Sometimes life can feel like a crisis. A crisis can present in many different forms. It can present itself in the form of the death of a loved one, to losing a job, to losing a relationship, losing a friendship, losing money, or even just feeling like you’ve failed at something. When we are hit by a crisis, we can be hit by emotions so strongly, that sometimes we go numb. Our mind and body protect us from the emotional storm that is raging within. Sometimes, we’re not numb to this, we feel every bit of it, and it feels so strong that we feel like we need to lash out and hurt others, or we run away and hide. When this is happening we need to ask ourselves how a reaction is going to help us. Often a reaction, by either avoiding, hurting ourselves, or hurting others makes us feel guilty and ashamed, which does not help the situation. So when life gets overwhelming, what do we do? The following may help.…
Slow your breathing
Take a few deep breaths, and mindfully observe the breath flowing in and flowing out. This will help to anchor you in the present.
Take note
Take note of your experience in this moment. Notice what you are thinking. Notice what you are feeling. Notice what you are doing. Notice how your thoughts and feelings are swirling around, and can easily carry you away if you allow them.
Open up
Open up around your feelings. Breathe into them and make room for them. Open up to your thoughts too: take a step back and give them some room to move, without holding onto them or trying to push them away. See them for what they are and give them space, rather than fusing with them.
Pursue your values
Once you’ve done the above three steps, you will be in a mental state of mindfulness. The next step is to respond to the crisis by pursuing a valued course of action. Connect with your values: ask yourself, ‘What do I want to be about, in the face of this crisis? What do I want to stand for? How would I like to act, so that I can look back years from now and feel proud of my response?’
Things to Consider:
1) Do you need, or would you benefit from help/assistance/support/advice? If so, what friends, neighbors, or relatives can you contact? What professionals could you arrange to see? (If necessary, what helpline numbers could you call?)
2) Have you experienced anything similar before? If so, how did you respond that was useful and helpful in the long term? Is there anything you learned from that experience that you can usefully apply now?
3) Is there anything you can do to improve the situation in any way? Are there any TINY steps you could take immediately that could be helpful? What are the smallest, simplest, easiest, tiny steps you could take:
in the next few minutes
in the next few hours
in the next few days
Note: the first step might simply be to spend a few minutes practicing some mindful breathing – or to take out a pen and paper and write an action plan.
4) If there is nothing you can do to improve the situation and given that the situation is unchangeable, how can you spend your time and energy constructively, rather than worrying or blaming or dwelling? Again, reconnect with your values: what do you want to be about in response to this situation? What are some tiny values-driven steps you can take?
5) You don’t get to choose the deck of cards you are dealt in life; you only get to choose how you play with them. So a useful question to ask is: ‘Given this is the hand I’ve been dealt, what’s the best way to play with it? What personal strengths can I develop or strengthen as I go through this ordeal? How can I learn and grow from this experience?’ Note: any painful experience is an opportunity to develop your mindfulness skills.
6) Be compassionate to yourself. Ask yourself, ‘If someone I loved was going through this experience, feeling what I am feeling – if I wanted to be kind and caring towards them, how would I treat them? How would I behave towards them? What might I say or do?’ Then try treating yourself the same way.
For support on dealing with life’s overwhelming moments give our team a call on (03) 9882-8874 to book an appointment today.
Please note that the technique in this handout is taken from The Happiness Trap by Dr Russ Harris. The rest of this blog was written and prepared by Dr Celin Gelgec - Clinical Psychologist and Director at MWG.