A week ago today, I was sat across from two good friends/neighbors who were in our Covid Bubble during lockdown. We were attending a book event at the new local bookstore/cafe. The younger of my two friends admitted to me that she finds it challenging to prepare for social engagement and was relieved that we all decided to attend the book talk together. I must say I feel this challenge at social events, myself.
I often just power through the angsty feeling and head into the social morass anyway--as I did before the pandemic. But the angsty feelings are more defined now than in years past.
Apparently, elevated social anxiety is not just an issue for us. Many of my friends report tension at doing past-normal activities (like going out to work or to the market!). So, I'm compiling as many calming resources as I can amass to help me--and my buds--to head off anxious moments. Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Dialectic Behavior Therapy have outlined a whole slew of activities.
Guided Visualization: A quick grounding activity can help to lower BP, slow heart rate and allow one to calm. This is 5 minutes that I narrated for a friend earlier in the week:
5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique: This technique asks you to find:
- five things you can see,
- four things you can touch,
- three things you can hear,
- two things you can smell, and
- one thing you can taste.
- Using this with someone who feels anxious will help to calm them down and reduce their feelings of anxiety.
Box Breathing (from Cleveland Clinic):
- Breathe out slowly, releasing all the air from your lungs.
- Breathe in through your nose as you slowly count to four in your head. ...
- Hold your breath for a count of four.
- Exhale for another count of four.
- Hold your breath again for a count of four.
- Repeat for three to four rounds.
...more to come
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