Feeling Stressed Since October 7th?
Our world fundamentally changed on October 7th.
Probably the entire Jewish world is feeling the stress and anxiety of our current situation, I know that I am, as are all of my clients.
While we cannot change the situation, there are many things that we can do to help the way we are feeling. When we improve our thoughts, we show up better, have more energy, and can create different results.
If this sounds too woo-woo, I’ll give you several examples of how our thoughts affect both our physiology and our actions.
When I think about the atrocities from Oct. 7th, I feel my breath speed up, my throat constricts, my blood pressure goes up, and my gut gets sore – in general, I’m re-experiencing the trauma now of what happened almost 3 months ago. The stress hormone cortisol is flooding my body, and it wreaks havoc with it.
Our mind doesn’t know the difference between past, present or future, so our mind is re-living the trauma all over again.
In another example, if we think that there is no way we can win this war, then we get anxious. We lose our motivation. We barely have the energy to get out of bed and we can sink into depression. We see here that our thoughts can really dictate how we behave and the end result of those behaviours..
Here are 2 things that we can do to feel more centered and in control of our emotions.
- Firstly, validate the emotions you are feeling. When we try to suppress them, we try to eat them, drink them, smoke them, shop them away, etc but they never go away, they stay in our bodies as negative energy.
However, when we just state what emotion we are feeling and where we are feeling it in our body, that alone can reduce the emotional impact. (example: I am feeling intense sadness behind my eyes and I understand why, or I am feeling fear in the pit of my stomach and that is OK)
2. Secondly, use your imagination to create the perfect future you desire. Go wild – there are no boundaries to our imagination. As we picture this wonderful life, our body releases oxytocin, serotonin, endorphins and dopamine – the feel-good hormones. They release stress, lower blood pressure, and generally make us want to connect to others and make us feel happier.
I know that I always prefer to feel happier than depressed and I’m sure you do too.
Try these 2 techniques to help you during these uncertain times.
By all of us showing up more positively, it will affect the energy in the battlefields and help our soldiers too.
Shellie Berman Grafstein
Life Coach for Women over 50