubles that may sit there niggling at us when we are dormant or not using our bodies. Even if its a 15 min kicking fo the soccer ball against the wall - get MOVING and get mobile. It really is a great way to shake yourself out of a doldrum.
Coveting a bit of joy and positivity actually has a direct effect on our immune system as well, increasing antibodies in our blood. A 2006 study by Marsland, Cohen Rabin and Manuck at the University of Pittsburgh found that out of 81 subjects, those with positive emotions fared better when exposed to Hepatitis B. This is also supported by a study in 1987 pubished in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that 30 male dental students had higher antibody levels when exposed to a rabbit blood protein when they were experiencing elevated moods and generally feeling happy. So our immune responses can be elevated when we are involved in positive frames of mind.
Why not try some of these things out if you’re at home. Get a plan together, plan to exericse, even if you are only at home… covet a little bit of joy - even if you fake it. It still has the desired neurological response. This may just tip your day in the right direction and help you to be a little easier with self isolation or being impacted by what is happening around us. We could all do with a little bit of light right now…
