Taming anxiety at the time of Covid-19

“No anxiety”, said a 2 weeks ago the President of Italy in a message delivered on TV designed to reassure the Italian people about the Covid19 crisis. Whilst I appreciated the good intention, the effect on me wasn’t that soothing. Telling somebody who is anxious, not to be anxious, doesn’t really work, especially if you are somebody who is anxious by nature.

If you feel anxious in these times, there is nothing wrong with you, in fact, you are totally normal and on the contrary, it would be very unusual if you felt completely relaxed in a time when our health and the one of our loved ones are at risk, our work, business or savings face an uncertain future.

Having learned to cope with anxiety and panic myself in the past, I learned that the best way to deal with this feeling, is not to deny it or to pretend is not there. It is not to blame ourselves because we are feeling this way or to think of us as weak and rudderless.

The best work to do on ourselves with it to befriend anxiety. This is nothing new and there are hundreds of books that have been written on the topic.

Relaxing techniques can help. Take deep breaths, observe your feelings and how they are impermanent like clouds passing on a blue sky. Be curious about them. Question the assumptions behind the thoughts that make you feel worried, anxious, panicked.

Feelings will not go away immediately, but they will lose their strength. And with practice, day after day, we can learn to live with them, learn from them and minimize their impact on us.

Flying through cloudy skies or swimming in a sea full of waves can be dangerous, but also great fun. The difference is in the how you do it, and the how depends on our state of mind. Let’s take care of it then with patience and practise.