By Rena Greenberg
Instead of allowing ourselves to be crippled with fear, we can instead choose to make the temporary nature of all lives a motivating force to be the best we can be in this life.
Do you know what is really toxic to your immune system and your overall health? Worry. That’s right! Even though a certain amount of fear is normal and may even have the positive benefit of motivating you to take right action, too much worry can actually have harmful effects on your health.
As just one clinical example, in 2010 The Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) reported a study of 249,846 persons over more than 11 years that concluded: “Anxiety seemed to be an independent risk factor for incident CHD [cardiac heart disease] and cardiac mortality. … The results show an association between anxiety and incident CHD with a 26% increase in risk. Anxiety was also specifically associated with cardiac mortality, with anxious persons having a 48% increased risk of cardiac death.” (See the full article at: http://www.onlinejacc.org/content/56/1/38.)
So how can you lower your anxiety level despite the coronavirus panic that’s filled our world the past few months? Here are five steps:
1. Make a conscious decision to reduce your stress level.
This may not be easy—but it can be done. Set your intention to relax your body and mind more and more and be willing to practice. Use self-hypnosis audio recordings to help you reset your daily and moment-to-moment stress response. Bring to mind positive images of trees, flowers, smiling babies, puppies, kittens or your happiest memories. Use all of your senses to make your visualizations come alive. Breathe beautiful colors, light and soothing, melodic sounds into every cell of your body. Become conscious of your breathing and the tension you are holding in your muscles. No matter how busy you are, stop what you are doing every hour to stretch and take a few nice big deep breaths. Make relaxing your body and mind a priority.
2. Stop watching the news!
Stay away from people who are spreading panic. Remember that we are always absorbing the tension in our environment. It’s essential that we monitor the influences to which we are exposed. Keep in mind that the media gains from attracting more viewers. Remember that it’s their job to create frenzy to insure they get more business. Don’t fall into the trap. Yes, coronavirus and falling stock markets are serious concerns; however, on the other hand, if you’ve been around awhile, you know that most of the “calamities” in life pass. Now is the time to be strong and weather the storm. You can do it, and we can do it together!
3. Stay as healthy as possible.
In this physical world, do everything possible to keep yourself well. Eat healthy. Exercise. Use intelligent precautions to limit exposure to germs. Build your immune system with healthy nutrients.
For example, there is research to show that a healthy endocannabinoid system has a positive impact on keeping all systems of your body healthy. Consider using CBD to help build your endocannabinoid and immune system, but please do the research and make sure that you are only taking a high-quality, medical grade Cannabidiol (CBD) like my Rena’s Organic brand CBD Super Cider. I don’t want you to be one of those people who say, “I tried it, and it didn’t work.”
4. Stay spiritually connected.
Just as important as keeping your mind and body in top form is maintaining your spiritual connection. Is your relationship to your faith healthy and alive? Take time to be in nature and remind yourself that you are a strong, beautiful and resilient child of your Higher Power/God
5. Practice letting go and living fully.
Practice surrendering. We all will transition from this world and that will be the ultimate act of letting go. Why hasten our inevitable death with worry? The reality is, coronavirus or no coronavirus, you and I don’t know how many breaths or moments we have left. Let’s use the time we have to open our hearts to ourselves and each other and spread love, joy, radiant health, peace and wisdom—not worry—to one another.
Rena Greenberg, a Hay House author, can be reached at http://www.EasyWillpower.com. Her weight loss and gastric bypass hypnosis success has been featured in 150-plus news stories including USA Today, Woman’s World, The Doctor’s, CNN, Good Morning America and Nightline. PBS stations nationally aired Rena’s show, “Easy Willpower,” in August 2015. Her wellness program is sponsored in 75 hospitals and 100-plus corporations. She conducts hypnotherapy sessions with people all over the world on Skype.