April 23, 2020

Coping with COVID - Cultivating Emotional Resilience

Coping with COVID - Cultivating Emotional Resilience
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Coping with COVID - Cultivating Emotional Resilience
Coping with COVID - Cultivating Emotional Resilience
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Season 5 Psychology & Neuroscience Physical Health

How do we develop emotional resilience in times of extreme circumstances? In her third and final solo episode, Cass Dunn gives some insight into the effects of chronic stress and why it might feel like your emotions are all over the place. She shares practical strategies for how you can stay in your 'window of tolerance' and what the other side of this epidemic might look like for all of us. This episode will equip you with the tools you need to survive and thrive not just now but during whatever challenges you might face in life.Connect with Cass:www.crappytohappypod.comhello@crappytohappypod.com 
www.instagram.com/crappytohappypodwww.tiktok.com/crappytohappypod
Join the free 7-day Happiness Challenge:www.cassdunn.com/happiness

Connect with Cass:

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www.instagram.com/cassdunn_xo

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Email: hello@crappytohappypod.com
www.crappytohappypod.com
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www.tiktok.com/@crappytohappypod


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Transcript
WEBVTT

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A listener production.

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Hey guys, you're listening to Crappy to Happy. I'm cast done.

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I'm a clinical and coaching psychologist, mindfulness meditation teacher, and

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author of the Crappy to Happy books.

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And in this.

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Series, we talk about all of the things that might

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be making you feel crappy, and I give you the

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tools and techniques to help you overcome them. Obviously, right

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now we're all feeling pretty crappy about.

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The coronavirus pandemic.

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So I'm here at home at the Sunshine Coast, hanging

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out with my cow, the rest of my animals, my

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lovely family, just writing out this coronavirus crisis. This is

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going to be the third and final episode in these

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solo episodes that I've been doing to try to help

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you stay as positive and as healthy and as well

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as you can be. And I want to just start

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by saying that I hope you are doing okay wherever

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you are. I know that we're all kind of getting

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a bit of ca and fever now. I personally am

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grateful to be living where we live, not just where

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I live on the Sunshine Coast, but living in a

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country that has done a really good job of managing

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the pandemic, but I think it's also fair to say

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that we are kind of all feeling a little bit

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of that cabin fever and wanting things to get back

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to some kind of normal as soon as possible.

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So on that I.

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Wanted to talk to you today about giving you some

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strategies to cultivate emotional resilience, which is so important, but

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it is especially important in the face of this kind

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of chronic and unrelenting stress, which is what we're really

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all experiencing at the moment. And we've talked before about

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when this whole thing started, there was this kind of

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wave of panic, and there was fear. Nobody knew what

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was going to happen, or how it was going to look,

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or how it was going to affect us. And I

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think that the longer that we stay in this scenario,

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and even as the immediate threat, you know, particularly of

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the massive collapse of the healthcare system and all of

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those things that we were fearful of, even as those

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risks kind of seem to dissipate, we are still in

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this really unusual situation where we're stuck at home, we

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don't have access to our normal outlets and our social activities.

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We've all got our kids at home. If you've got kids,

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you know, trying to manage them and keep them entertained

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and keep them educated and do our jobs as well.

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And it's like a pressure cooker.

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So it is this sort of chronic stress that we're

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all experiencing. And what people have been saying to me

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is and what they've been asking for my help with,

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is how to make sense of this just waves of emotions.

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They'll say, like one day I feel fine, and the

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next day I'm like in floods of tears. One day

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I'm just like a mad person cleaning the house and

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getting on top of things. And the next day I'm

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just like lying on the couch and I can't get

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up and I can't move. And there is this thing,

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this isolation fatigue, I so exhaustion a lot of people

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are talking about. So I wanted to talk to you

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about that today and give you some insight and some

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understanding about what we're all experiencing on a physiological level,

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and some real strategies that hopefully will give you some

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practical tools to help you to manage your response whatever

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that might be. So, whether you're up in panic stations,

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or whether you are just down in depression, what you

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can actually do to move through those stages and maintain

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your health and your well being and continue to operate

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at your best. So I think the first thing that

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I want to talk about, and this is stuff that

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will not be unfamiliar to you, is just about how

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our stress response works. And I want to say too

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that the stuff that we're talking about today, this kind

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of chronic, unrelenting stress. While it is very specific to

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the situation we are in with the coronavirus, this is

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not unique to the coronavirus pandemic. We often before we

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landed here, even in our normal, everyday, busy lives, many

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of us experienced chronic, unrelenting stress just because of the

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pace of our lives, work deadlines, our addiction to our devices,

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all of that sort of stuff. So I am hopeful

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that what I share with you today will be useful,

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not just for now, but will help you to.

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Build a bit of a toolkit.

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I guess that can also help you even as we

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emerge on the other side of this and you go

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back to some kind of new normal. So let's talk

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about stress. We know that when we are faced with

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a stress or a threat or a perceived threat, whether

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it's real or whether it's imagined, then our body and

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our brain mobilizes our fight or flight response. It's very normal,

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it's very human. There is a part of our brain

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that is its only job is to scan and look

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for possible danger. Again, whether it's real, whether it's not.

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Our brain and body reacts in exactly the same way,

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and when that fight or flight response is activated, we

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experience things like elevated heart rate, dry mouth. The blood

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is shunted away from our vital organs to protect them

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and into our arms and legs to ready us to

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act and to fight off this danger or to run.

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And of course the other it's not just fight.

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Or flight, it is the fight flight freeze response, and

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freeze describes that kind of reactive immobility where we wait

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to decide what our next move is going to be.

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And the animal kingdom, actually the freeze response is when

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they drop and they play dead, and in humans that

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can be like a dramatic dropping blood pressure, it can

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be fainting, it can be responses like that where it

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is almost like a play dead kind of response.

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So that's all very normal.

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The thing about the fight flight freeze response is that

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it is supposed to be short and sharp. We are

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supposed to if we perceive a threat or a danger

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there is something that's going to hurt us.

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Then it is activated.

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We do what we need to do to get out

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of that situation. We either fight off defend ourselves against

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that threat. We are the run in the other direction,

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but we get ourselves out of danger and then everything

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returns back to baseline. And so we have this Our

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body is designed to return to homeostasis, which is to

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always bring us back into balance. And if you imagine

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this on a kind of a curve, we have a baseline,

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which is when we're resting, we're calm, everything's okay, we

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feel good. It's a parasympathetic nervous system is in operation,

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and that's our rest and digest response. And then in

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the face of our general daily ups and downs, stresses, deadlines,

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our fight or flight response is activated and then it

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comes back down. So we're constantly moving through these waves,

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even if if we're not in immediate danger. There's no

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threat to our life. Just the daily demands of life

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and the daily challenges that we deal with, we'll have

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us moving through these waves up and down, up and

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down back to baseline. We know just by looking at

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the animal kingdom how the fight or flight response is

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supposed to work. If you've ever watched I think we've

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talked about this before a David Attenborough documentary, like the

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gazelle sees the lion, you know, bolts and then as

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soon as they're out of danger, they're just backed eating

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grass again.

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Put like not a care in the world.

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They're not overthinking about where was the line, where's the

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next line going to be?

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What happened? Did I cause that was this my fault,

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which is what our.

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Human brain does, which is why we tend to be

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so much more generally stressed out and overthinking and anxious

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than the animal kingdom generally, because we have this mind

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which continues to create things to be afraid of or

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to be stressed out by. Anyway, back to our day

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to day functioning. So if you imagine that curve up

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and down, up and down, that when you are operating

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within that.

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What we call the window of tolerance.

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The window of tolerance is if you imagine your baseline

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is when you are at rest, your upper limit of

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what you can cope with in terms of stress. If

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you imagine that like an upper limit, so there's a

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bottom line and a top line, then the space in

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between there is what we call your window of tolerance.

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And as long as you're staying inside that window, you're

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operating at your best.

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You are able to receive.

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Information, to process information, you're not overly panicked or anxious,

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you can think rationally, make good decisions, and your body

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stays in that sort of its natural state of just

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responding and relaxing. So responding and it's relaxing. A lot

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of people, even in a normal situation, even pre coronavirus,

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get to a stage in their life where they're operating

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very close to the upper limit of that window of tolerance.

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So when you are experiencing chronic stress again, whether it's

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real or whether it's imagined, whether it's just to do

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with your busy job and your deadlines and your kids,

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or you're going through tough times, you're going through divorce

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or financial problems or all the things that we deal

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with in life, if you are not getting a break

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from that stress, if you don't have strategies to come

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back down to that baseline, then of course we're very

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adaptive too, and so we eventually we get used to

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that level of stress and that sort of becomes our

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new normal. And I've seen this in my clients in

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my clinical psychology practice many many times where they have

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really hit their limit, and it's because there's just been

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this gradual piling of stressful scenarios. First they're having issues

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with their relationship, or then they've lost their job, or

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theny having a problem with their boss. Keep on layering

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these extra layers of stress without ever having effective strategies

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to come back down and to relax and to discharge

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those emotions. And so what people find is when they're

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operating very close to the upper limit of that window

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of tolerance, is it can take nothing at all to

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set you off to burst into tears, to be going

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into rage and anger, or panic, or unable to sleep.

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All of these are effects of what we call hyper arousal.

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So we have our normal physiological arousal, which is what

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we've talked about, and then if you bust through that

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upper limit, you get into this hyper aroused state. And

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that is what a lot of people have been sharing

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with me that they've been experiencing because of what we're

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dealing with at the moment because of this chronic, unrelenting

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stress and pressure that we're all dealing with, this constant uncertainty,

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this lack of predictability, which, as we've discussed, our human

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brains are designed to like certainty, We like predictability, So

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if we don't have that, there is this low level,

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this humming of stress and anxiety and uncertainty that's ticking

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along all of the time, and so a lot of

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us are very close to the upper limit. So some

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of the symptoms of that hyper arousal are things like

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being flooded with emotions, feeling really dysregulated, like you have

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no control over your emotional response. It's a sense of hypervigilance.

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It's like you're constantly on alert, feeling like you're always

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waiting for the other shoe to drop. It can manifest

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as physical pain, tension, headaches, tight jaw, back pain. A

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lot of physical complaints are attached to this overload of

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chronic stress on your body. It's sleeplessness, digestive complaints, panic, anxiety, anger,

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irritabilit just like losing it. So if you're experiencing anything

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like that, it is a fair sign that you might

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have tipped over to busted through your upper limit, and

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you're in this hyper aroused state. Now, the other thing

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I want to say about that is that our body

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can't actually tolerate that for any length of time. So

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what often will happen is as a part of this homeostasis,

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as part of this trying to get us back down

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into normal, what it will often do is then crash.

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So people will.

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Find that they're in this hyper aroused state for a

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while and then they crash into this hypo state. And

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hypo is low, hyper is high if you weren't aware

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of that, so hypo arousal. It's like when you're stuck

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in the off position. So if you're stuck on on, agitated,

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keyed up, can't come down in the hyper aroused state.

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Then the opposite of that is depression, feeling lethargic, feeling

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really flat, exhausted, disoriented, having this mental fog, I can't

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think of what I was supposed to do, really low energy,

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low blood pressure, disconnected, like feeling quite emotionally disconnected, just flat, exhausted, fatigued.

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So sometimes people will when we talk about the normal

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stress response and moving up and down in this normal range,

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and this optimal window and our window of tolerance. There

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are some people who are just crashing. They're up and

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then they're crashing back down, and then they're not really

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effectively coming back to this optimal window. Or maybe they're

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spending some time in that optimal window, but then they're

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finding that the pressure is building and they're up and

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they're panicked, and then they're down. And this is what

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I'm hearing people say. They're all over the place. The

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other thing I want to say about this window of

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tolerance is everybody's window is a different width, So it

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isn't fair or reasonable to compare your own experience with

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anybody else's, even if people are in the same situation.

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Things like.

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Your past experience, whether you've had experienced trauma. We talked

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about attachment issues in the last episode. If you've had

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earlier experiences, or past experience, or even genetic predispositions that

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make you more sensitive to stress and to threat, your

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window of tolerance will be narrower, which means it just

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takes less to tip you over the edge. And the

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important thing about this is that we all have some

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understanding of where our limits are. This just reminds me

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of something that I saw the other day where a

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lot of us have been saying we're all in the

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same boat, we're all in this together. And I saw

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something the other day which was, well, we're not actually

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all in the same boat. We're all in the same storm,

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but each of us is kind of in a different boat.

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And that both thought that was so perfect because the

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different boat that you're in, you might it might relate

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to the personal circumstances that you're in, whether you have

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still have a job, whether you have family around, whether

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you've lost your job, whether you're living alone, all of

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those external factors that will put us in a different

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boat in terms of how we weather this storm. But

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there's also this internal world as well, and so just

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our capacity to tolerate stress and our ability to navigate

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some of those some of those waves, so the window

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of tolerance can be widened. And this is what I

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really want to talk to you about today. The strategies

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that you can put into place that will either help

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you when you're up or when you're down to come

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back to a more normal, optimal level, but also the

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strategies that you can put into place if you are

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in your window to stay there so that you're not

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vulnerable to tipping over the edge. And also the things

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that will help you over time to widen your window,

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because obviously that's what we're kind of all aiming for

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in the long term, is to have a wider window

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of tolerance so that we can actually more effectively manage

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all of the normal stresses and difficulties and challenges that

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we face anyway, even on the other side of the

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coronavirus pandemic. So I thought that the most beneficial thing

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I could offer you today was some really practical strategies

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to help you to bring yourself back into that window

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or to stay in that window. And bearing in mind,

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this is going to change day today, So the important

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thing is for you to be really plugged in and

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really tuned in to where you're at. It may be

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on a day to day basis, it could be an

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hour by hour basis sometimes, but when you are using

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things like mindful nerves to just check in with yourself,

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check in with where's where's my head at.

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So I thought that the most beneficial.

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Thing I could offer you today was some really practical

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strategies to help you to bring yourself back into that

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window or to stay in that window and bear in mind,

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this is going to change day today.

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So the important thing is for you to be.

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Really plugged in and really tuned in to where you're at.

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It may be on a day to day basis, it

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could be an hour by hour basis sometimes, but when

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you are using things like mindfulness to just check in

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with yourself, check in with where's where's.

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My head at, what am I feeling?

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How am I traveling emotionally today, then you're in a

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position with that self understanding, with that self awareness to

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actually then use strategies to support you and to keep

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you in that optimal kind of state where you're functioning

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at your best. And again, this is just not for you,

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This is for everybody around you. If you've got kids

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at home, like, there are probably some strategies here that

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you can use with them as well.

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So let's just start with.

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If you are if you know that you're within your window,

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if you're traveling along, okay, this is where your emotions

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are fairly well under control. You're kind of cool, come collected,

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you have the capacity to self soothe, You're not feeling

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out of control, panicked, you're looking after your sleep's Okay,

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you know your appetites fairly normal. This is all normal

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kind of kind of stuff. So the things that are

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going to keep you in that window are well mindfulness

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of course, that ability to kind of stay in the

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present moment, to keep your attention in the here and now,

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Like I said, just checking in with yourself, mindful, breathing, mindfulness, meditation,

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this is all part of If this is part of

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your daily routine, that's fantastic. Grounding techniques are really useful.

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So grounding is like it's a way of really physically

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dropping yourself back into the present. A really useful grounding technique,

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one that's quite common is naming five things I can see,

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four things I can touch, three things I can hear,

337
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two things I can smell, one thing I can taste.

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The five four, three, two one is a.

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Really useful little quick tool you can use to keep

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you back here in the present. Even the five things

341
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I can see is a useful and even five things

342
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I can touch, even if you don't go.

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Through the whole list.

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Anyway that you can engage your senses to bring you

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back here into the physical the present moment is going

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to be useful because we as we know it is

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your mind and where your mind wants to take you

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that is most likely to create this stress response. It's

349
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all of the fast forwarding to the worst case scenario,

350
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to the focusing on what's going wrong. It's going to

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heighten that arousal and potentially tip you up over the edge.

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So anything that you can do to keep you back

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here in the present is going to be really useful. Slow,

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deep breathing, managing, checking in with your thoughts, like I

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just said, like making sure that you're coming back to

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what you can control, coming back to what's positive today,

357
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what I can be grateful for, what's going well.

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All of these.

359
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Cognitive techniques really this thinking process are going to neutralize

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or counter your brains in built negativity bias. We know

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that we all have that negative negativity bias in our mind.

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So anything that we can do to shift our thinking

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back to what's going well, what can we appreciate, even

364
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one that I really love, is what good might come

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from this?

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It helps to give you.

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That broaden your perspective about even when things feel really crappy,

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like what good might come from this? Because typically if

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we're able to shift our awareness, there is usually always

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something good and worthwhile that comes from even the most

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difficult and challenging experiences of life. So the more that

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we can connect with those now and in the future,

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then the better off we're going to be. Making sure

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that you're staying in touch with friends and family, making

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sure that you're keeping some sort of routine without being

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too rigid about it, keeping up those daily healthy habits,

377
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getting to bed at a reasonable time, staying away from

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stuff that elevates anxiety. Caffeine and alcohol are the two words,

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00:21:09.359 --> 00:21:12.279
even sugar potentially, but you know, keeping to a healthy diet,

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making time each day for something that makes you feel good,

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and something that gives you a sense of achievement. These

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are pretty basic strategies that we use in treating depression.

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Actually is having people incorporate into their day one thing

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00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:31.599
that you do purely for pleasure, even if it's just

385
00:21:31.799 --> 00:21:35.039
ten minutes, and one thing that you do to give

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00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:37.599
you a sense of mastery or achievement, even if it

387
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is just tidying out one draw in your house, or

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00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:45.240
even if it is just getting through one meeting or

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00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:50.200
doing you know, one activity with your kids or whatever

390
00:21:50.240 --> 00:21:52.279
it is, but something that gives you pleasure, something that

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00:21:52.279 --> 00:21:54.720
gives you a sense of mastery that stimulates the release

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of all of your happy hormones and will keep you

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in a good, healthy place outside of that window, and

394
00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:06.039
you've gone up into hyper arousal, your anxious, angry, panicked, flooded,

395
00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:11.640
really finding it hard to come down from that again,

396
00:22:11.799 --> 00:22:16.480
deep diafromatic breathing is a really great way to activate

397
00:22:16.480 --> 00:22:19.200
your parasympathetic nervous system and bring you back down. And

398
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I'm going to say that when you are hyper aroused,

399
00:22:21.559 --> 00:22:24.559
the importance needs to be on the extended out breath.

400
00:22:24.960 --> 00:22:28.279
It's the long exhale that helps to bring you back

401
00:22:28.279 --> 00:22:32.079
into that parasympathetic activate, sorry, that parasympathetic nervous system. So

402
00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:35.799
something like breathing in for four breathing out for seven

403
00:22:36.759 --> 00:22:40.519
and doing that a few times will help to calm

404
00:22:41.079 --> 00:22:45.200
down all of that stress. Physiology, you might take a

405
00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:48.279
deep breath in and then exhale until your lungs are

406
00:22:48.319 --> 00:22:53.119
completely empty, and then just allow your lungs to naturally refill,

407
00:22:53.559 --> 00:22:56.920
so rather than sucking in the breath, actually just allowing

408
00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:00.200
your lungs to naturally feel but then really pushing all

409
00:23:00.200 --> 00:23:01.599
of the air out of your lungs. So these are

410
00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:04.880
ways that you can extend the outbreadth, and that's proven

411
00:23:04.920 --> 00:23:07.680
to be effective in activating the parasympathetic nervous system, which

412
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:11.279
is what you need to calm down. So how about

413
00:23:11.319 --> 00:23:13.759
we just do this together. Right now, I'm going to

414
00:23:13.799 --> 00:23:17.079
take you through one of these breathing exercises so you

415
00:23:17.079 --> 00:23:19.240
can do it with me. I'm going to count in

416
00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:21.519
for four and out for seven. The important thing is

417
00:23:21.559 --> 00:23:23.440
that I would like you to count along with me,

418
00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:26.680
either out loud or in your own head. So let's

419
00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:34.400
go together breathing in two three four out, two three

420
00:23:35.039 --> 00:23:44.880
four five six seven In two three four out, two

421
00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:51.839
three four, five six seven. If you can continue to

422
00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:56.319
do that whenever you find yourself feeling stressed, overwhelmed, anxious,

423
00:23:56.599 --> 00:23:58.880
it will really help you to come back in to

424
00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:01.039
the present moment to come everything down. And the other

425
00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:04.440
thing it does is when you are counting out loud

426
00:24:04.559 --> 00:24:07.480
or in your head, it brings your head back into

427
00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:10.319
the present moment as well. So your mind can't be

428
00:24:10.440 --> 00:24:14.079
racing off and panicking about things that are going wrong.

429
00:24:14.119 --> 00:24:15.880
It can't be getting angry about your kids having too

430
00:24:15.960 --> 00:24:18.400
much screen time, or whatever it might be, if it's

431
00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:21.119
actually focused on counting, So that is one of the

432
00:24:21.480 --> 00:24:23.640
that's one of the reasons why counting to ten is

433
00:24:23.680 --> 00:24:26.079
one of the things they tell people to do when

434
00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:29.799
they're in anger management, when people get really ragy. The

435
00:24:29.960 --> 00:24:34.400
counting to ten actually it brings online a linear, logical

436
00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:37.359
part of your brain instead of that heightened emotional response,

437
00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:41.200
and it gives you something else to focus on. It

438
00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:43.000
gives you something to focus on that is not your

439
00:24:43.480 --> 00:24:46.200
angry or anxious thoughts. So I really recommend that you

440
00:24:46.279 --> 00:24:48.519
take time to do that, and even if you're in

441
00:24:48.599 --> 00:24:50.680
a good state, do it a few times a day,

442
00:24:51.000 --> 00:24:53.680
just as a part of your normal routine. It's really

443
00:24:53.799 --> 00:24:57.440
useful to just continually check in and bring your mind

444
00:24:57.440 --> 00:25:00.559
and body back to a state of calm. It's keeping

445
00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:04.160
you inside that window of tolerance. Other things that are

446
00:25:04.200 --> 00:25:09.200
really useful, things like jumping on a mini tramp or

447
00:25:09.240 --> 00:25:14.920
jumping on a trampoline, anything that is rhythmic. So this

448
00:25:14.960 --> 00:25:18.640
has been demonstrated in studies to do with trauma and

449
00:25:19.720 --> 00:25:22.200
treatment for trauma and the neurobiology of trauma, in other words,

450
00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:25.160
how trauma affects your brain. Anything that is kind of

451
00:25:25.799 --> 00:25:31.319
rhythmic is very soothing. So things like bouncing throwing a

452
00:25:31.319 --> 00:25:34.400
ball backwards and forwards, or throwing a ball against a wall.

453
00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:38.079
Bessel Vandercock is one of the world's leading trauma therapists,

454
00:25:38.119 --> 00:25:40.039
and he says, never leave home without a beach ball

455
00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:43.400
if you're a person who is prone to panic and

456
00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:46.640
anxiety and all of those things, so being able to

457
00:25:46.640 --> 00:25:48.319
throw a beach ball backwards and forth. It doesn't have

458
00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:49.119
to be a beach ball.

459
00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:52.519
Of course. Hip hop. This is why hip hop.

460
00:25:52.519 --> 00:25:57.680
Is often very popular and very effective with people who

461
00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:02.519
have experienced trauma, traumatic upbringings, or other experiences. It's the

462
00:26:02.599 --> 00:26:06.319
rhythmic nature of it. Things like drumming African drumming. Again,

463
00:26:06.359 --> 00:26:08.240
you might not have drums, but you can just drum

464
00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:11.319
along on your coffee table. Drinking through a straw is

465
00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:13.039
another one, and of course I'm going to say make

466
00:26:13.039 --> 00:26:16.240
sure that you've got one of those metal straws so

467
00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:19.759
that we're not damaging the environment. But drinking through a

468
00:26:19.799 --> 00:26:22.039
straw helps to regulate your breathing as well.

469
00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:24.119
Weighted blankets.

470
00:26:24.519 --> 00:26:25.960
I don't have any evidence of that, but I know

471
00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:28.599
a lot of people really are like weighted blankets. I

472
00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:30.640
think that you can order them online, but even if

473
00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:34.000
you don't have a weighted blanket, just like putting something

474
00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:34.640
heavy on you.

475
00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:39.160
It's like with kids having tantrums. I don't know if

476
00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:39.920
you've ever heard this.

477
00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:43.640
Like wrapping them in a really, really really tight bear hug.

478
00:26:43.720 --> 00:26:47.519
It's that sensory pressure that is very soothing. So if

479
00:26:47.519 --> 00:26:49.440
you've got somebody in your house that can wrap you

480
00:26:49.480 --> 00:26:51.519
in a bear hug, that could be very helpful as well.

481
00:26:51.559 --> 00:26:55.400
But otherwise, really wrapping yourself up tightly into a cocoon,

482
00:26:56.599 --> 00:26:58.720
it helps us to feel safe. It helps us to

483
00:26:58.759 --> 00:27:03.160
feel safe and comforted. Anything that you can do to

484
00:27:03.599 --> 00:27:07.720
move that energy through your body, mindfulness activities such as

485
00:27:07.839 --> 00:27:12.759
yoga or those body based sort of mindfulness activities are good,

486
00:27:13.079 --> 00:27:17.759
but it might just be walking, doing some boxing, just

487
00:27:17.799 --> 00:27:21.319
doing some exercise, throwing on a gosh. There's no shortage

488
00:27:21.319 --> 00:27:24.759
of free online workouts at the moment, and free online

489
00:27:24.839 --> 00:27:27.839
yoga classes. You only have to log into your social

490
00:27:27.880 --> 00:27:31.559
media and there is plenty on offer. So anything that

491
00:27:31.799 --> 00:27:34.559
just gets that energy and that adrenaline moving through your

492
00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:39.119
body and discharged will help to calm you back down

493
00:27:40.039 --> 00:27:43.160
and just to reiterate with that movement. Anything that's rhythmic

494
00:27:43.240 --> 00:27:45.880
in nature is going to naturally be soothing, so things

495
00:27:45.880 --> 00:27:51.039
that use both your arms and legs bilaterally, so walking, running, swimming,

496
00:27:51.599 --> 00:27:54.240
things like that that they have a kind of an

497
00:27:54.359 --> 00:27:56.839
integrative effect on your brain. When your brain is feeling

498
00:27:56.920 --> 00:28:01.160
kind of dysregulated and everything is feeling disintegrated, then it

499
00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:04.440
can help to bring your mind and your body back

500
00:28:04.440 --> 00:28:07.599
into a sort of a sense of alignment and integration.

501
00:28:09.240 --> 00:28:12.319
So if you are on the opposite end of the

502
00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:20.160
spectrum and you are experiencing that real lethargy, depression, despondence, exhaustion,

503
00:28:20.279 --> 00:28:21.960
and you can't get yourself off the couch, then there

504
00:28:22.000 --> 00:28:24.680
are also things that you can do that will activate

505
00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:27.960
some of that physiological arousal to get you back up

506
00:28:28.039 --> 00:28:31.880
into a normal state of functioning, which is super important

507
00:28:32.440 --> 00:28:35.039
because if you feel flat and depressed and you low

508
00:28:35.160 --> 00:28:37.440
energy and low motivation and low mood, and you give

509
00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:40.720
into that and you continue to just lay flat on

510
00:28:40.759 --> 00:28:44.759
the couch and do nothing and withdraw from people and

511
00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:48.880
disengage from your normal responsibilities and routines, then we know

512
00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:52.880
that that creates a really negative downward spiral, and you

513
00:28:52.960 --> 00:28:55.880
will just spiral down and down further and deeper into

514
00:28:55.920 --> 00:28:58.240
that depressive state unless you really make an effort, a

515
00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:01.319
conscious effort to do something, and if you don't feel

516
00:29:01.400 --> 00:29:04.920
like it, that's the key to move your energy and

517
00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:06.920
to lift your mood up out of that. So some

518
00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:08.400
of the things that you can do to kind of

519
00:29:08.519 --> 00:29:13.799
activate your senses again, things like breathing in essential oil

520
00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:18.000
and you might even put some essential oils into rub

521
00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:19.920
it into the palm of your hand and then cover

522
00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:22.559
your nose and mouth. And I'm not supposed to be

523
00:29:22.640 --> 00:29:24.680
touching our face at the moment, but make an exception.

524
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:28.400
Sanitize your hands first, and then breathe in some essential oil,

525
00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:31.240
put your palms up near your face, or even just

526
00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:33.640
sniffing essential oils in a bottle.

527
00:29:33.640 --> 00:29:34.720
I often do that myself.

528
00:29:34.799 --> 00:29:36.680
I have a little bottle of a couple of little

529
00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:38.599
bottles of essential oil that sit on my desk, and

530
00:29:38.759 --> 00:29:41.519
throughout the day, periodically I will just pick one up

531
00:29:41.559 --> 00:29:42.359
and just breathe it in.

532
00:29:42.440 --> 00:29:46.400
It's quite soothing and refreshing. Again.

533
00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:50.200
Movement anything that sort of stimulates and activates the senses,

534
00:29:52.119 --> 00:29:57.400
and anything that's kind of sensory, So things like finger

535
00:29:57.440 --> 00:30:02.160
painting or baking or creating kneading bread though stuff like that,

536
00:30:02.200 --> 00:30:06.839
stuff that sort of activates your sensory experience, things like

537
00:30:07.359 --> 00:30:12.599
dancing music, anything that lifts your energy, lifts your mood.

538
00:30:13.079 --> 00:30:17.039
The trampoline the mini tramp are also great. The therapy ball, like,

539
00:30:17.079 --> 00:30:19.759
some of these strategies are actually useful at either end

540
00:30:19.759 --> 00:30:24.000
of the spectrum, just to help to bring you back

541
00:30:24.039 --> 00:30:26.519
online and bring you back into that kind of optimal

542
00:30:26.559 --> 00:30:31.160
functioning state. I also didn't mention before with that rhythmic

543
00:30:31.880 --> 00:30:33.279
movement swinging.

544
00:30:32.920 --> 00:30:33.480
On a swing.

545
00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:35.799
I know a lot of playgrounds were closed, but if

546
00:30:35.799 --> 00:30:38.079
you can find one that's open, swing on a swing,

547
00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:41.920
it sort of mimics like being rocked as a baby.

548
00:30:41.960 --> 00:30:45.279
If you can imagine that natural tendency we have to

549
00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:48.440
kind of be rocked and swayed, and how soothing that is.

550
00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:53.000
Anything that mimics that, so rocking on a rocking chair,

551
00:30:53.720 --> 00:30:56.079
I can't think of it. Maybe a hammock, anything like

552
00:30:56.119 --> 00:30:57.960
that that you can think of that gives you that

553
00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:00.440
so even just swaying, even just swaying to mud, it

554
00:31:00.480 --> 00:31:03.799
has a very soothing effect. So I hope that some

555
00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:06.200
of those tips are helpful to you. I hope that

556
00:31:06.279 --> 00:31:09.160
you can find something in there. And again, it really

557
00:31:09.200 --> 00:31:12.000
is about you playing around and working out what works.

558
00:31:12.039 --> 00:31:12.599
Best for you.

559
00:31:12.720 --> 00:31:17.640
Not every technique will necessarily help you, but it's about

560
00:31:17.640 --> 00:31:20.279
you getting to know yourself, you getting to know where

561
00:31:20.319 --> 00:31:22.720
your limits are, and then knowing what's going to be

562
00:31:22.799 --> 00:31:26.079
really effective in helping you to manage that.

563
00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:28.200
And again, hopefully as.

564
00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:31.200
A result of this, you will build yourself a toolkit

565
00:31:31.599 --> 00:31:34.440
that you can take with you going forward, even when

566
00:31:34.440 --> 00:31:37.839
we come out of the other side of this current situation.

567
00:31:38.839 --> 00:31:42.359
And I wanted to just also mention that often, in

568
00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:48.640
the long run, these really significant difficulties, traumatic events are

569
00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:54.319
often the catalyst for people to become more appreciative, to

570
00:31:54.400 --> 00:31:57.839
develop strength and confidence, and a sense of their own

571
00:31:57.880 --> 00:32:03.079
resourcefulness and their own reszilent, and often even just a

572
00:32:03.119 --> 00:32:05.279
new sense of meaning and purpose. And I know that

573
00:32:05.319 --> 00:32:08.920
I've been seeing a lot of people. As much as

574
00:32:08.920 --> 00:32:10.640
we want things to go back to normal, there's a

575
00:32:10.680 --> 00:32:12.880
lot of people asking, well, what kind of normal do

576
00:32:12.920 --> 00:32:14.880
we really want to go back to? Do we really

577
00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:18.400
want to go back to living life how we did before?

578
00:32:18.839 --> 00:32:21.160
Not just at an individual level, but at the community

579
00:32:21.240 --> 00:32:24.119
level and even a global level, Like what changes might

580
00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:27.079
we want to come from this? And so I think

581
00:32:27.119 --> 00:32:29.599
there is a real opportunity if we can tap into

582
00:32:29.640 --> 00:32:37.000
it to just connect with our sense of gratitude, our appreciation,

583
00:32:38.200 --> 00:32:41.480
our sense of community. And that's been one thing that's

584
00:32:41.480 --> 00:32:43.680
been really evident through this whole thing, about the fact

585
00:32:43.720 --> 00:32:49.720
that we are all connected locally, globally. Again, we're all

586
00:32:49.720 --> 00:32:53.519
in the same storm, and so despite the social distancing,

587
00:32:53.720 --> 00:32:56.640
we are feeling more empathy towards each other.

588
00:32:56.720 --> 00:32:57.599
We're feeling more.

589
00:32:57.440 --> 00:33:00.680
Altruistic, and we I think we're all developed a sense

590
00:33:00.720 --> 00:33:04.359
of what really matters most. So if we come out

591
00:33:04.359 --> 00:33:06.440
of the other side of this with a deeper sense

592
00:33:06.480 --> 00:33:09.200
of meaning and purpose, with a deeper connection to our

593
00:33:09.240 --> 00:33:14.839
own values, a greater sense of appreciation and gratitude for

594
00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:17.319
what we do have, then maybe that is the good

595
00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:22.279
that will come from this. So this has been the

596
00:33:22.400 --> 00:33:26.200
third and final episode in my solo series Supporting You

597
00:33:26.279 --> 00:33:30.400
through Coronavirus. Just a couple of things before I go today,

598
00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:32.480
I want to remind you that as much as I

599
00:33:32.519 --> 00:33:35.160
am here to help you as best as I can,

600
00:33:35.559 --> 00:33:39.319
this podcast and others like it unknown substitute for professional

601
00:33:39.559 --> 00:33:43.839
mental health care. If you are really struggling, please remember

602
00:33:44.039 --> 00:33:48.440
that you have access to Medicare rebates on psychology or

603
00:33:48.480 --> 00:33:54.279
psychiatry appointments GP appointments from home via the telehealth option,

604
00:33:54.720 --> 00:33:56.720
so you can phone your GP, you can have a

605
00:33:56.799 --> 00:34:00.160
video appointment or consult you can get a referral to

606
00:34:00.440 --> 00:34:03.960
a mental health professional, and you can access appointments from

607
00:34:04.039 --> 00:34:07.279
home as long as you have phone, sky Bazoom or

608
00:34:07.319 --> 00:34:11.679
some access to technology that connects you to a professional.

609
00:34:12.519 --> 00:34:16.159
All of the usual Medicare rebates apply for those appointments.

610
00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:20.119
And if you do want more personal attention from me,

611
00:34:20.760 --> 00:34:25.599
I have just opened my online membership called Beyond. It's

612
00:34:25.639 --> 00:34:29.280
beyond Happy, Beyond Limits, Beyond Struggle. You can find out

613
00:34:29.320 --> 00:34:32.880
more about that at castdone dot com, Forward slash Beyond.

614
00:34:32.880 --> 00:34:35.800
I'm having a great time supporting my founding members. That's

615
00:34:35.840 --> 00:34:40.599
weekly content, live calls, lots of fun, lots of information

616
00:34:40.760 --> 00:34:44.519
and lots of support and communication, all from our own homes.

617
00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:48.000
You can join for just thirty nine dollars a month

618
00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:51.480
and find out more at cast done dot com, Forward

619
00:34:51.519 --> 00:34:55.840
slash Beyond, or email me hello at castdone dot com.

620
00:34:55.920 --> 00:34:58.840
I'm looking forward to bringing you some more guests going

621
00:34:58.880 --> 00:35:02.400
into the future, getting back to the usual format of

622
00:35:02.440 --> 00:35:04.360
crappy to happy that you have come to know and love.

623
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:08.159
Until then, stay safe, look after each other and I'll

624
00:35:08.159 --> 00:35:12.239
see you on the other side. Crappy to Happy is

625
00:35:12.280 --> 00:35:16.000
presented by Cast Dunn, produced by David Vilenski, Putio production

626
00:35:16.159 --> 00:35:17.119
by Darcy Thompson.

627
00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:22.800
Listener