Homebound or Isolated:

  •  Set a limit on how much time you spend Updates on television, social media, and the internet.  More information can add to increase anxiety, and it keeps changing. Either set a time each day you check the news and use reputable sources like the CDC or you can limit this and ask a loved one to update you with most important information.

  • Engage in the Here and Now , not focusing on “what I am going to lose”, but what we still have and are grateful for.  The future is unpredictable and as hard as this is when we focus on the worst it increases our  anxiety more. 

  • Use your time at home better.  Turn your focus to things you always imagined getting done if you only had a day off. For example, focusing on your family, projects, and perhaps new things like learning a foreign language or art projects.

  • Dedicate a portion of each day to self-care: 

  1. Go outside in open spaces for walks or just sit and enjoy fresh air.

  2. Otherwise open the windows for some fresh air anytime and listen to birds.

  3. Keep up your routines of exercise in your home, and taking good care to continue taking vitamins and eating healthy.

  4. Get good sleep at night.

  5. Practice mindfulness and meditation.

  6. Stay connected to loved ones via Facetime and check in on others who are isolated.

  7. Know your limits and practice stress management techniques like breathing, Meditation, yoga, etc. There are many free apps for this including Headspace, Mindspace, and several free meditations on You Tube.

If you are still struggling to keep a balance with your stress having someone to support you during this difficult time, Karen may assist you with not feeling so alone, and validated with some of your reactions.  It is normal for many of us to go into a state of survival reaction.  It’s how we are wired when we feel danger. Some respond by going into fight/flight (anxiety, hypervigilance, and anger are some responses in this mode),  and others react by going into freeze (shutdown, denial, dissociation and depression are some reactions here) .  We mostly react based on our previous coping and trauma histories.  Karen can help you navigate some of these reactions at this time and prepare you for longer term coping patterns  of everyday life when we get back to normal.