COVID-19, or Coronavirus, is causing havoc all over the world, and its affecting us all. We are all feeling the restrictions of self-isolation and cancelled events. As a trainer who consistently runs live events, this has been a time for me to rethink the way I interact with people. Necessity is the mother of invention, and I can finally focus on getting my business online, which I have been meaning to do for ages. So every cloud has a silver lining. This is not all bad. Who has found some positive gains from the changes to our social behaviour? Please share.

In these uncertain times people feel unstable which causes anxiety and panic. Some people are struggling with Coronaphobia – an extreme or irrational fear of a virus they feel they cannot control. The squabbles in the shops over toilet paper are a sign that people are panicked and need to feel a modicum of control over their situation.

Whatever your level of unease around this situation, there are plenty of tools in NLP & Matrix Therapies that can help you reduce anxiety when you feel it. I’d like to share with you 3 of them.

1. Change the Internal Representation

When you think of a particularly stressful situation or person, you will have an internal picture of that situation or person, whether you are initially aware of it or not. With this picture is attached the anxious feeling. Close your eyes and focus on this picture. Is the picture close to you? Is it bright and in colour? Let’s bring that picture away from you, make it smaller, make it black and white. Now send that picture way off into the distance until its the size of a tiny crumb, now just flick it away with your fingers, off into oblivion, or see it fall off the edge of the horizon until it is gone.

2. Rotations

Locate the epicentre of the anxious feeling. It is usually in your chest or gut. Notice which way it is moving; first impressions, usually clockwise or anticlockwise. Now imagine you have that feeling in your hands and spin it in the opposite direction. Spin it faster and faster, double it, triple the speed of the spin, now with your hands grab that spinning feeling and throw it as far out of your body as you can. Relax. Feel the difference.

3. Speaking to your Successful Future Self

Think about an event which is causing you anxiety. Float up above the event, watching the event run exactly the way you’d like it to run. Now go down into the event, and watch yourself again as you run the event exactly the way you’d like it to run. Now ask your future-self these questions:

What did you do?
How did you prepare?
What attitude to you have?
What beliefs about yourself do you have?
What resources did you draw upon that allowed you to be successful?
What did you learn?

Now have your future-self transfer all of these resources into your present-self. Now replay the event again, this time you are the one in the event, looking through your own eyes. Once you’ve integrated all the positive learnings, come back to now, feeling confident.

If you would like more help, I am currently offering 30 minute free consults to ease any anxiety around Covid-19. I’m also offering an online meditation course to give you tools to keep you calm. My next NLP & Matrix Therapies event will also be online, so everyone can take part.

God bless. Stay safe. Keep your hands clean. Who else has hands that feel like sandpaper from all the soap-washing and drying?

We will get through this. Life will go back to normal. Breathe deep and be patient and be thankful for the daily blessings.

Love and light
Sonya