Dr. Aziz shares three ways to protect your mental health during lockdown: use humor to interrupt anxiety, have real conversations with people you care about, and get outside to move your body and reconnect with nature.
Thought someone was coming to my studio. Been in here for six days, haven't left. Someone comes near me, bash them with this selfie stick. Keep myself. You stay away. You stay six feet away from me. Six feet away. Even my wife and kids, no one, no one's getting within six feet a week. Because they say it's the coronavirus. But you know what it really is? It's the zombie apocalypse. It's upon us. That computer over there. I'm taking information 12, 14 hours a day. I know what's really going on. You will too. I'll tell you in this video. Okay, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Welcome to your weekly confidence boost. How are you holding up during the lockdown? The Hammer? I have been reading quite a few articles about it. The Hammer is the approach. The Hammer and the dance is one. One approach right now to as quickly lock it down as possible and then open things up. Anyway, we're not going to talk about all the details of the various social and political and medical plans to deal with the coronavirus. We're going to talk about how you're going to deal with the social and emotional impact of this experience because it is having a big effect on your life, no doubt. Maybe you're not leaving. Maybe you're in a city where there's a shelter in place. Maybe you're in social lockdown in a country you can't even leave. Maybe you are highly limited in your contact. You're probably not even going to work or you're working remotely. Maybe it's affecting you because you have a small business or you work for a small business that does require in person things and you can't just turn online and it's a big deal. And so what are we doing? How do we work with this? I want to give a few tips right now that are not the be all end of solutions. Just things that I've done I've been sharing with clients. So we can, you know, navigate this time and work our way through it and ultimately see if there's a way to grow stronger from it. So one thing which I was just demonstrating in this video is see if you can bring a little bit of humor. I know at times you could feel like this is not a time to make jokes, this is time to be serious and be scared. But you know, some of the people that I admire most, you know, different comedians and writers and speakers, they find a way to just bring a little bit of humor into everything. And there's this way that we can. There's times to be serious and sincere. And there's other times to just find a little bit of lightness, a little bit of humor, because otherwise, man, we can get really wrapped into a thought loop or an anxiety loop. So bringing a little humor in. And the other thing I would say is, what's the answer to this question? Who do you love and who loves you? Who do you love and who loves you? What comes to your mind? Who comes to your mind right now? Okay, take some time to talk to that person, call that person, spend time with them, have a much deeper conversation than you might normally with them and really connect. Because that is the most grounding thing you can do. When there's anxiety, when there's change in routines, and when there's a sense of growing isolation because of the physical distancing. People can interact online, but you're just probably doing it a lot less. A lot of people are. And taking that time. Like if you have a 30 or 40 minute conversation with someone that you love or a friend or even a colleague that maybe you're like work buddies, but you're not seeing them much right now because you're both online all the time and you're just in meetings and that kind of thing. Like, find a time, chat with them for 30 minutes, get a little interaction with her and go deeper. And that will ground you, that will give you a sense of like, connection and like, okay, we're in this together, we're getting through this. And the third thing would be to find some time to get outside, even if it's just in your yard. Get some feet on the earth get some bare feet on the earth. It's starting to become springtime, so the weather's a little better. Get outside, go for a run if you can, in the city or place that you're in. Maybe you gotta wear a mask on your face to go for a run, but do it. I did that about. Was it three, two years ago? I think it was two years ago, there was insane forest fires right outside of Portland because some kid threw a smoke bomb into the middle of the woods in summer. Dope. Anyway, it created this huge fire right near the city that blazed for days and destroyed a lot of the gorge, which is this scenic area here. And anyway, the smoke just wafted into Portland for days and days and days. And it was super thick. And they recommended like, you know, don't go out. And I got one of these respirator masks and just ran with it on. I was like, I'm too hardcore to Stop. That was in my marathon training days. But anyway, so get outside, get a little exercise, even if you have to wear a mask. Go for a run, go for a walk, go for a bike ride, get some sunshine on your face. And perhaps use this as a way to reconnect to the things that matter, right? Reconnect to nature, reconnect to your family, to your friends, to your loved ones. And if you're telling yourself the story, like, I don't know who to reach out to, I don't know if I have anyone. And, like, now's the time to forge that connection. Who are some acquaintances that you have? Maybe. Maybe there is someone you work with that you don't really talk to that much. Like, literally reach out to them. And you have the perfect in right now to just say, hey, how's it going? How you holding up? You don't need more than that. Then the conversation unfolds from there. So this is a great opportunity to forge deeper connections if you don't have them, and if you already have them, then tend to them, feed them, nourish them. Okay. Thanks for being with me today. Hope you're holding up and look forward to talking to you again in the future. Till we speak again. May have the courage to be who you are to make it through the zombie apocalypse and know that you're awesome. I'll talk to you soon.
