Compass Counseling owner Lindsey Lanham said positive thinking, staying connected and healthy habits are key to thriving mentally and emotionally during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a webinar with the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce on Friday, Lanham discussed several ways of coping with emotional hardships during the pandemic.
Lanham said daily affirmations are a great way to reinforce positive thinking and patterns, as well as gratitude.
“We can literally train our brains to be more positive, so that might start with an affirmation in the morning that says, ‘Today’s going to be a great day.’ That might end with ‘what went well today’. We don’t really want to focus on what didn’t go well right before sleep, so it’s really important to use those positivity patterns first thing in the morning and in the evening,” she said. “The more you train yourself to do that, the more you’ll be likely to think more positively.”
Giving back is another way of thriving and helping oneself to take control by releasing energy in other ways.
Giving back might be donating time, money or materials, or simply giving in a way that has purpose.
“Giving back is really powerful when things are not within our control. Sometimes the best way to manage that is to put our energy back out,” she said. “It changes us from being helpless to helpful.”
Connection and seeking support when needed is also important to combat isolation during the pandemic, Lanham said.
Individuals can be connected in many ways, whether by calling a friend or family member, going for a walk, or engaging the senses — things that help individuals to decompress and rejuvenate.
Connecting and seeking support helps affirm nobody is alone in this, despite how individuals might experience hardship due to the pandemic differently, according to Lanham.
“Connection is the opposite of isolation, and we know when we’re depressed, we tend to isolate, we tend to hide and we need to do the opposite,” she said.” I think that’s important about the pandemic as well, is that we know we’re not alone. No, we don’t experience it in the same way, but we are together.”
Creating flexible schedules and routines are also helpful to create structure, and evaluate needs on a daily basis.
However, Lanham said the basics should always be addressed first and foremost — activity, nutrition and sleep. These, she said, are the foundation of wellness.
All of these, she said, are ways to attempt to make peace with change, grief and anxiety that many are experiencing in the current circumstances. It is important, she said, to make meaning out of difficult situations.
By Christie Netherton Messenger-Inquirer