Managing Stress, Anxiety and Emotions in Challenging Times at Work and Home by Dr. Suzanne Henwood

We are facing unprecedented times – never before have we, in our life times, had to retreat back into our homes (bubbles) for safety on a global basis. We are learning new ways to connect, new ways to live and we are, many of us, focused on survival.It is not surprising then that our bodies are firing off different triggers, as we try to find a way to navigate ourselves through to the other side – and beyond.

I thought it might be helpful for you to take a moment to place your attention inwards and explore exactly what is happening for you:

– Is it stress – a chemical reaction that is a normal response in your body when your system experiences a trigger that creates a mental or emotional strain. That trigger can be anything that is interpreted as adverse of challenging / demanding – so it isn’t always negative things that create stress as any new mum may have experienced!

– Is it anxiety – which one on line dictionary defined as “a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome”. Often, we talk of this being related to worrying about something in the future, that has not yet happened, and this definition seemed apt right now as we are facing uncertain times.

– Is it an emotion – Alan Watkins defines emotion as ‘energy in motion’ (in his brilliant youtube presentation aptly named “Being brilliant every day”. An emotion is just a chemical shift in the body and if left alone, will pass in 90 seconds. As humans though we tend to become aware of the emotion – name it as a feeling and then create story and meaning around that with language – which effectively keeps ‘pouring fuel on the fire’ – so emotions can hang around much longer if we keep feeding them.

You may be interested to know that there are over 3000 emotions, yet generally people name and use only around 12 each day.

This is one great “wheel of Emotions” which can be useful to help you identify a wider range of emotions, or you may prefer a pictorial representation to guide you into identify the emotions you are feeling. This one has 78 emotions – and can be found on a simple google search.

(https://www.charlottefive.com/raising-emotionally-resilient-kids-starting/650_feelings-wheel-color/)

(https://hope4hurtingkids.com/emotions/understanding-emotions/emotions-chart/)

As an mBIT Coach and Trainer, I have the privilege of helping people to manage stress, anxiety and emotional regulation and I thought this table may be of value for you as you navigate your way through challenging times.

Identify the “issue” – and find that in the left hand column.

I offer a brief definition in the middle column – so you can check your self assessment.

And in the final column I offer some tools and techniques for handling that specific issue. I also offer some research evidence to show that the tools being recommended have a solid scientific underpinning and some links to find out more about some of the techniques highlighted..

I hope you find this helpful – please feel free to share it round and let me know how you get on using the techniques – which one worked for you? Which one will you adopt into your every day life?

Dr Suzanne Henwood is the Director and Lead Coach and Trainer of mbraining4success (mbraining4success.com) and the CEO of The-Healthy-Workplace (the-healthy-workplace.com). She is one of two Master Coaches and Master Trainers of mBIT Globally and is passionate about helping people to deeply reconnect with themselves, healing old wounds, letting go of unwanted stress and releasing them to do more and be more in the world. She works with organisations to look at organisational connections, working to ensure psychologically safe workplaces, to reduce unhelpful stress and bullying and ensure future focused, modern leadership that is sustainable into the new world as it emerges. If you would like to know more head over to mbraining4success.com (where you can also download a free eBook on mBraining); the-healthy-workplace.com, or get in touch directly with her at suzanne@mbraining4success.com.