Coronavirus and Cancer: Free Yourself from Anxiety

Take a deep breath and thank yourself. 

You have taken a moment away from the news and your responsibilities to read about coping with anxiety during coronavirus — which is not an easy thing to do right now.

The pandemic is making many of us face our fears, uncertainties, and even our own mortality. 

But the minute you were diagnosed, with cancer or another serious illness, you were already forced to face these fears.

When facing a serious illness like cancer, we need to learn how to befriend the uncertainty as we go through the journey of the big unknown. 

One of the best ways to do this is to ground yourself in the present moment.

Adjusting to a new way of being can be difficult.

We are all grieving something. This could be cancelled plans, unresolved relationships, loss of work (or a change in work environment) or even your social life. As you process these losses, you might find yourself stuck in one of the first four stages of grief which are denial, anger, bargaining, and depression. 

It is important that you learn to let go of prior expectations as you move towards acceptance.

In every situation, there will be things that we can control and things that we cannot control.

During coronavirus, here are some of the things you cannot control:

• How long the pandemic will last
• Other people’s actions or responses
• The governor or president’s response 
• Other people’s social distancing
• How much toilet paper there is in the shops

And here are some of the things you can control:

• Your own response or attitude
• How much news you consume
• Your own social distancing
• How you spend your time
• How you follow CDC recommendations
• Your kindness and grace (toward yourself and others)

If you allow yourself to dwell on what is out of your control, you will notice your anxiety spiking and as a result, your mental health will suffer.

Instead, I want you to double down on what you can control.

This means that you are being extra mindful about how you look after yourself and prioritizing superb self-care into your daily routine.

You can do this by focusing on things like your nutrition, sleep patterns, and exercise routines. You can also focus on your mindset.

The first stage of working on your mindset is being self-aware of how you are feeling right now (which I talk about in this blog post). Once you are able to honestly acknowledge how you are feeling in the present moment, you are working towards accepting these feelings. 

A good way to do this is by compassionately tapping into curiosity, our underrated superpower, by asking the deeper why.

I also encourage you to be super present and mindful of how you spend your time. 

If there are activities or people that don’t bring you joy, consider limiting the exposure or removing them from your life. Instead, right now is an incredibly important time to start living with intention. 

Because, as Wayne Dyer says, “our intention creates our reality.”

If you are existing by default, it’s easy to be filled with negative emotions like fear, uncertainty, and anxiety.

Instead, choose to focus on the thoughts, things or people that bring you joy.

This could mean FaceTiming your friend or niece more regularly. Or it could mean prioritizing more time on activities you enjoy like baking and reading.

Pro tip for anyone struggling to come into the present moment: incorporate as much laughter as possible into your day. This could be by talking to people who make you laugh, watching funny YouTube videos or a comedian on Netflix.

Laughter is scientifically proven to be one of the best ways of boosting your mental, physical, and emotional health.

Practicing superb self-care frees you from anxiety and allows you to experience joy in even the hardest of times.

And who doesn’t want that?

P.S. Do you need help grappling with anxiety? Whether your goal is to get healthy, change careers, improve relationships, focus on inner self-care… You can create whatever you desire. If you need help figuring it out, it's time for private coaching, no more waiting for Monday.