Thriving in a Global Pandemic and Beyond: More than 100 Real-Life Lessons

By Saundra Schrock Ph.D.

Are you ready to live a healthier and happier life? Has the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted your levels of stress, motivation, focus, and more? You are not alone!

We have all experienced dramatic changes that affect almost every aspect of our lives. Despite this, each of us can develop the skills to handle whatever challenges we face today and in the future, and not just survive but THRIVE.

With over 100 real-life lessons, "Thriving in a Global Pandemic and Beyond" helps you develop the skills you need to flourish in any environment. Based on the latest research in resiliency, positive psychology, cognitive behavior, neuroscience, and mindfulness, this book delivers simple advice to establish healthy habits, less stress and anxiety, and help busy people just like you!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Mar 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9781098354886

Book preview

Schrock

Chapter One:

Living in Unprecedented Times

Introduction

Many of us feel like we are living a nightmare caused by the wide-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This nightmare is not just about being safe from the virus, but includes worries about financial security, social isolation, and political and social unrest. As a result, many of us are beginning to experience psychological symptoms such as stress, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, cloudy thinking, and memory losses (Lima et al., 2020). If you are feeling this way, you are not alone.

Data compiled in 2020 by the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics show that one third of U.S. adults have depression or anxiety symptoms. This is a sharp increase over the results of a comparable survey conducted in the first half of 2019. Another study completed in early April 2020 by the University of Connecticut found that the most common stressors were (Park et al., 2020):

Reading/hearing about the severity and contagiousness of COVID-19 (96.6%)

Uncertainty about the length of quarantine and social distancing requirements (88.3%)

Disruptions to social life (83.7%)

Changes to daily personal care (80.1%)

Furthermore, first responders and healthcare workers are likely to experience even higher stress levels and might be emotionally affected and traumatized with higher levels of depression and anxiety (McAlonan et al., 2007). This can be expected since these groups have higher levels of exposure to stressors.

So, what actions can we take to help us manage this? Who can we turn to for help? Even before this current crisis, mental health resources were scarce and not designed to help us in this unprecedented situation. The fact is, it will be up to us to figure out what we need and to seek out the resources to ensure that we come out the other side even more resilient than before.

Thriving in a Global Pandemic and Beyond

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a dramatic impact on almost every aspect of life. We have had to live with uncertainty, changes in our daily routines, financial pressures, and social isolation. We are worried about getting sick, how long the pandemic will last, and what the future holds. We are overloaded with information, rumors, and misinformation which lead us to feeling like our lives are out of control.

Before the pandemic, we were a society that dined out frequently, traveled freely, and attended a wide range of entertainment events. During the pandemic, our socialization with others was limited to those we live with or to a small group. Also, our home became the center of our lives. We ate all of our meals at home, taught our children from home, found ways to entertain ourselves at home, and worked from home. Adding to an already stressful situation, many people have concerns about their children’s education, loss of income, job security, and the future (Van Bortel et al., 2016).

Furthermore, one of the dominant emotions during the pandemic is fear. Fear is an adaptive mechanism essential to survival that rallies many biological processes to help us prepare for a potentially threatening situation (Ornell et al., 2020). However, fear becomes harmful when it is ever-present or disproportionate to the problem, leading to several psychological disorders (Peeri et al., 2020). During a pandemic, fear increases and intensifies in both healthy individuals and in those with pre-existing mental health concerns which may have a more significant impact than the epidemic itself (Shigemura et al., 2020). This is not to say that there isn’t a genuine need to be fearful of the disease. It is just that the psychosocial and economic impact may have broad implications for our finances, family, education, organizations, public policy, and changes in daily routines.

Despite the challenges of living through the pandemic, there is reason to believe that we can develop the skills to handle whatever challenges we face today and in the future. The basis for this optimism can be found in decades of research in resiliency. This research indicates that taking a proactive approach to our mental health will allow us to not merely survive but to thrive (Polizzi et al., 2020). To thrive means we have the ability to bounce back quickly from problems and to take advantage of opportunities. It means we live with a sense of happiness and accomplishment and enjoy positive relationships. We are strong, vigorous, and successful in all aspects of our lives ... physically, mentally, and socially.

How Do We Cope

The unprecedented nature of our environment has resulted in a cascade of emotions such as helplessness, fear, anxiety, and hopelessness. As a result, we look for coping mechanisms to help us deal with the onslaught of emotions. Some of these coping mechanisms serve us well, such as engaging in physical exercise, spending quality time with friends and family either in-person or virtually, or fixing up our homes. However, other coping mechanisms may not serve us well in the long run, such as spending too much time indulging in marathon streaming, spending hours on social media, and looking for comfort in food or alcohol. Whether these coping mechanisms are healthy or unhealthy, they are motivated by our desire for control where we feel we have little or no control.

The premise of this book is that we can learn the skills we need to build resiliency and move to a higher level of happiness and mental health despite the pandemic. To build those skills, the practices in this book are based on a simple yet effective framework to help develop productive, positive coping strategies to move beyond merely surviving to thriving. This framework involves three concepts: control, connectedness, and coherence (Polizzi et al., 2020).

Control

Control describes the belief that an individual has the personal resources needed to achieve important goals. Having a sense of control gives us the confidence that we can handle whatever challenges come our way. One way to begin to build a sense of control over our lives is to start by focusing on developing control over our daily routine. This gives us the foundation we need to move to a focus on long-term goals. This is an important step because planning for the long-term helps us substitute worry with reflection which acts as a counterbalance to fear and anxiety.

Another aspect of control is realizing that we can control how we perceive the world and how we react to situations and other people. A simple example of this is the shift in perception that is reflected in understanding the difference between I am stressed to I feel stressed. This is more than a change in words. It is an acknowledgment that we are not our emotions and that we can control how we perceive both internal and external events. Chapters Two through Seven describe concepts and practices that can help you gain a sense of control in an out-of-control world.

Connectedness

In times of crisis, we have an intense desire to be together ... to seek out others and to establish bonds, even with strangers. Empirical evidence suggests that social support is one of the most impactful and consistent factors in resiliency. However, this pandemic has placed restrictions on our ability to be with others, which takes away one of the critical ways we deal with trauma. In today’s environment, unlike other natural disasters or traumatic events like 9/11, we cannot join together physically and socially with a common purpose to energize and support one another.

As a result, we have limited the number of people we interact with either in-person or virtually. One of the advantages of limiting the circle of people we interact with is that we have the opportunity to build deeper and more meaningful relationships (Polizzi et al., 2020). Engaging with a smaller group of people provides us with the opportunity to develop more empathy and compassion, improve our deep listening skills, and demonstrate care and concern. This is critically important since strong relationships during a traumatic time is a strong predictor of increased psychological well-being and perhaps a reduced level of post-traumatic stress symptoms (Dekel et al., 2015). Chapter Eight provides practices to help build positive relationships, which can be one of our greatest strengths and resiliency sources.

Coherence

Coherence refers to the human drive to make sense and meaning of our lives and the world. Creating a coherent narrative of what has happened and what needs to be done to live safely and fully is essential to cope with a stressful environment. One way to do this is to reflect on what is important to you. What comforts you in situations where you have limited control? How do you want others to describe your response during this time? How do you want to be remembered by what you did or didn’t do? The practices in Chapter Nine provide an opportunity for you to explore your values and help you create a narrative for this uncertain and stressful time.

Take Charge of Your Mental Well-Being

If we wait for local and national entities to address the heightened psychological trauma level, we will miss an opportunity to build the skills we need to deal with the challenges of today and the future. Of course, if you or a family member are experiencing severe psychological symptoms, don’t ignore them or think that they will get better. Instead, seek assistance from a qualified mental health provider to get the help needed. However, for those of us who are experiencing less severe symptoms, there are things we can do immediately to care for ourselves and prevent us from spiraling down. It requires us to take a proactive approach to manage our mental health with equal intensity to protect our physical health. You can protect and even boost your mental health both during and post-pandemic by integrating simple practices into your day. One of the most powerful means we have to build the skills we need for today and beyond is the practice of mindfulness.

Linkage of Mindfulness to Thriving

Mindfulness is an intentional focus on the present moment. This is a capacity we all have—it’s a natural state of being. Watch a baby or child at play. They are in the moment. However, as we grow, we develop our skills in thinking, judging, analyzing, and planning and are rewarded for our intellectual processes. The downside of this type of development is that we lose our focus on the present—not because we outgrow it, but because we focus on other things. That is, we live inside our heads and multi-task every second of the day. We’re so used to living like this that it feels completely normal and being intentionally present feels uncomfortable and abnormal. When we start a mindfulness practice, we reconnect with our natural ability to live in the present and feel the joy of being fully in the moment.

Mindfulness is not a panacea for all of today’s problems. However, learning how to gain control over your attention is a powerful tool in living the kind of life you desire. This is critically important when the conditions are unprecedented and continuously changing. None of us have ever lived in a time like this. Most of the old rules do not apply. We have had to adapt our behavior in ways that we never thought would be necessary. Mindfulness practice can help us build self-awareness, awareness of others, emotional stability, and develop empathy and compassion. As a result, we can move our lives toward thriving, not just surviving.

Rewiring Your Brain

Beginning in the latter part of the twentieth century, neuroscientists began to challenge the paradigm that the adult brain cannot change. Changing this mindset led to discovery after discovery that the brain has remarkable neuroplasticity powers. These discoveries indicate that the brain can reorganize or change itself by forming new neural connections throughout life.

Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment. In fact, the adult brain retains much of the plasticity of the developing brain. The brain’s plasticity includes the power to repair regions that have been damaged, grow new neurons, and rewire areas that performed one task so they can assume new duties.

The other key finding is how the brain changes. We now know that the brain devotes more cortical capacity to functions that its owner uses more frequently and shrinks the space dedicated to activities rarely performed. Our brain is shaped by our actions, experiences, and, yes, our thoughts. In fact, a few studies have shown that the brain changes as a result of thinking about performing a task like practicing a sport or playing a musical instrument.

Numerous studies point to the fact that we can choose and cultivate how our changing minds will work moment by moment. Mindfulness is one of the most effective ways to take control of how our brain rewires. Until recently, most researchers believed that the most effective way to practice mindfulness was through meditation. However, recent research shows that brief and frequent mindfulness practice delivers significant benefits

Simple, Not Easy

This book has over 100 real-life practices and lessons that you can incorporate into the normal course of your day. At first glance, you may think the practices in this book are so simple that you ask, How can something so simple be effective? That’s because we often mistake simple for easy, particularly when we are learning something new. Think of the last time you learned a new skill. This could be learning to play a sport or perform a new task. Remember how simple the basics seemed. So, you thought to yourself, I’ve got this! only to find that the journey to mastery took more focus than you expected. This is also true of the practice of mindfulness. It sounds simple. Then you try it and find out it is not necessarily easy. It takes practice and commitment, just like learning any other skill.

The good news is threefold. First, you already have the tools you need: mindfulness is a natural way of being. Second, within a few sessions, you will begin to see the benefits emerge. With this reinforcement, you may actually look forward to practicing! Third, as you continue to practice, you experience a wonderful upward spiral of benefits. The more you practice, the more you benefit, and the more people around you respond in positive ways. Mindfulness is no miracle cure for all of our ills. Still, it is a beautiful way to experience a more fulfilling life.

What You Can Expect

This book aims to help you develop the skills you need to thrive during these challenging times and beyond. The practices and lessons are based on the latest research in resiliency, positive psychology, cognitive behavior, neuroscience, and mindfulness. They have also been empirically proven to reduce stress and anxiety and improve attention and focus with thousands of people just like you. Some of the reasons for the effectiveness of the practices in this book are:

They require little or no extra time to practice and can be incorporated into your daily activities.

There is a wide variety of ways you can practice, making it easy to adapt to your individual situation or needs.

Due to their simplicity, you can apply them in real-time once you have learned the techniques.

The suggested approach for getting the most from this book is to move through each chapter following a process of reflecting, reading, practicing, and reflecting. Each of the following sections describes the process in more detail:

Reflect. At the beginning of each chapter, you will find five statements to consider how often each is true for you. For example, is it rarely true, often true, or very often true? As you respond, keep in mind two things. First, no matter where you assess yourself now, there is an opportunity to improve with practice. And second, there is no right way to respond. These statements are designed to help you determine where you might want to focus your attention.

Read. The information in this book is based on empirical research and the author’s experience. The goal of this information is to provide you with an understanding of why the topic is important and how it might benefit you. You will also find that many of the topics have one or more practices designed to help you build a particular skill.

Practice. Each of the practices in this book follows a similar format. The five components of each practice are: 1) purpose/description, 2) estimated time for completion, 3) preparation 4) how to perform the practice, and 5) reflection. The simplicity and repetition of the format makes it easy to learn the basic elements of the practice. Once you have mastered the overall process, you can modify the practice to fit your individual needs for inclusion into your daily routine.

Reflect. At the end of the chapter, you will have the opportunity to review the same reflection statements as those at the beginning of the chapter. The purpose of reviewing these statements again is to determine if you see these statements from a different perspective now that you have read and perhaps tried some of the practices in the chapter. Hopefully, this will provide insights into where you need to place your focus for your personal practice.

If you follow the suggested approach, it may take you several weeks to proceed through the book. And that’s ok because the content was designed for reflection and practice. Many people also find that as their practice grows, they see the content and practices differently. As a quote by Heraclitus says, you never step in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river, and you are not the same person. Because of that, think of this book as a handbook to build a strong foundation for resiliency and well-being that you can refer to anytime you need a little direction or support.

Please keep in mind, these practices are not clinical prescriptions, nor will they eliminate the need for professional support. However, they can help you navigate this uncertain world by building the internal resources to thrive even in these unprecedented times.

Frequently Asked Questions

The most often asked question is, "How will I know if my practice is making a difference?. People often first see changes where they need them most. In the same way that water flows to the driest area, your mindfulness practice’s benefits will flow to where you need it most. You will notice these changes because you are increasing your awareness. For example, if you’re stressed, you’ll notice that you are less stressed. If you want to be more focused, you’ll find that you can maintain your attention for longer and longer periods. If you’re experiencing worry and anxiety, you’ll feel a little more at peace. This awareness guides how you think, feel, act, and relate to others—based on your personal intention (or purpose). Don’t be surprised if people around you start to see these changes as well. They may say things like, you seem different, in a good way, or you seem a lot less stressed."

The second most often asked question is, "How much practice is required?". While there is no one right answer, here are a few suggestions. Just like with physical exercise, consistency is the key to seeing benefits. And that’s why it is recommended that you build your skill with DAILY practice. Your daily practice ideally would include multiple opportunities to practice three to five minutes at a time. These exercises are for busy people like you and can be done while walking, eating, or commuting.

As you start your journey, keep in mind that learning to thrive instead of merely survive is a skill. Like any other skill, when you stop practicing, you’ll see the benefits diminish. Focusing on our mental well-being is a life-long journey. And it is a journey that never ends. You will make progress for a while and then slide back. Just know that whatever you experience, it is yours alone. No one else’s journey will be exactly like yours. And there is no one ideal experience. Whatever you experience is just right.

Chapter Two:

Controlling Your Attention

Introduction

Even before the pandemic, we were a distracted society. Research has shown that our attention spans have been shrinking drastically over the past few decades. This isn’t surprising with the opportunities we have to engage with our electronic devices, the proliferation of social media, and numerous options for distracting ourselves with entertainment options such as streaming. Plus, the pandemic has caused many of us to work from home or to be engaged in virtual learning. This chapter aims to help you discover your attention’s power by offering practices that you can integrate into your day, helping you adapt to this unique environment and beyond.

To help you explore this chapter, reflect on the following five statements. As you read each statement, consider how often each statement is true for you. For example, is it rarely true, often true, or very often true? Don’t feel like you need to be exact in your response. Just select a response that seems like a reasonable assessment. As you respond, keep in mind two things. First, no matter where you assess yourself now, there is an opportunity to improve with practice. And second, there is no right way to respond.

My mind tends to wander off even when I am trying to concentrate.

I get distracted easily.

I have trouble focusing on one task at a time.

I pay attention to sensations in my environment, such as temperature, sounds, colors, and smells.

I have trouble staying focused on what’s happening in the present.

Hopefully, your responses to these statements provide a starting place for you to explore how your attention works and learn how to build the control you need. The practices in this chapter are designed to help you learn how to control your attention and sustain your focus without being distracted. At the end of the chapter, you will have the opportunity to explore these statements again. So, you may want to make a note of how you responded to these statements before you began this chapter.

Power of Our Attention

Attention is not just about the things we focus on. It’s also about the things that we miss. We know that attention is both selective and limited. It sometimes works just like we want, and other times we don’t understand why we struggle to control it. That’s because at any given moment, thousands of things are competing for our attention. William James, the father of modern psychology, believed that the capacity to voluntarily bring back wandering attention is the root of judgment, character, and will. He also recognized that our ability to focus and flex attention is trainable and that almost anyone can improve with practice. Making a conscious choice about your focus and attention indicates that the object of your attention is essential. For example, making a choice to stay focused in a conversation instead of being drawn to your own internal dialogue says, This person and this conversation are important.

Mental Activity Influences the Brain

Scientists don’t know how the mind influences the brain, but there is significant evidence that it involves paying attention. Because a conscious, awake mind is bombarded by countless bits of information, it only registers the information you are paying attention to. Without your focused awareness, your experiences may not even be stored in your memory. What is recorded by your brain is determined by what you pay attention to.

How the brain manages what is registered and what is not only became apparent in the first few years of the 21st century. The best way to think about this is that neurons compete. What is registered by the brain is determined by the strength of the signal. The strength of the signal is determined by setting a purpose or intention for our attention. Here is how our attention works.

Intentional Attention

The first step is to focus your attention on the situation, a thought, new behavior, or memory you want to repeat or remember. However, merely focusing your attention doesn’t ensure that your brain is rewired. It requires effort.

Effort

Effort moves intentional attention from merely a perception to creating new neural pathways. When you do something for the first time, it takes a lot of effort. By using PET scans, neuroscientists can see the effort the brain makes when learning something new. And with practice, new tasks become effortless.

Effortless

After a new neural pathway has been initiated, the new behavior, thought, or feeling takes less energy to keep it going. In the beginning, learning anything new, like a new language or a new golf swing, takes focus and energy.

Practice

After enough practice, it becomes relatively automatic, and your brain will remain wired to perform this task. However, if you do not continue to practice, you will lose this ability to maintain this effortless level.

Where is Your Attention?

Much like a camera, our attention can zoom out to bring a broader view into focus and zoom in to narrow the focus on something specific. However, unlike a camera, we can zoom in or out with all of our senses. For example, we can turn our attention to our surroundings and include our sight and the other four senses of sound, touch, taste, and smell.

You can zoom out to see all the colors surrounding you, hear all the sounds, detect smells and aromas, notice the temperature, and take a sip of water. Or you can zoom in and take in the colors of an individual leaf, detect its subtle smell, tune in to how it sounds as you snap it off the branch, and even how it feels between your fingers. It’s truly unique, this extraordinary flexibility of our attention.

Practice: Our Attention