Lockdown has had many highs and lows. Many of us have been quietly enjoying the slower pace of life. However, lockdown has also brought with it an almost universal sense of loss.
Many people have lost loved ones, and faced the trauma of not being able to say goodbye. Others have lost jobs, and we've all seen our routines and the aspects of life which make it more manageable overturned. Across society, our financial security and emotional stability has been disrupted.
The furloughed are in limbo, left wondering when, or if, they will be back at work. We have all, to some extent, lost control over what we do and what might happen next.
This loss of control, and loss in general, has contributed to an overall rise in anxiety. There has been a massive increase in people dealing with anxiety, insomnia, and mood swings, to the point that these have become normal topics of conversation for the first time.
Previously when asked, ‘How are you?’, the answer was always ‘Fine’, regardless of the reality. Now when I ask ‘How are you doing in lockdown?’, the answer is more usually, ‘Fine. Well, you know, up and down. I think everyone is up and down aren’t they?’. Yes, I think they are, and maybe now is the time to address that.
Mindfulness can help with this. So what is mindfulness, and how can it help?
Mindfulness is often described as being in the present moment. That means being able to pay attention to the present moment without being distracted by other thoughts. A study was done by Matt Killingsworth that showed that our minds are wandering 47% of the time. This wouldn’t really matter except that it went on to show that we are generally much more unhappy when our minds are wandering.
When the mind tends to wander, it goes to what went wrong in the past, or what might go wrong in the future. This is really relevant to lockdown because there are so many ‘what if’ options to deal with.
On a national level the media is asking - ‘What if all of this had been handled differently from the start?’. On a personal level we are asking - ‘What if there isn’t a job to go back to?’. And some of us are wondering - ‘What if one of us gets the virus?’. And ‘What if our actions today lead to that person getting ill?’.
This is where mindfulness can help. Mindfulness is about staying in the present moment and keeping our minds off the ‘what if’.
Meditation is practising being in the present. The focus of meditation is often the breath, because you are always breathing and you can use it at any time. As you try to focus on your breath your mind inevitably wanders off and you can practice refocussing your attention to where you want it to be.
You can practice this while you are reading this short article. It will only take a few minutes, but in those minutes your mind will be continually telling you what else you have to do and what if you chose to do something else.
Noticing it is the first step in being able to manage it.
Worrying is a natural reaction to stress but in general worrying is not going to change things. Mindfulness can help you to focus better on what you can change, and when it is worth worrying.
Mindfulness can help you enjoy the good bits of life more because you are able to be more present. Mindfulness can help you deal with the stress and the difficult aspects of life, because it can help to stop the mind spiralling towards anxiety or depression.
In lockdown there are times that we can treasure. There is a renewed awareness of what is important - our health, the health of those close to us, the NHS, our sense of community and acts of kindness towards those in need. There is a new sense of calm and a slower pace of life which is appreciated by many.
But it can be hard to appreciate these moments when the worries and stresses of the ‘what if’ are always on in the background.
Mindfulness can help you tune out from the ‘what if’ and focus on what is.
For more information about how you can use this to help you through lockdown contact me today.
"Furloughed Worker's Diary Entries" by microbizmag is licensed under CC BY 2.0