A psychologist trapped in India on how to manage confinement anxiety

A psychologist trapped in India on how to manage confinement anxiety

Coronavirus

The psychologist Yaiza Leal was in India when the coronavirus crisis began in Spain. From there he sends eight exercises that we can do daily during confinement to calm us down and gain confidence

When in Spain the alarm status and the numbers of people affected by coronavirus Yaiza Leal, a psychologist specializing in anxiety management, was in Rishikesh, in India, preparing a yoga retreat planned for Easter. “I traveled here a few weeks earlier to delve into Hindu culture before retreat. But what I did not know is that I would stay for several months and that the group of Spaniards who was going to participate in the retreat would not be able to do so due to the cancellation of flights from Spain (the country appears, so to speak, on the list black woman from New Delhi airport), ”he explains.

Rishikesh, known as the capital of yoga and the gateway to the Himalayas, is so named because the “rishis” or monks came to this area to “find their enlightenment.” That is why Yaiza Leal explains that, in some way, she feels that by living in it during this period of time she is “obliged” to live this situation in the best possible way. I’m taking it practically as a personal growth retreat. Dedicating quality time to myself and enjoying observing and continuing to learn how to manage my mind when I feel sad or lonely, ”she clarifies.

Return to Spain, impossible

Right now it is a great risk to consider going back to Spain from India. Not only because neither flights are received nor flights to there, but because, as Yaiza Leal explains, the airport is collapsed, with people who have been waiting for several days to find flight options to other countries and then return home from there. either by paying “an abysmal cost” or by risking that they will not be able to reach Spain from the destination they choose to try.

In fact, he knows many Spaniards who cannot work from there nor do they even know how to return and their money is running out, so it will be a challenge for all of them to reassemble the pieces of the puzzle that the coronavirus has dispersed.

In her case, the psychologist has found a way to continue working from Rishikesh thanks to the terapia on line and to the management that he continues to do from there of the psychology center that he has in Manresa (Barcelona). “From here I can continue working and helping many people who are suffering from anxiety at the moment,” says the expert, who shares with ABC Bienestar the eight exercises that she recommends practicing to manage anxiety. “With all the tensions and information we receive … It is better to sit down for 10 minutes to clear your mind a little so as not to go crazy!”, He proposes.

1. Whatever you feel, keep a routine

Never stop doing anything for your emotions. This does not mean that you do not stop at different times of the day to attend to them, to listen to what your inner world tells you and learn from the message that each emotion brings us. Even anxiety.

But above all, you must maintain the contact with the social world. I mean to continue doing, within what you can: your responsibilities, help at home or your relatives, make improvements in your house, keep getting up and going to bed early, reorganize your work, studies, projects; do cleaning of objects, information …; resume pending conversations with people who have appeared at some point in your life, look for information on the internet and study on your own those things that at some point have disturbed your spirit and made you feel like a child.

Routine, regardless of how we feel, gives us a basis. It helps us continue to use time productively when we feel bad. And as in the end, the discomfort passes. You better have made good use of your time.

2. Sport, the sacred element of your routine

If you already did some physical activity, continue to keep the same schedule at home. If you can’t do the same sport, just do something else for your body. Like stretching, yoga, pilates, etc.

The important thing is not to lose sport routine and keep bringing attention to your body. At the same time that you take care of your body, this helps you to know how to better interpret your internal signals: you find out how you are feeling and what you most want or what you cannot or want to bear the most; increase your inspiration to find new solutions, reinforce your security, confidence and self-esteem

In case you weren’t playing sports before lockdown, now is a beautiful time to do it.

3. Write what worries you

After maintaining your routine and taking care of your body, it is time to take care of your inside world and your mind.

If there is noise, don’t leave it inside. And don’t repeat it either, and repeat it until others or even you feel worse.

It is better to sit down and write down fears, worries, irrational thoughts, etc. And it is also important to look at them head on because in this way you can free yourself from it by giving it a new focus.

4. Transform any concern in four steps

Now that you have your worries and dark side in front of you (because you have written them down), ask yourself: «Why does it bother me?», «What is the real cause of this?»; “Is there anything I can do?”; “What thoughts would help me to live this in the best possible way?” and “How can I summarize this in an affirmative sentence, in the first person and in the present tense that makes me raise my motivation to the level of” Rocky “?

5. Learn to dream with your eyes open

Once you have answered yourself. You’ve just started work. Not all is solved yet.

It’s one thing to think about how you want to experience something, on a rational level. But now the job is to believe what you have written. Believe that you can live as you have written. To do this, close your eyes. And allow yourself imagine that you live with these new attitudes.

If, for example, you were worried about losing your job due to confinement. Imagine yourself calm, trusting your skills. With the assurance that due to your fighting attitude you will find exactly what you need at the most opportune moment.

6. Your own answers are your mantra

After this negative thoughts transformation exercise, do not make him stay in something punctual.

Repeat yourself during your day: while you cook, while you exercise, while you shower, etc. those phrases, affirmations and words of power that help you calm down and take control of the situation.

7. Surrender to meditation

By now, you know that mindfulness meditation helps with anxiety management. Help yourself with this art to: identify bad thoughts earlier and thus be able to transform them earlier, learn to take a deep breath and increase temperance so as not to be so reactive, impulsive or dramatic.

Just 10 minutes of your day observing your natural breath is enough.

8. Your anti-stay kit, always ready

Beyond all that goes well for everyone. Like routine, meditating, sports, etc. You should have your own “anti stress kit”, that is, those things that prevent you from thinking: playing the music that starts you dancing, taking a shower, exercising, dancing, drawing, putting on laughing videos … Anything productive or stupid that helps you not to think, to be in the present, to have fun. Then it will be a good resource to help you live in the best possible way … in these moments, and in all others.