Stressed out by coronavirus? Here are 7 simple things you can do right now to relax
From gum to gratitude, here are some novel ideas of how to improve
your mood despite the COVID-19 outbreak.
By Richard Chin Star
Tribune MARCH 21, 2020 — 7:57AM
LARRY STEAGALL – KITSAP SUN VIA
AP FILE
Knitting may reduce blood
pressure, lower depression and anxiety and increase a sense of well-being. Does the coronavirus pandemic
have you feeling anxious? Unfortunately, that might compound the problem.
Stress can weaken the immune system. How about something that’s been proven to
reduce stress and help people fight off the cold virus: a
big hug. On second thought, maybe not. Exercise can reduce stress. Of
course, no gyms or yoga studio are still open. But there are a bunch of other
ways to ease your worries that are cheap, relatively easy and still allow you
to maintain your social distance. Here are seven of our favorites:
Chew gum: A surprising number of studies (only a few of which were funded by
the Wrigley Science Institute) have shown that chewing gum reduces anxiety. For
example, researchers
in Japan found that test subjects asked to chew mint-flavored gum
twice a day for 14 days reported lower levels of anxiety and mental fatigue
compared with a control group that got just a mint.
In the words of the American Institute of
Stress: “There is little doubt that chewing gum can be a powerful stress
buster. One has only to look at a tightly contested baseball game on TV to see
how many players, coaches and managers are vigorously chewing bubble gum or
something else to relieve their pent-up tension.”
Say amen: Feeling lonely because you’re forced to work at home or need to
practice social distancing? Try talking to God. Shane Sharp, a Northern
Illinois University sociologist who has
studied prayer, said many people are able to manage negative emotions
through prayer. Sharp said prayer basically is communicating with an “other” who
can make the situation less threatening. “People, when they pray, it
makes salient in their minds that God loves and cares for them,” Sharp said. If
you go down on your knees, you won’t be alone. Sharp said about
70% of Americans pray at least once a week.
Give thanks: Being
thankful or expressing gratitude can help with relationships, stress
and depression. One method might be to keep a gratitude journal, where you
regularly write down things you’re grateful for. Sarah Moe, CEO of Sleep Health
Specialists in Minneapolis, suggests something even simpler. She asks clients
who have trouble getting to sleep to say aloud three things they are grateful
for before they close their eyes or if they wake up in the middle of the night
and have trouble falling back to sleep. Hearing your own voice remind you all
that you have to be grateful for seems to improve relaxation and reduce stress,
Moe said.
Ground yourself: It’s starting to get warm enough to go barefoot outside, and
that’s a healthy thing, according to advocates of a practice called “grounding”
or “earthing.” Biohackers and health gurus like Deepak Chopra say that giving
our bodies a chance to connect to the subtle electrical charge of the Earth can
help with stress, mood, pain and inflammation. They
recommend going barefoot on the concrete, soil or grass outdoors for a
half-hour at a time, or using grounding devices that will give you that
connection while indoors.
Yuk it up: It might not hurt to try to find the humor in the situation.
According to the Mayo Clinic, laughter
can be a great form of stress relief, stimulating circulation, aiding
muscle relaxation, enhancing the intake of oxygen-rich air, increasing
endorphins released by your brain, even improving your immune system.
When you’re short on laughs, Mayo recommends everything from comic strips to
funny movies. Even laughing at not anything in particular can help. “Even if it
feels forced at first, practice laughing. It does your body good,” according to
the Mayo Clinic. If you want to find something funny about the pandemic, check
out the YouTube
videos on the creative, hands-free “Wuhan shake.” Or, if you’re
working from home, take a break with the viral “BBC dad” video,
described as “every work-from-home parent’s nightmare.”
Yarn bomb it: Knitting’s
meditative, repetitive rhythm has been shown to reduce blood pressure,
lower depression and anxiety and increase a sense of well-being. Manipulating
soft, soothing yarn has been compared to yoga in its ability to create a
relaxed state. If you start now, you’ll have a head start on the Craft Yarn
Council’s “Stitch
Away Stress” campaign in April.
Heavy petting: Just 10 minutes spent petting a dog or a cat has been shown to
reduce levels of a major stress hormone, according to a
study conducted at Washington State University. Oh, by the way,
the American
Kennel Club, the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease
Control say that pets aren’t affected and are not a source of infection for
COVID-19.
