Just as caring for your physical health is important during times of crisis or adversity, maintaining the health of your spirit is also vitally important. To ensure that you are keeping your spiritual resilience and health intact, set a few goals for daily practice that will give you a sense of self, peace, and purpose. Possibilities might be:
- Stick to small, predictable anchors like waking up at the same time, making coffee or tea, or walking the dog to remind yourself of who you are outside of crisis. This suggestion comes from the American Psychological Association.
- Carry a small notebook, and write down your thoughts, feelings or memories throughout the day. Chat with a trusted person about those experiences to help keep a sense of your unique identity. This suggestion comes from the National Center for PTSD.
- Limit information overload. This means less scrolling and screen time and less disaster images from non-stop news coverage. This helps you remember that you as a person are not defined by the event. This suggestion comes from Mental Health America.
- Practice periods of intentional, slow but steady breathing to calm your nervous system and find inner peace.
- During times of anxiety, take a moment to speak out loud five things you can see, touch, hear, or smell around you.
- Get plenty of rest to avoid physical exhaustion.
- Preserve your unique sense of purpose by helping someone else in a SMALL way. Perhaps a brief phone call to family or friends just to say hello can help you maintain a sense of usefulness.
- As the crisis abates, find a support group to share your experiences and remember that you are not carrying the load of the event alone.