Surviving Coronavirus: How to Maintain Your Sanity, Survive and Thrive in the Toughest Times

By Eugene St.Clair II

The Coronavirus outbreak has taken the world by storm. In a matter of months, it succeeded not only in infecting bodies, but minds. In times like these, people must learn to cope and reframe the situation in which they find themselves to keep from suffering mental anguish. In Surviving Coronavirus: How to Maintain Your Sanity, Survive and Thrive in the Toughest Times, you'll learn the skills you need to make the best of an uncontrollable situation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098309145

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 Eugene Nelson St. Clair II

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-09830-914-5

Contents

Quick Reference Coping Checklist

Introduction

Free Resources during the Covid-19 Crisis

Chapter 1 – Your greatest enemy

The War Inside Your Mind

Managing your thoughts

Chapter 2 – Taking Control

Not a Problem: The art of reframing

Taking Stock

Alter Ego

Chapter 3 – Creating Capacity

Relationships and connections

Alcohol is not your friend

Coffee reduces your capacity

News (is all bad)

Chapter 4 – Setting Intention

Examine your Life

The way you talk to yourself affects EVERYTHING

The Storm Before the Calm

Reprogram Yourself

Set new standards

Chapter 5 – The Job Situation

Build your resume

Don’t Burn Bridges. Build them.

Chapter 6 – Finances

Ask before you assume

Chapter 7 – Family Life

Play with your kids and get high

Getting your kids to listen

Your kids are sponges

Sing like your life depends on it

Grooming

Clean and Maintain your home

Keep yourself healthy

Exercise

Chapter 8 – Nutrition

Where to find food

Vitamins and Minerals

Sunlight

Chapter 9 – Structure and Routines

Structure and Routines

Chapter 10 – Turning things around

Be Part of the Solution

Think about a positive future

Be Proactive

Purpose

Chapter 11 – Prepare to Dominate

Use this time wisely

Go where the puck is going

Chapter 12 – Come out stronger!

Plan for Success

Improve your Systems

Conclusion

References

Quick Reference Coping Checklist

If you are suffering from extreme anxiety and having difficulty knowing where to begin, here are several things you can do right now.

BREATHE. You’d be surprised at how effective a couple of breathing exercises can be. If you’re panicking, the first thing you will experience is shortness of breath. Now it might seem like there’s no way out of it. After all it’s a natural fight or flight kind of situation. But remember that you have the power to overcome this. Granted, it’s easier said than done. But you can calm yourself as much as you can drive yourself to panic. We take breathing for granted, but have you ever stopped and wondered whether you’re doing it right? You may need to unlearn the way you breathe and assimilate a better way to do so. Go someplace alone. Close your eyes. Check in with your breathing (is it in the chest or diaphragm?) Start box breathing for 10 cycles (deep inhale 5 seconds, hold 5 seconds, exhale 5 seconds, hold out 5 seconds, repeat). For this exercise to work, you need to be mindful of your breathing. With each breath in, think of the act of inhaling. It helps when you repeat to yourself ‘inhale, inhale, inhale’ in your mind. Similarly, be mindful of exhaling with each breath out. Think ‘exhale, exhale, exhale’. Your focus will shift from whatever triggered your anxiety attack to your breathing.

Stop and FEEL. When you’re panicking, it’s very easy to dissociate and drift away from your surroundings. Reality becomes a blur. The only thing you can think of is crippling fear. This is also coupled with a sense of detachment. So you can easily feel like you’re losing yourself in the process. With the shortness of breath and palpitations also come the feelings of numbness and tingling. What you need to remedy this is get back to your body. You need to ground yourself and acknowledge your existence through physical touch. Check in with your body. With eyes closed start with your toes, then feet, ankles, calves, quads, glutes, flex each muscle group one by one and then release. Do this from toes to head. Focus your attention on your limbs and the way you move each one. Switch between tightening your muscles and extending them. Sometimes during an anxiety episode, you lose all feeling of your body. Depersonalization is not uncommon. You also unintentionally clench your jaw,